Good for your Design, Good for the Environment, and Good for the Economy.
I love finding synergies between my passions for beautiful design, sustainability and helping people. To this end, today I want to share some ideas that I hope inspire more ReUse in residential architecture.
Good for your Design:
In remodeling, ReUse can often allow you to achieve seamless authentic detailing so the finished project is beautifully integrated. I love when visitors ask, “So what did you change?” I should also re-emphasize that beauty is a green building strategy itself. See my blog post, “Beauty. . . The Unquantified Sustainable Design Strategy” for more on that topic.
Good for the Environment:
When creating this new porch with unheated air lock vestibule, I saw an opportunity in the demo work being done on a nearby house of similar age. Since the new airlock vestibule did not need highly engineered insulated windows, we were able to divert several windows from the landfill on the nearby project for ReUse in our new porch vestibule. Here are some exterior views of the finished product.
Photos by Troy Theis
Photos by Troy Theis
The windows salvaged from the nearby project.
Interior views of the windows during construction and at completion.
In this project, the two windows and the door on this new garage were salvaged from the house where an addition was added.
Photo by Steve Huschle
In finishing this basement, we carefully removed and saved the boards of the existing partition walls. We ran them through a portable planer on site to expose the beauty of the wood grain and color. They were then ReUsed as the wainscot. The built-in cabinetry was also a ReUsed piece from another project.
Good for the Economy:
What about the economics of ReUse? I often hear the comment that there is extra labor involved in ReUse efforts. I agree, but embrace it. Typically the extra labor cost is spent on local carpenters and crafts people. Employing more local people is good for the economy and is a sustainable strategy. Even if ReUse is a cost neutral decision on a project it is points positive for the local economy and the environment.
The last bit of advice I would like to give is to look for ReUse opportunities early and often in the design process. The most beautiful designs are those that are well integrated and crafted. You cannot just sprinkle that on at the end.
Marc Sloot has an extensive background in sustainable design and is currently the Minnesota GreenStar Board President. For more information on Minnesota Green Star and the process of design that includes an emphasis on sustainability, read an interview with Marc HERE. To see more of Marc's sustainable research and experience put to use on projects, visit his profile page!