Metro Vancouver Zero Waste Conference 2012

(Waste) Wood:Beyond beams

Adding value through non-architectural productsTracy Casavant

Light House Sustainable Building Centre

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What Can You Do With It?

Building construction is responsible for:• 1/4 of all the world's wood harvest

• 20-30% of North American landfill space for C&D waste

WasteManagementRecycling.net

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What Can You Do With It? • Furniture

Union wood & Supply Company, Vancouver, BC

Appalachian Woods, Stuarts Draft, VA

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What Can You Do With It? • Millwork

Union wood & Supply Company

Vintage Timberworks,Temecula, CA

Canadian Heritage Timber Company, Chilliwack, BC

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What Can You Do With It? • Flooring & Stairs

Canadian Heritage Timber Company

Appalachian Woods

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What Can You Do With It? • Landscaping

Custom by Rushton, LLC, Denver, CO

Denver Highlands Sustainable Home Project

The Stow Company,Holland, MI

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• And More

What Can You Do With It?

ipad docksecōstik, Williamsport, PA

Diederick Kraaijeveld's Wood Car Sculptures

GuitarVintage Timberworks

Biodegradable CutleryAspenware

SurfboardLambrecht, Pemberton, BC

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Why Aren’t We Doing This?

• Resource Recovery Fund Board, Nova Scotia

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Why Aren’t We Doing This? • Access to wood

supply• Insufficient demand• Storage needs• Market demand

Meadway Clearance Services

Home Depot

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What Could Be Done?

• Strengthen supply chain− Deconstruction Contractors− Storage yards− Wood brokers− Customers (procurement /

specification)

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What Could Be Done?Improve supply via deconstruction

• More deconstruction planning− Goal: Create a plan for recycling & hauling services to

reduce waste and maximize salvage & recycling on construction /renovation projects

Unicyclecreative.com

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What Could Be Done?Improve supply via deconstruction

• Metro Vancouver Pilot Project - Renovation of a single-family house − 85% of all materials diverted from landfill− ~1% higher than standard disposal cost

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What Could Be Done?Foster supply, support businesses

Map of building material recyclers

Tool created for Metro Vancouver deconstruction pilot

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What Could Be Done?Improve supply, build capacity

• Community Woodwork (CW)− Developed in 2000− Sited at former Oakland Army Base, San Francisco− Funded by Materials for the Future Foundation and

US EPA− CW purchases "raw" salvaged lumber, remills it and

markets value-added reclaimed wood products− CW provides in-house, on-the-job training for low-

income individuals with little or no previous woodworking experience

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What Could Be Done?Create demand, build capacity

• Integrate reclaimed wood and value-added wood efforts• Common tools• Common small business

capacity building• Often common markets

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What Could Be Done?Physical clusters / infrastructure

Shawnigan Eco-Industrial ParkShawnigan Eco-Industrial Park

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Thank You!

Questions / Comments?

Tracy CasavantExecutive Directortracy@lhsbc.com