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.