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Bay Area Green Business logo
greenwaste.com |
Environmentally sustainable construction is one of the big subjects in the building trades and their allied fields. One of the goals of doing more green construction is increasing the rate of landfill diversions. One way to accomplish this goal is encouraging homeowners to renovate rather than tear down existing buildings. Aside from making the occasional preservationist happy, it also reduces the need for more landfills. In a February 2014 article for
Northern News, titled "Deconstructing and Salvaging The Past To Build a More Sustainable Future," Scott McKay discusses the city of Palo Alto, California's pilot construction and demolition program as way to increase the city's landfill diversion rate for non-inert construction and demolition generated by single-family residential work-i.e. remodels and new construction. Mr. McKay reports that since the start of the program, three years ago, the number of building permit applications granted to homeowners who chose to deconstruct, rather than tear down existing homes has gone up. The deconstruction program has also attracted nonprofit businesses that accept and resell salvaged materials. A win-win situation.
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Home under construction
cityofpaloalto.org |
The City of Palo Alto has always been a desirable place to live with its high-quality public schools and well-paying jobs. Like most San Francisco Bay Area cities, it is built out. These two factors have combined to make Palo Alto one of the most expensive places to live. To give you an idea of how expensive it is, residential land can sell for as much as $400 per square foot in some places of the Silicon Valley city. One the results, is that Palo Alto is seeing more buyers choosing to build new homes rather than renovate or build add-ons.
The demolition process in Palo Alto is as follows: the City's Development Services Department handles and issues all building and demolition permits. A property owner is required to take out a separate demolition permit for each detached structure over 120 square feet. Typical and previous practice for a whole house take down or detached garage has been for Palo Alto to review and approve plans for replacement buildings before issuing a demolition permit. This was necessary to protect against potential blight that occurs in between the time a building is razed and a new one goes up.
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Benatar Residence
cityofpaloalto.org |
Under the new test program, owners typically apply for a demolition permit
at the same time they apply for a new home building permit, thus streamlining the process which could take anywhere between three months or more to review and approve. However, the demo permit could be issued in a short a time as ten to fourteen days. Therefore, under the pilot deconstruction program, the time gap could be used to remove the existing home and prepare the site for new construction.
A typical single-family home demolition can take only a few days from start to finish, i
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Reclaimed sinks
recycleworks.org |
ncluding, removing the foundation and (re) grading the site so the property is ready for new construction. The process to deconstruct a single-family usually takes a little longer, seven to ten days, depending on the size of the home and construction type. Prior to the new program, the extra time it took to pull apart a home for renovation, as opposed to a complete tear down, was a roadblock to wider use. Under the program, the longer debris removal, through deconstruction, is not a barrier. The early issuance of the demolition permit, under the pilot program, is still being reviewed. Aside from the faster start offered through deconstruction and the ecological benefits of salvaging and reusing building material, there are also substantial tax benefits for donating used building material to be gleaned from this program. Depending on the property owner's financial status, the tax savings could be large enough to pay for the costs of deconstruction.
http://bit.lt/1mjXzDE
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Salvaged lumber
apartmenttherapy.com |
Scott McKay uses a sample project to illustrate the City of Palo Alto's deconstruction pilot program. First, an applicant plans and applies for a building permit for a new single-family residence. Concurrently, the applicant also requests a demolition permit for existing home. The applicant
also submits a copy of the signed deconstruction contract specifying a whole house deconstruction, as opposed to selective deconstruction. When standard conditions are met, i.e. utility disconnects, street tree protection fencing, issuance of Bay Area air Quality Management District clearance (J number), and so forth-usually within ten to fourteen days from the date of the application-a demolition permit can be issued and home deconstruction can commence. Links for time-lapsed videos are at the end of the post.
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Salvaged windows
apartmenttherapy.com |
Next, Mr. McKay takes the readers through a typical deconstruction process. Second, the property owner chooses a deconstruction contractor and signs the deconstruction contract. An appraiser is selected to prepare a pre-inventory of potential salvage material that can be donated. Once the demo permit is in the hands of the property owner, deconstruction can begin and feasible material is salvaged and put on a pallet(s) for donation and reuse. Salvaged material can include lumber, plywood, appliances, cabinets, plumbing and electrical fixtures, architectural details, roof tiles, pavers, door, windows, and sometimes landscape elements. The type of material can vary widely depending on the age and type construction. For example, in homes built before World War II, the buildings used old growth redwood or other trees which are either very expensive or no longer available. This wood is coveted by builders and artisans and can be sold at a premium. Once the process is complete, the materials are brought to a nonprofit salvage company. The appraiser then does the final appraisal of the material, completing the appropriate tax paperwork (of course) in conjunction and in agreement with the nonprofit. The materials are then sold for reuse.
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Architectural details
apartmenttherapy.com |
There is a bit of a down side to this more ecologically sensitive approach to renovation. The immediate cost of deconstruction is typically twice that of standard demolition. If you compare the costs, deconstruction is significantly more labor intensive, which requires careful dismantling of a house including removing the nail from the lumber and cutting to size. Standard demolition usually involve heavy equipment and only a few people to take down a home and load the construction and demolition debris into a truck or bin and haul it off to the nearest landfill. The silver lining in this is, depending on the property owner's tax status, the deconstruction process may end up costing less than standard demolition once the tax savings are factored in.
What's on the horizon? Plenty. The City of Palo Alto's deconstruction pilot program continues to gain popularity as more and more homeowners become cognizant of the possible time and cost efficiency. At the present time, over half of all single-family residences that are razed every year in Palo Alto are deconstructed. With the success of the pilot program, the City is aiming to incorporate deconstruction as a standard part of the development review process. As older homes yield to new construction, Palo Alto is moving toward a future where existing homes that are being replaced are taken apart rather than taken down. Other municipalities investigating ways to divert construction and demolition debris from landfills should be able to create similar programs with like results.
Here are links to time-lapsed video related to deconstruction:
Time lapse video for 172 Park Avenue, Palo Alto October 2013
Time lapse video for Palo Alto October 18, 2013
"The Demolition Discount" by Pui-Wing Tam, The Wall Street Journal, December 21 2012
"Deconstruction is a growing trend in the West Coast housing," WSJ's Monika Vosough reports. Video December 20, 2012
http://on.wsj.com/YrGgX1
Just one quick note, please make sure you go to http://www.lafoodbank.org and help RTKL/JAMA build their canned food sculpture. When they finish, the "sculpture" will be donated to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. Thanks
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