Demolition Vs. Deconstruction

Project Address:
6940 14th Ave.,
Burnaby, B.C.

Client: B.C. Hydro
General Contractor: H K M
Deconstruction Contractor: Pacific Labour

Study Purpose

A 2004 study of waste composition conducted at the Ecowaste and Vancouver landfills showed that wood (46%), concrete (8%) and masonry(2%), makes up well over 50 percent of the materials ending up in these landfills.

This case project, in a concrete, warehouse building consisted of a 3,400 sf. main floor area of offices and washrooms and a 3,400s£ mezzanine area that was constructed using mainly wood and concrete products as its structural content. Because of it's overall material make-up we thought it would be a good candidate fora case study showing what can be diverted from the landfill using deconstruction techniques.

While the author of this report notes that a significant amount of the wood waste going into the landfills is from residential housing demolition this project shows how demolition vs. deconstruction is feasible on small to mid sized commercial projects. However, in the past the author has used deconstruction techniques similar to the ones used on this project on residential deconstruction projects and significantly reduced the volume of waste going into our landfills from these projects.

This study will focus on comparisons of man hours involved, the volumes of waste diverted from the landfill and will show what is recyclable and what is re-useable and the approximate monetary value of these re-useable products to offset the added costs associated with deconstruction, including pulling nails etc. to get the re-useable products ready for re-sale.

 

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