Demolition to Completion of a Energy Efficient UpScale Home

Deconstruction 101
Outdated rambler demolished to make way for the ultra energy-efficient
upscale home.

By:
Jennifer Goodman

For Bethesda Bungalows, which builds on small infill lots in suburban
Washington, D.C., the first step to a high-performance house is
tearing down—and salvaging—an old, inefficient one.
<p xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The ultra-green KellyGreen
Home will be built on the 0.14-acre site of the original 1954 house,
an inefficient and outdated rambler.</p>

The ultra-green KellyGreen Home will be built on the 0.14-acre site of
the original 1954 house, an inefficient and outdated rambler.

Credit: Jean Dimeo

The ultra-green KellyGreen Home will soon be built on the 0.14-acre
site of the original 1954 rambler. The one-story house was functional,
says Bethesda Bungalows project manager Brad Beeson, but inefficient.

"It had no insulation in the walls, old single-pane windows, old
appliances, and an old HVAC system, and water heater," he says.

As the owners prepared to say goodbye to their outdated dwelling,
Beeson drew up a plan to carefully deconstruct it, with an eye toward
salvaging any usable materials. The new house is being built to LEED
and NGBS standards, and both programs provide points for diverting
demolition waste from the landfill.

Workers from Baltimore-based architectural salvage company Second
Chance descended on the house in early June and over two days stripped
out flooring, toilets, appliances, light fixtures, and framing. On
other projects with longer deconstruction times, Beeson says the
salvage company has reclaimed framing and roofing materials and even
electrical wires. "It's not an easy process," says Beeson. "It's
time-consuming and exacting."
DEMOLITION CHECKLIST

*

* Before teardown, determine which materials in the house are of
value and contract with a local architectural salvaging company to
cart them away for resale.
*

* Select a demolition contractor with experience in recycling
elements of the house—such as copper pipes--before taking construction
waste to a landfill.
*

* During demolition, keep a hose running on the dry parts of the
site to keep dust and debris from coating nearby houses and cars.
*

* Try to keep the wrecking process to two days or less.
*

* Reach out to neighbors and invite them to watch the deconstruction.

All the salvaged products and materials end up at the nonprofit's
warehouses near Baltimore's Inner Harbor where they are sold to
architects, builders, and the general public. Homeowners can receive a
hefty tax writeoff for donating their old materials after making a
one-time donation to Second Chance for their salvaging services.

"We try to get all of our customers to sign up with Second Chance, and
we've been pretty successful due to the significant tax benefits,"
Beeson says.

In addition to what Second Chance salvaged, Bethesda Bungalows' crew
removed the oak flooring, to be used later on another project (see
video below). By the time Rockville, Md.-based contractor GM Williams
& Sons arrived for demolition in early July, the 1,200-square-foot
house was not much more than the framing and foundation, and about 25%
of demolition waste had been diverted from the landfill, Beeson
estimates.

IN AND OUT

Orchestrating a major teardown on a tight lot in an upscale
neighborhood with potentially finicky neighbors is not for the faint
of heart, but Beeson and his subs made it look easy. He said his motto
during demolition is to finish the job as quickly, but as carefully,
as possible. Click here for video footage of the demolition.

"During teardown, we always have a hose running on site to keep the
dust down and away from the neighbors, and we make sure the dump
trucks don't ding any cars," he says. "We try our best to make friends
with everyone in the neighborhood, and they're usually very interested
in watching what we're doing."

Unlike some jurisdictions, Montgomery County, Md., promotes infill
development and gives more legal weight to the owners of the teardown
project than to neighbors who might have issue with it, Beeson says.

"The permit application process makes it so that it's almost
impossible for a neighbor to stop the process, unlike in other areas
where neighbors can create a lot of problems for a remodel job," he
says.

Jennifer Goodman is Senior Editor Online for EcoHome.

--
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