The Three Rs Bring Profit and Sustainability to Urban Renovations

by Kurt Thompson

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. In the construction industry, these three terms have special meaning since more than 40% of the material in landfills is directly attributable to the construction and demolition of buildings. Fortunately for the urban renovation contractor, a new market is emerging with recycling options for original flooring, millwork, doors and structural timber that is both cost effective and sustainable (green).

Today, recycling no longer only references the process of melting down and reconstituting raw materials, but also includes reusing and reselling building materials. With the right combination of alternatives, it is possible to divert 90% of existing building materials from the landfill and create new profit both economically and environmentally.

When the construction materials price index was at a peak last September, there was real economic value in recycling construction waste in lieu of sending it to a landfill because contractors often expected to offset the cost of recycling with the money paid by the recyclers. The recyclers then sold the material back to manufacturers in a cost structure lower than the cost of producing from virgin materials to complete the recycling value chain. Since September, however, the construction materials price index has dropped at least 10% and the cost of recycling has lost some of its competitive advantage.

Insulated from the market's fluctuation, one of the most common forms of materials recycling, specifically in an urban renovation project, is the reuse of deconstructed materials within the same project. Reusing materials can reduce the cost to purchase raw materials and can benefit the owner during the design approval process. For example, St. Louis-based architectural firm Oculus Inc. found creative ways to reuse existing exterior terra cotta tiles to enhance and reiterate the historic character of a commercial building it was renovating in an urban setting.

The concepts were well received by both the client and neighborhood association and helped achieve rapid consensus among the project's stakeholders.

The use of existing building materials also reduces the amount of waste generated on the project site because less material is purchased and therefore less waste is generated. Some materials, such as ceramic tile, structural lumber or steel can also be warehoused for use on future projects, extending the environmental and economic benefits from one project to another.

For those materials which cannot be recycled or reused, a third option exists to resell the material to a specialty retailer or vendor that will bring the product back into the consumer market. Wood flooring is a popular material, made mostly from virgin materials. Now growing in popularity is old growth wood flooring, which is wood harvested from trees that took centuries to mature, and is characteristically richer and harder than new wood flooring products. Old growth wood flooring can command a price premium of 60% or more and is only available through the process of reclamation.

In addition to flooring, millwork, doors, and structural lumber, other popular items that can be salvaged from renovation projects include hardware, lighting fixtures, furniture, plumbing fixtures, and exterior materials such as brick.

With more than 1,500 solid waste management and recycling bills pending legislation at the state and federal levels, the era of simply "throwing away" those old pocket doors or original millwork is ending and everyone from professional contractors to the would-be weekend warrior is starting to rethink their next renovation project.

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