Location, location, location — that old maxim about the most important element in real estate has meaning for developers and contractors who are charged with the task of removing one structure to make way for another.

Historically we call that demolition.  But with the growing sentiments of a society that is leaning increasingly away from its “throw away” tendencies, plus the gains that can be made by reusing more and landfilling less, the salvage-savvy “deconstruction” movement is gaining momentum.

Significant factors, however, arise in the argument for traditional demolition versus deconstruction. They include the location of the structure and its proximity to recycling and related salvage markets as well as the amount of time the developer has to remove the structure to make way for the project.

In a report for the Environmental Protection Agency in 1997, prepared by the NAHB Research Center, Inc. of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, “‘Deconstruction’ is a new term to describe an old process — the selective dismantlement or removal of materials from buildings instead of demolition.”

Deconstruction is actually the opposite of construction, according to Kevin Officer, environmental consultant for Enviroconn Consulting of West Des Moines, Iowa. “If you think of construction as a very systematic building from the foundation up, deconstruction is the systematic dismantling from the top down,” according to Officer.

In the process, materials can be salvaged instead of destroyed and either reused on site, recycled or resold, all of which result in less material buried in a landfill.

The benefits are wide ranging according to an article published in 2000 for the Institute for Local Self Reliance, whose stated goal is the promotion of sustainable communities.

In it, authors Neil Seldman and Mark Jackson stated “…deconstruction also includes job creation in low-income neighborhoods. Start-up companies and demonstration projects that involve traditional demolition companies in joint venture contracts are proving the viability of deconstruction.”

The unique nature of many of the materials can also be saved and reused, even the wood, according to the article.

“The value of recovered wood is rising, because many species of wood are no longer available from forests. Furthermore, older wood typically is stronger and of higher quality than new growth wood, and it has already shrunk to its permanent size,” the authors stated.

Officer points to the potential that up to 80 to 90 percent of the structural materials from a deconstruction project can be diverted from a landfill. “If you look at it in a long-term continuum, there are some environmental benefits to a community from not having to, 10 -20 years down the line, look at buying more land to site another landfill,” he said.

In general, Officer looks at two types of buildings: commercial and residential. “In a commercial building, you are looking at recovering anywhere from 20 to 50 percent. Compare that to residential deconstruction which can range from 75 to 90 percent recovery of materials,” he said.

However, Officer is quick to point out that there can be a huge variation to this view, especially when it comes to commercial structures because, he said, there is no “typical” type of commercial building. “They vary depending on the industry and the business that is housed in them and the design, which is almost limitless,” he said, which can result in a huge variance in the material being used in constructing them.

A case in point is a former meat packing plant in Dubuque, Iowa, that is in the process of being torn down by Epic Construction, Inc., based in that city. The project encompasses several buildings on a 40-acre site, totaling 800,000 square feet of floor space, according to company vice president Chad Walsh.

“I would say we will salvage probably 90 percent of what is there,” which he said is primarily concrete, brick, and steel. “The biggest things that we’ll be landfilling will be the asbestos material,” which will need to be sent to a licensed disposal site out of state.

Meanwhile, as a rule, most materials from residential property can be salvaged, according to Officer, because, he pointed out, their construction tends to be regulated by tight building specifications. “Really, the only difference in a residential home is the size.  A lot of wood frames, the materials are going to be similar in nature, as compared to commercial structures,” Officer noted.

But there are several key issues that impact whether deconstruction is a viable alternative. “In demolition, you are going to bring that building down a lot quicker and a lot more efficiently but use a lot more energy to bring that structure down mechanically,” Officer said.  “Whereas deconstruction, it takes people, it takes bodies to bring the structure down properly, and of course takes a lot longer time…” to sort and salvage the materials for recycling or resale.

The key here is time. Does the developer have enough time to allow a company to salvage as much usable materials as possible, then bring the building down and salvage bricks and other hard materials and clear the site?

Another significant issue is access to the markets and buyers who would be interested in salvage material from a demolition. Andy Lewis of Lansing, Mich., is a senior associate with Golder Associates, Inc., a global group of consulting companies, which specialize in ground engineering and environmental services. One of his top clients, who seeks his consultation on demolition, is Ford Motor Company.

“When we’ve done a cost comparison for what I will call the soft materials, like plaster, carpet and wood, at least in Michigan, it is more costly to try to reuse these materials than it is to just send them off (to a landfill),” Lewis said. “If your nearest receiver…is 200 miles away from one particular demolition location, then it may not be feasible. If it’s two miles away it may be more cost effective.”  

The other factor is the region of the country and what markets it has developed to absorb recycled or reuse materials. “There is a glut in Michigan for asphalt, as opposed to somewhere they are building like mad, maybe out in Las Vegas, where everybody can reuse asphalt,” Lewis said. “So the regional market can play a big factor in the cost effectiveness of recycling materials.”

Lewis does point out that it makes sense for a contractor that is responsible for handling every waste stream from a demolition site to lean toward recycling, but the bottom line is still bottom line. “The contractor has a responsibility on a fixed-price basis to make a facility go away,” he said. “Contractors want to take materials to a spot that is cheap, and if that is a landfill, so be it.”

It’s not always an apples-to-apples comparison, Lewis points out. “You have to factor in the coordination aspects, the labor involved for a contractor to find these recycling people. Whether or not these materials require a special packaging to go to a receiving facility,” Lewis said.  “I’m not sure everyone recognizes that.”

Meanwhile, it appears that some demolition companies are aware of the cost effectiveness of some components of the deconstruction philosophy.  It’s called “selective demolition” or “partial deconstruction,” according to Officer.

That’s where a company goes into a structure and “cherry picks” high-end metals, like copper, as well as architectural features, flooring, and a range of other salvageable items before the wrecking ball hits the walls.

There is also a significant market niche for brick in good condition that can be used in new construction as well as in historic rehabilitation.  Even damaged brick and concrete have a market. For instance, in the case of the meat packing plant, the hard materials not used for fill on site can be resold. “We’ll crush it into a form that is reusable as a base stone,” Walsh said.

All can be an additional source of revenue, which in turn, can bring down the bid price on a project by providing savings to the project owner and a revenue stream for the demolition company.

Identifying markets and finding buyers and recycling outlets are where deconstruction companies shine, according to Officer. “They have a keen eye for materials in a building that other demolition contractors don’t have. Materials that they know can be resold quickly,” he said, pointing out that that is the nature of deconstruction. “A lot of deconstruction companies go in and take flooring, tin ceilings, doors, trim, a lot of those materials they know they can find a home for fairly quickly and may have already even been ordered, things like cabinets.”

“They already have their own markets for materials,” Officer states,” because that is the nature of that business, while it’s not the nature of the demolition business.”

Preplanning is critical, no matter what process a developer chooses, especially for large commercial or industrial sites. Knowledge of the building should be first and foremost before going in to clear a site, according to Lewis. Structures built before 1980, for instance, will likely contain asbestos or PCBs, both of which were banned in the late 1970s.

The older the building the more research is needed, he said, especially for those structures that date back a century or better.

“People now operating these facilities have no idea what the original layout might be,” which can lead to some nasty surprises. There is always the threat of discovering a toxic or other contaminated area or even an old septic tank that had been covered in years past.  “Was there an old road there that was paved over? How thick is the concrete,” Lewis queries. “How many times was the asphalt repaved since 1946?”

Such surprises can have an impact on the project’s final cost. The research in a pre-demolition phase by a qualified consultant to study old blue prints, interview people who know the site and to literally crawl all over the areas can be a cost-saving measure in the long run.  What the site will eventually be used for is another key component that can affect the demolition or salvage process, and its final cost.

As for the future of deconstruction, market forces will likely tell. Where those forces exist, recycling, reselling and specialty businesses will spring up to absorb salvage material.  In fact, a new type of business appears to be thriving in some parts of the country, according to Officer.

“What we are seeing is a lot more of what are called ‘used building materials resale’ operations,” Officer said. “They are not your typical antique store. These are stores that sell used building materials or new building materials from companies like Home Depot, Lowe’s and Menards that maybe were overstocked or damaged items,” Officer said.

Some have compared deconstruction to the recycling movement of the 1970s. That, according to the Seldman-Jackson article for the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, “…has energized activists and small businesses with the sense of inevitable success.”  SLDT
About the author: Rob Kundert is a freelance writer and a veteran news reporter. His focus is business, government, and development issues.