City pilots green house deconstruct

A vacant house will be removed this summer from the future Ballard Corners Park site, but don't expect any demolition crew to show up. Park planners have opted for housing deconstruction, an environmentally sustainable alternative to demolition.

During deconstruction, a crew works in the house to remove any reusable architectural materials, including everything from roof shingles to floorboards. These items are reused or recycled instead of dumped into a landfill.

"We've identified CDL (construction, demolition and land-clearing) waste as being one of the major avenues of garbage that we're receiving and we're looking at ways to reduce that," said Tom Gannon, commercial recycling and composting manager of Seattle Public Utilities.

"One of the things that we're trying to do is keep waste out of the landfills by doing these deconstruction projects," he said. "We're hoping to divert a significant percentage to meet our goal of 60 percent recycling for the entire city."

Deconstruction is a lengthier and more labor-intensive project than demolition. The project is slated to start within the next two weeks, and will take a little more than that time to complete. Salvaged parts will be collected and sold by The RE Store, a business that markets materials from deconstruction sites.

The crew will consist of workers from the Seattle Conservation Corps, a work-experience program for homeless adults in the Seattle area. First, a consultant will identify all salvageable materials on the site. Then the deconstruction crew will remove these materials from the house.

"It really involves sort of a reversed construction process," said Gary Gibbons, senior supervisor park upgrades project manager of the Seattle Conservation Corps. "Everything is removed from the outside and the top down until there's nothing left but the floor. Once the floor's been stripped and the joistings removed, all that material will be segregated and sorted out into pallets, banded together and either sent to a warehouse or sale."

Gibbons estimated the house would be fully deconstructed by early August.

Because the process takes so long to complete, deconstruction is more expensive than demolition. In order to compensate for spiked labor costs, Seattle Public Utilities is providing funds to reimburse the cost difference of the project. Gannon estimates the price difference will be "in the neighborhood of $3,000 to $5,000."

Deconstruction projects are uncommon in the Seattle area and the Ballard Corners Park will serve as a "pilot project" to collect data on the associated cost.

"There aren't many people who are doing full, complex deconstructs in this area," Gibbons said. "There are local salvagers that have an interest in interior products, but they don't do a lot with the general salvage of all the lumber and other materials in the building. So this is something of a pilot to find out how to get these materials into the market rather than in the waste stream."

According to Gannon, Seattle Public Utilities is hoping to follow the deconstruction of several properties in the near future and develop a user's manual promoting deconstruction for private homeowners and contractors. This deconstruction will allow the city to evaluate the time and cost issues associated with the process.

"Initially we've been pretty encouraged that this is ultimately going to be a feasible option for homeowners," Gannon said. "(Seattle Public Utilities) is going to be doing everything it can to demonstrate that feasibility as honestly and openly as we can."

Ballard Corners Park itself is due to open during summer or fall of 2008. According to David Folweiler, co-chair of Ballard Corners Park Selection and Steering Committee, park planners are continuing to raise funds but expect to have full construction plans by the end of the year.

"The community of people that has supported the park is also in support of the deconstruction and the concept of environmental sustainability," Folweiler said. "We are solidly behind the city in this decision."