The intent is to move these salvaged building materials directly back
into new construction or remodeling: a used door in place of a new
door, a used window instead of a new window, a salvaged joist rather
than a new one, and so on. Or the salvaged materials can be used in
a new way: a used door becomes a wall panel, a window serves as a
cabinet front, or the floor joist is now a wall stud.
Recycling, on the other hand, is a more indirect use of materials and
typically involves changing the form of the material for use as an
entirely new material. For example, we wouldn't reuse a concrete
pillar from an old building in a new building. It's not practical.
However, it is very practical to break up that pillar and recycle the
concrete and steel rebar into other uses, such as in roadbeds and
new cars, respectively.
Unbuilding and its associated reuse are very well suited to wood-
framed construction, where most materials can be reused. Demolition
and its associated emphasis on recycling are well suited to concrete
and steel construction, whose materials are difficult or impossible to
directly reuse, and breaking down these materials is an inherent part
of the recycling process.
Bob Falk is a supervisory research engineer at the U.S. Forest
Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin and a researcher in the
recycling and reuse of building materials. Brad Guy is trained as an
architect and is president of the Building Materials Reuse
Association.
This article is excerpted from Unbuilding: Salvaging the Architectural
Treasures of Unwanted Houses, copyright © 2007, available from
Taunton Press and at Amazon.com.
