Slide 1Deconstruction and Reuse for GHG
Reduction
Bradley Guy
Center for Building Stewardship
The Catholic University of America
School of Architecture + Planning (CUArch)
Washington, DC
Outline
Learn how building deconstruction and reuse is a tool
for both waste reduction and low impact construction.
Understand the importance of Life Cycle Assessment in
making building decisions.
Hear about the North American and European guidance for
building deconstruction and reuse.
Parikia Castle in Paros was built in the 1200’s entirely with material from the nearby
ancient temple of Hera (Saradi, 1997 ).
CUArch
• Established 1911
• Undergraduate and graduate
• M.S. in Sustainable Design (M.S.S.D) established
2008
• Certificate in Sustainable Design
• M.S.S.D / M.Arch dual degree
• Core curriculum energy modeling and materials
(LCA)
• Reclaim + Remake Summer Design-Build Course
• US DOE Solar Decathlon Competition 2013
US Materials Use
US Geological Survey, Consumption of Materials in the United States, 1900-1995
50% 50%
Impacts of Building / Materials
• US materials use 1900-2000 – 50% from 1975-
2000
• 3.4 billion tons of materials US economy 2000
– 5% from renewable sources
• Construction materials production 11% global CO2
Materials Use Trends (est.)
1900
1. Concrete
2. Brick
3. Wood
4. Steel
2000
1. Concrete
2. Wood
3. Brick
4. Steel
2050
1. Polymers
2. Concrete
3. Wood
4. Aluminum
Fernandez, J. (2007) Material Architecture
Wood Polymers
Concrete
Aluminum
Building Waste (US)
• 1996 134 million tons annually
• 2003 164 million tons annually
• 1996 2.8 lbs/person/day
• 2003 3.1 lbs/person/day
• Demolition 53%
• Renovation 38%
• Construction 9%
US EPA
Building Waste as Resource
• Demolition 270,000 residential units / year
• Estimate 30-40% of all municipal solid waste
• Estimate 25% recycling rate
• Estimate 0.2% current reuse rate
• Estimate 5% - 25% potential reuse rate
• A 25 to 125 times increase potential
Pollution Prevention Act of 1990
• Waste prevention has priority over waste
reduction.
• Reuse has priority over recycling.
• Recycling within the same production process
has priority over recycling in other processes.
• Reduction of hazard and reduction of waste
amount have equal priority.
• Material recycling has priority over energy
recovery.
• Recycling has priority over landfilling.
Demolition
• Tear down, raze, to break to
pieces, smash, to do away with
destroy, to strip of any…merit
• Wreck: to reduce to a ruinous
state by or as if by violence, to
ruin, damage… (Merriam-Webster)
• Building ‘reduction’ for purposes
of removal and disposal
Deconstruction
Goals, the removal of
buildings:
1) Safely
2) Reuse then recycle
3) Environmentally
responsible
4) Effectively
Benefits of Deconstruction
1) Conserve natural resources
2) Extend embodied energy
3) Reduce landfills requirement
4) Management of hazardous
materials
5) Enhance profit & cost-savings
6) New businesses, jobs, value-
adding
7) Reduced site environmental
impacts
Reuse
• The continuing use of a previously used or unwanted
material or component in the same form, allowing
for the removal of damaged parts, connectors,
adhesives, mortars, and including the addition of
minor components necessary for reinstallation.
Recycle
• Using debris as material to manufacture a new
product. Recycling involves altering the physical
form of an object or material and making a new
object from the altered material.
Benefits of Reuse
1) Efficient materials use
2) Material heritage
3) Historic preservation
4) Local manufacturing
opportunities
5) Cost-savings
6) High-quality & unique
materials
7) Reduce waste
Extraction of
natural
resources
Materials
processing
Component
manufacture
Building
construction
Building use
Disassembly
Waste to landfill
Relocate building
Recycle materials
Reprocess components / materials
Reuse components
Domain of the built
environment
MATERIALS
PRODUCTION
CONSUMERS /
BUILDINGS
Impacts
Resources REUSE / FACILITY
DISPOSA
L
Impacts
Closed-loop of Recovery / Reuse
Life Cycle Assessment
• Deconstruction / demolition process;
• Disposal of materials by landfilling;
• Transportation between the stages;
• Reuse / recycling of salvaged materials;
• Replacement of virgin materials
Deconstruction System
Deconstructio
n
Waste
Transport
labor /
equip
Transpo
rt
recycle
Transport
waste
Transpo
rt reuse
Reuse
Facility
Recycle
Avoid
new
material
s
Elect / fuel
Recovery is Manufacturing system
• Deconstruction = ‘cradle’
Labor, equipment, transport
• Reuse center = ‘gate’
Operation, transport
• Substitution for new materials
Reuse System
Reuse
Facility
Transport
labor
Transpo
rt
recycle
Transport materials
Transpo
rt reuse Reuse
Recycle
Avoid
new
material
s
Avoid
new
material
s
Elect / fuel
Demolition energy
0
5
10
15
20
25
Wood Concrete Steel
MJ/kg
0
50
100
150
200
250
Wood Concrete Steel
Reuse MJ/m2
Recycle MJ/m2
Embodied energy
Wood / Concrete / Steel Structure
Athena Institute and University of Bath
GHG of Deconstruction vs
Demolition (wood-framed)
-2000
-1500
-1000
-500
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
Transport g-
GHG/ft2
Equipment g-
GHG/ft2
Disposal g-
GHG/ft2
Recycled
Material g-
GHG/ft2
Reused
Materials g-
GHG/ft2
Total g-
GHG/ft2
100% Mechanical Demolition
100% Manual Deconstruction
Deconstruction System
• More labor / equipment impacts because more
time on-site
• Disposal impacts relational to salvage benefits
• Sensitive to transportation impacts more than
demolition
• Transportation impacts driver for
deconstruction
0.00%
5.00%
10.00%
15.00%
20.00%
25.00%
LUMBER
DOOR
CASEWORK
FURNITURE
BRICK
CONCRETE
STONE
WINDOW
WOOD FLOOR
METALS
Most popular reclaimed materials by percent of firms citing listed materials.
• Organic matter decomposition in landfills emits methane
~22 x GWP of CO2
• Harvested wood in use sequesters carbon until released
(burned, landfill decomposition)
• Trees sequester atmospheric carbon 24/7 over their lives
then re-emit CO2 from decay
• The use of wood extends the period before decay begins
while also removing any additional sequestration time
• Reuse of wood products (if substitute for new wood
products) extends sequestration period while preserving
net sequestration of the tree that is not cut down
Lumber
Metric of Reuse Non-Lumber CO2E
• Product A has an embodied CO2E of X
• Product A reused as Product B at CO2E cost of Y
• A virgin equivalent of Product B is CO2E of Z
Therefore…
• Z of CO2E emissions are avoided at the cost of Y
• and CO2E net impacts of A reuse are: Z – (X + Y)
• If X and Z are equivalent then Y is net impact
• Deconstruction and reuse minimize Y
WRAP, Recyclability efficiency metric
UK & North America
• BRE (Building Research Establishment)
• Bioregional
• Demolition Protocol of the Institution of Civil
Engineers (UK)
• WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme)
• LEED® Building / Material Reuse / C&D credits
• CSA (Canadian Standards Association)
• Z783-11 Deconstruction of buildings and their
related parts (NA)
