Emergent Structures has also teamed with local homeowners who have donated a portion of their homes to be deconstructed for reuse. Materials from these houses have been used in more than a dozen projects in and around Savannah, including an outdoor classroom for a middle school in a low-income neighborhood. This particular reuse project not only teaches kids about growing vegetables, but also teaches them—through direct and tactile experience—there is real and lasting value in materials that were once headed to a landfill.
Emergent Structures currently is leading a collaborative effort to build an educational greenhouse, which will include solar energy, rainwater catchment and passive solar heating. The greenhouse will be the agricultural training center for Design for Ability, a non-profit dedicated to green-job training for special-needs teenagers in the Savannah area. Located in an economically challenged neighborhood that has been designated a food desert, the greenhouse also is intended to be a nutritional resource for the entire community. Discarded glass from a nearby modular-office-furniture factory will be incorporated with other reclaimed materials from around the city.
Because awareness and education are keys to shifting the paradigm, Emergent Structures creates storyboards that explain the history of all the materials given a new life. These stories encourage people to consider a deeper human connection to place, history and the material world in which we live.
Do Your Part
If you are a building owner, designer, municipal government or contractor who will be involved in demolition of a building, I encourage you to explore the benefits of deconstruction. Reusing building materials allows them to remain valuable, useful and productive items while lessening the impact of construction materials on our landfills. In addition, businesses can save significant dollars in disposal by reselling or donating items that are no longer needed. Donating surplus items to your local reuse store or hiring a deconstruction contractor helps support the community in which you live.
You can find deconstruction contractors in most cities in the U.S. Search your phone book or the Internet. Habitat for Humanity ReStores and local architectural salvage stores are typically willing to accept most items that can be sold or used again. If you can’t find a local non-profit involved in material reuse, encourage local contractors and all who have a connection to the built environment to think outside the box and consider deconstruction waste for positive community projects. Do it for the financial advantages or for the pay-it-forward benefits to your community. Any way you deconstruct it, reuse adds value.
Deconstruction Sources
Building Materials Reuse Association, click “Directory”
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Whole Building Design Guide Construction Waste Management Database