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 The province of BC and, more broadly, Canada, has relatively little infrastructure for recycling wood waste. In Vancouver alone, the construction, renovation, and demolition (CRD) sector produces about 1.7 million tonnes of waste per year.[1] Of this, an estimated 30-60% is wood waste which is largely discarded in landfills. What little wood that is recycled is generally incinerated for waste-to-energy conversion or shredded for biomass. Upcycling waste wood into new construction products presents an opportunity to cycle wood back into the built environment which would extend the lifespan of the wood, add value and longevity to a valuable material, reduce GHG emissions and reduce the new resources required for new construction projects.

There has been significant research into design-for-deconstruction and material recycling in Europe, particularly in Germany and the Netherlands. Canada has yet to develop the frameworks of infrastructure, policy, and education that would allow for large scale wood recycling, but reductions in fibre supply from the lumber industry, increasing material costs for imported products, and local landfills soon reaching capacity puts Vancouver and BC in an ideal position to rapidly expand our wood recycling capabilities.

Despite the benefit of re-using wood, there are three main difficulties when it comes to deconstructing typical light-wood frame buildings, particularly those built after 1950: The use of irreversible fasteners particularly with nail guns, the presence of adhesive or paint-on materials such as adhesive building wraps, spray foam, and liquid applied sealants, and the presence of toxic materials such as asbestos and lead. While use of toxic materials is now prohibited in new constructions the use of nail guns and adhesives makes deconstruction very difficult if not impossible in some cases.[2] This guidebook proposes a design-for-deconstruction system that addresses these remaining issues with simple modifications of typical light-wood frame construction practices, allowing for both simple construction, solid performance, and easy deconstruction.

[1] Metro Vancouver, comp., 2021 Biennial Report Integrated Solid Waste and Resource Management Plan, 10-11, January 11, 2022, accessed September 19, 2022, https://metrovancouver.org/services/solid-waste/Documents/iswrmp-biennial-report-2021.pdf

[2] Jacob Forrest, The Feasibility of Recycling and Reusing Building Materials Found in Single-family Homes Built after 1970 in Metro Vancouver, 10-14, August 2021, accessed September 29, 2022.

The Guidebook of Design for Deconstruction in Lightwood Frame Construction is produced with generous support from the Forestry Innovations Investment and the Canadian Wood Council.