April flowers are popping up as the winter semester is coming to end for another year, here at UBC. We are just about done with this CBEL project. All that is left is the CityStudio Expo tomorrow. If you’re free Saturday April 6, anytime from 10am-5pm, you should definitely come to the Museum of Vancouver and check out all sorts of student projects from around the city.

On Monday March 25, we had our first poster presentation. In the campus’ Civil Design Studio, a healthy crowd of people were moving around all the CBEL posters. It was great to see the great diversity of projects our classmates were working on during the semester. We had a chance to talk to quite a few different people at our own booth. It was a terrific opportunity to spread awareness about deconstruction as well as hold a conversation about how to shift the homeowner culture.

The poster and an accompanying report have been the two main deliverables of our project. To develop the content of these items, we contacted a number of contractors, totalling about 3 hours of interviews across the team. Collecting input from these professionals was incredibly interesting –it definitely challenged a lot of the team’s assumptions– and it seemed like the contractors genuinely excited to talk about their field to anyone who would listen. We hope CityStudio can find some use for our raw data.

The report focuses in on incentivising homeowners towards deconstruction. We were expecting contractors to be the ones resisting the idea, yet many contractors are actually in favour of deconstruction because, although there is extra cost, it invests in their own workers instead of a fee at the landfill. We quickly realised that it is the homeowners deciding to demolish. Those who pay the bills have the power.

Stepping outside the report, we found the entire project an interesting experiment. The first hurdle our team had to deal with was the ambiguous scope. It was frustrating at first to create our own task for the client, especially when it seemed the project was so very far along. The majority of our first couple team meetings were dedicated to trying to guess at what would be useful for CityStudio.

Another problem that we came to realise was that finding a meeting time in it of itself was not a simple task. Early on, we were pretty stubborn to get the entire team to every meeting, but being realistic with the nature of a student’s schedule, we had to accept that it simply wasn’t feasible.

Because we struggled early on, time to actually implement our plan was a bit rushed. Ideally, we could have had an extra week or so to get in a few more interviews. Despite this, the team is still satisfied with our work. The lesson learned here was that, regardless of how frustrating it may be, it is important to have good direction and it’s ultimately worth the time to figure it out.

Another big takeaway from the experience has been the sheer depth and complexity that exists in something as seemingly simple as waste management. There are so many actors and relationships and assumptions that are constantly swirling around that it can be quite daunting to try to step into. Again, the lesson here would be that any time that you can dedicate to trying to understand that actors already deeply invested into a system is worth it.

We wish CityStudio and the Deconstruction Hub project the best of luck in the future. It’s a little alarming how close the year 2020 seems. This is a super exciting project, and we believe it can have a great impact, not only on how waste is managed in Vancouver, but how new buildings are designed in the future.

During the last two weeks, our group members have worked individually to contact demolition firms across the Lower Mainland to gather first-hand information about the current state of deconstruction.  Now, having reached the end of our scheduled research period, we are coming together to share our findings.  Buy fitting all the pieces together, we are beginning to see the bigger picture emerge.

With an extensive list of gathered information, we are now in the process of summarizing our interactions and developing recommendations to the City in the form of a report, as stated in our proposal.  We are also creating a poster for show at the UBC presentation on March 25, as well as the Citystudio Engagement Expo on April 6^th.   We are on track for meeting these objectives.

Having received the latest version of the City’s recommended survey questions, we have now begun putting into play our contractor interaction plan.  We will direct our current list of questions toward demolition contractors specifically, and if time permits, we may also compose additional questionnaires for builders and haulers.

Getting in touch with demolition firms for an interview has been a bit challenging, but none of us expected this to be easy. We are careful to maintain our status as a group of UBC students investigating the feasibility of increasing salvage and reuse of building materials in the Vancouver area.  At this point, we have scheduled one phone interview this upcoming Tuesday.   Over the next two weeks, we will document all our communication with contractors across the Lower Mainland, and then assemble and analyze our findings.

By March 22^nd, we will generate a comprehensive summary of our contractor interactions, as well as a recommended action plan for instilling a culture of deconstruction in Vancouver.  We imagine that this plan will include a scheme of incentives to supplement the City’s existing legislation in order to increase deconstruction and waste diversion prior to commissioning a full scale deconstruction hub.

By March 25^th, we will have ready a poster and brand for display during the CBEL presentation and for use by the city and its affiliates at Home Shows and other Expositions to promote the deconstruction concept to homeowners, developers and contractors.

We do realize that the recommendations we can deliver will depend entirely on the kind of feedback we receive from the contractors.   But we are optimistic. Our group will meet regularly to report on our findings and ‘think big’ in terms of next-steps that will really trigger a culture shift in the C & D industry.

Since our first meeting with the City’s Lena, Rachel and Jon, our group has been interested in creating a dialogue with a range of firms including building contractors, disposal companies, and construction material suppliers.  Considering that these firms will be providing a steady flow of material to the Deconstruction Hub, we would like to contribute in the investigation of the best possible way, in terms of feasibility and logistics, of getting material from the deconstruction site to the Hub. We also would like to tackle the challenge of encouraging deconstruction over demolition.

We came up with a draft list of survey questions to ask these firms during a verbal interview.  These questions aim to 1) gain an understanding of firms’ current disposal practices and determine what’s being discarded that could be reused, and 2) get some insight into firms’ thoughts and opinions on the deconstruction hub concept.  We sent this list to Rachel, who made some suggestions and gave us the OK to pursue this line of action.

The initial dialogue would be conducted over the phone, emphasizing only our role as UBC students doing research on the viability of a used building materials center in Vancouver.  The entirety of the survey could take place over the phone; however, ideally we hope to be able to arrange a meeting with a company representative or participate in a tour of their operations in order to gain first-hand experience and really understand the full picture of what we’re dealing with.

Below is the list of questions we have for the various firms:

1) Briefly explain your current disposal and/or hauling practices? Costs?

2) Do you divert any materials for reuse or recycling?

3) What materials are being disposed of or not sorted that could be recycled or reused?

4) Is there currently any sorting taking place on construction sites you are working at or hauling from? To what extent?

5) In your opinion, is additional sorting on site a possibility? Why or why not?

6) How many different types of waste COULD be separated at site? What might that look like?

7) For contractors, do you ever do your own hauling?

8) For haulers, who are your main clientele?

9) Do you believe there is a market in Vancouver for firms to provide deconstruction services? (As opposed to demolition). If not, what types of incentives would need to be offered for firms to enter that market?

10) Do you believe a deconstruction hub could work in Vancouver as a private enterprise? If public support was required, how much would be reasonable?

11) Do you have any ideas about common construction waste materials being reused in a new and unique way?

12) Would you be willing to continue to be involved in the dialogue as a deconstruction hub concept begins to take shape?

13) What are your largest concerns surrounding this deconstruction hub?

14) What are the implications or sacrifices you have to make to incorporate the deconstruction process?

15) What additional resources or support would be necessary to make the process as seamless as possible?

A time line for the next few months is still underway since we just recently received approval to pursue this contractor dialogue.  Now that we have the all-clear, we have a few things to get done.

First we’ll be setting up an email address specific to the Hub so that we can allow the contractors we engage with to stay involved and informed.  We’ll also be spending time going over the research material provided to us by Lena. These sources contain very useful information on pilot projects, case studies, market analyses, and training manuals.  We will need to cover much of this ground before we begin phoning up contractors and haulers, so that we have some idea of what is tried and true.  From there, we will begin honing our cold-calling skills and hopefully getting out into the field to find out for ourselves how this deconstruction hub is really going to work.

Background

On Thursday January 31, both City Studio teams met with City of Vancouver Staff at City Hall to discuss aspects of City Studio and how each team can play a role in developing the new initiative.

The staff we met with described to us exactly what a Deconstruction Hub is: A visionary idea that seeks to divert construction and renovation waste from landfills, and instead reuse and recycle the materials.  The City wants to see a facility built that receives used materials from construction sites, and then sorts, digitally archives, stores, and retails material. The Deconstruction Hub is intended to launch the city into attaining the Zero Waste aspect of the ambitious Vancouver 2020 Greenest City Action Plan – reduce waste by 50% from 2008 levels.

The following image shows a flowchart of the city’s preliminary concept for the hub:

The City has already researched Deconstruction Hubs that have been implemented successfully elsewhere, such as Portland. They have hired a consultant who has worked with many of these deconstruction hubs throughout the U.S. and he has been able to translate such a project into the context of Vancouver’s policies and property values.  They have also conducted a pilot project deconstructing a single family home in Vancouver to determine how much material can be recovered –a whopping 93%.  Construction and demolition waste makes up 22% of landfill waste, of which 50% is wood waste.

Project scope, goals, and constraints

Part of what makes this project so exciting is that, because the hub is still in the conceptual stage, there is quite a bit of flexibility when it comes to defining what the project will be and envisioning how the hub will actually work.

The purpose of the hub is to allow convenient, all-in-one collection and redistribution of materials, where the responsibility lies with the contractor to sort and haul most the deconstructed material.   The hub will collect, sort, digitally archive, store, and retail material.  There is also a possibility of including a space to refurbish and build items like furniture for retail on site.  This recovered material could be purchased by anybody from whole-sale manufacturers to non-profit building organizations to individuals working on small projects.

The City is looking at potential sites for the hub and one proposed location is near the Home Depot on Terminal Avenue.  Due to high land prices, the hub must be reasonably sized, and designed in a way that it can be duplicated in other municipalities.

Project Ideas

In order to split up the project between the two City Studio groups, we discussed two distinct possibilities:

Human Interface – Looking at how to “get people in the door”. This would involve educational programs, marketing, public consultation, and other activities to make the hub a place and a system people will appreciate and want to participate in.

Materials flow – A model for what the hub will look like on the ground. The model would describe the logistics of collection, back-end sorting, and retailing, along with human traffic flow through the building.

One of the major factors that will determine the success of the hub is the degree to which contractors will participate in deconstruction. The City is looking to incentivize contractors to deconstruct homes rather than demolish them by offering a deposit for the amount of material recovered.  In the meeting, we discussed the possibility of putting together an educational “how-to” guide for contractors to follow for the deconstruction process. We also considered developing an accreditation system in which contractors would be awarded some kind of green certification should they comply.  This aspect of the project is something that members of our group are very excited about.

We left the meeting feeling very excited about the project and ready to begin working out the finer details.  The City staff revealed to use that we could have a real impact on how the Deconstruction Hub is created as the project is still in the preliminary stages.  They encouraged us to think outside of the box and welcomed any new ideas that we come up with.

We are one of two UBC Civil Engineering groups collaborating with City Studio Vancouver in a sustainability initiative to divert demolition and construction waste from landfills.  Over the next three months, we will work to develop the proposal for a Deconstruction Hub facility that will 1) demonstrate how municipalities can address large-scale waste diversion and materials reuse, and 2) invest in green jobs for local communities.

City Studio Vancouver, as described on their website, is an “innovative inter-institutional and collaborative relationship between six post-secondary institutions and the City of Vancouver, emphasizing sustainability leadership, social enterprise, education, and development of green business”.

We all know about Mayor Gregor Robertson’s ambition for Vancouver to become the greenest city in the world by 2020.   But the challenge of urban ecological sustainability is too big for just one institution.  Everybody needs to be on board, and universities can play a leading role.

City Studio wants to see the city become a classroom: an environment where students can work on long-term real-world projects and challenges, and where community groups, local businesses, citizens and students can pool their energies and mobilize to reach our common goals.

Here’s where we come in.  The Hub is currently in its conceptualization phase and research and analysis is required in multiple areas. We need to understand the type of waste that comes from construction and demolition, and different ways it can be sorted, categorized, and utilized.  We also need to carry out an economic cost and benefit analysis for all the services the Hub will offer, including deconstruction, salvage, reuse, recycling, retailing, as well as job training and employment support.

For this exciting challenge, we have a solid crew of six brilliant individuals:

Jason Yu

Jason comes from Chilliwack, BC.  He is very excited because this project sheds light on something he believes is very important: shiny, pretty buildings aren’t always what they seem.  He says, “I think it’s very easy for the public eye to be stolen by a new, shiny building, but maybe not see the waste –the wasted waste– hauled away on trucks into a distant landfill. But as a hub, we not only provide the facilities to dispose or reuse this waste more sustainably, but we make it a community centre for educating and training the public about these growing issues.”

Noah Wong

Noah has come all the way from Taiwan and has lived in Surrey since 2007.  Before studying to become an Engineer, Noah played basketball as well as the piano in his high school jazz band. Now he scores goals for his team in the Ultimate Frisbee League.  Noah is excited for the opportunity to learn as much as he can and make a real difference for the local community.

Ben Stevens

Originally from Alberta, Ben completed an Engineering Transfer program, taking classes at both UFV and TWU in Abbotsford and Langley respectively. UBC Civil Engineering was his first choice and he is thrilled to be part of the program. The greybeard on the team, Ben has been involved in construction, in one capacity or another, since 2001. He began framing houses in high school, and has more recently worked in industrial construction throughout Northern Alberta and BC. Ben was intrigued by the City Studio project because it’s a big picture solution to a very real problem. He is excited to play a part in the development of a significant facility for the City of Vancouver.

Alex Janzen

Alex has lived in the Lower Mainland his entire life and always wanted to study engineering at UBC.  He is a member of the UBC Rowing team and is always trying to strike a balance between academics and athletics.  Alex has expressed his desire to begin work on the project and brings to the team 4 years worth of renovation and construction experience.  When asked why he chose this particular project Alex responded saying, “I chose this project because I have seen firsthand the volume of re-useable waste on construction projects and often wonder if there is an alternative to disposing of the waste in the landfill.”

Cliff Huang

Cliff comes from Burnaby, BC.  He enjoys building plastic models and playing video games as a pastime.  Being in the Lower Mainland for most of his life, he is very excited to be able to work on a city project in Vancouver.  Having seen the Vancouver’s development over the years, Cliff is eager to be part of this team to help reduce waste in the city.

Emma Gerard

Emma comes from Edmonton, AB.  She has future prospects for working in waste management as well as urban planning.  She has been immersed in the discussion about sustainability for most of her life, and knows that waste reduction is one of biggest issues facing the world today. Having experienced first-hand the progressive city-wide recycling program in Edmonton, she is very excited to see what can be done here in Vancouver.

The tentative team roles will be as follows:

Jason – client liaison

Noah – person in charge of collecting project documentation

Ben – leader/organizer

Alex – secretary

Cliff – instructor and mentor liaison person

Emma – blogger

The team initially met to discuss team roles and general project expectations. So far, we know we will be working with CityStudio Coordinator Lena Soots,  as well as Joyleene Yu, who will guide us as our mentor.  We are looking forward to getting together with the organization over the next week to clarify the project goals and deliverables.