Deconstruction in Clallam County Viable or Not?
Built Green Clallam County January 2013
Prepared by Strait Solutions, LLC Blyn, Washington
Built Green – Clallam County
January 2013
Contents 1.0 Executive Summary ....................................................................................3 2.0
Introduction ................................................................................................5
3.0
Estimating the Size and Location of the Supply of C&D Materials ..........7
4.0
Existing Demand for C&D Materials ......................................................19
5.0
Potential Demand for a Re-use Facility in Clallam County ....................21
6.0
Market Barriers to Building Deconstruction and Material Reuse ..........22
7.0
Best Practices for Building Deconstruction and Material Reuse ............24
8.0
Policy Incentives for Increasing Building Deconstruction ......................26
9.0
Conclusion ................................................................................................28
10.0 Appendix ...................................................................................................28
Table of Figures and Tables Figure 1-Market for Deconstruction and Demolition Materials .......................................................... 5 Table 1-Residential Permit Activity ...................................................................................................... 8 Figure 2-Residential Permit Activity .................................................................................................... 9 Figure 3-1975-2011 New Home Construction Clallam County ......................................................... 10 Table 2-Residential Permit Activity by Project Valuation .................................................................. 11 Table 3-Clallam County Demolition Permit Activity 2007-2012 ....................................................... 12 Table 4-Residential Demolition Permit by Type ................................................................................. 12 Table 5-Commercial Demolition Permit by Type ............................................................................... 13 Table 6-Commercial Demolition Permit Comments........................................................................... 13 Table 7-Commercial Permit Activity 2007-2012 ................................................................................ 15 Table 8-Annual Disposed Tonnage by Waste Generation Area ......................................................... 16 Table 9-Annual Wood Debris Tonnage - West WGA.......................................................................... 16 Table 10-Annual C&D Debris Tonnage - West WGA ........................................................................ 17
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Executive Summary This study was commissioned by Built Green of Clallam County to assess the market for re-use of construction and demolition (C&D) material. Additionally, data are analyzed to determine if a re-use store or recycling center could be supported in the County. Building permit data from Clallam County, Port Angeles, and Sequim are reviewed to determine the potential supply and demand for C&D material. Current public and building permit policies are reviewed to determine their impact on current practice. Landfill composition studies are assessed to determine potential C&D material diversion volumes. The focus of the analysis is on Residential and Commercial C&D materials re-use as opposed to that generated by public infrastructure or large industrial projects. This study is structured in phases, each phase designed to determine if the next phase should be pursued. The first phase of the project focuses on analysis of data made available by the Port Angeles, Sequim, and Clallam County permitting agencies. The second phase of the project includes conducting in-depth interviews with key stakeholders, dependent on the first phase data analysis. Concurrently, a deconstruction project under the direction of the North Olympic Library System was tracked to assess the state of current practice. An assessment of market demographics of County residents is also presented. Other studies in other areas of the country are consulted and their findings are contrasted with what exists in Clallam County.
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Deconstruction in Clallam County
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Essentially, the current economic and other conditions in the County do not appear to be conducive to the establishment of a large-volume recycling center for C&D materials. Building permit data do not distinguish between demolition and deconstruction activities; all such permits are classified as demolition. Even if all demolition activities were to be arbitrarily classified as deconstruction, the volume and type of materials made available for re-use do not appear to support the establishment of a high-volume, stand-alone C&D materials recycling site or an additional re-use store. Instead, a re-worked partnership amongst the cities and County, Built Green, the landfill operators and the re-use store(s) already in operation appear to offer some viable options for future development, including the possibility of co-locating on existing transfer facilities. Further, some types of C&D materials have a potential for being diverted from landfill disposal: carpeting and asphalt roofing and will be researched in a separate effort..
Acknowledgements: The authors wish to thank the following individuals and organizations for their advice, assistance, and insight: FaLeana Wech, Tom Schindler, Brian Phillips, Sue Roberds, Yochai Eisenberg, Brian Phillips, Port Angeles Community and Economic Development, Sequim Building Department, Around Again staff, Habitat for Humanity staff.
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Introduction
Built Green Clallam County commissioned a study to assess the market for Construction and Demolition (C&D) debris re-use in Clallam County. The primary objective was to determine if the current rate of Residential and Commercial building demolition could be redirected to be more of a deconstruction activity and thereby reduce the amount of C&D debris being sent to landfills. Instead, these materials would either be recycled or re-used. If necessary, establishment of a conveniently-located recycling dropoff location would be considered as a means to encourage deconstruction. To facilitate discussion of the waste streams being considered, the attached diagram from Youchai Eisenberg was adopted as a reference:
Figure 1 - Market for Deconstruction and Demolition Materials
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For this study, the Industrial sector is left out of the analysis, only Multi-Family, Commercial, or Residential sector Construction and Demolition debris flows are considered. The Industrial sector is so specialized that each site can be analyzed individually to determine re-use/recycling opportunities, such as that done with the Pen-Ply lumber mill/site. Using the preceding graphic as a model, and following the practice of other studies, we tried to estimate the size of potential supply and demand of deconstruction materials by looking at building permitting functions of the County and the cities of Sequim and Port Angeles. Using Demolition permit data was thought to be a good method of capturing the potential source of demolition debris that could instead be re-purposed into deconstruction materials. Looking at New Construction and Alterations/Additions permit data was thought to be a good method of estimating the potential demand for deconstruction materials. This approach paralleled those in other studies so as to make comparisons possible. A review of the most recent Statewide Waste Composition Study completed in 2009 yielded data on the waste streams flowing into the landfill. Clallam County results are grouped with Grays Harbor and no extrapolation of results was performed. See https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/publications/publications/1007023.pdf for a complete discussion of the study, its methodology, and complete findings. The estimated tonnage figures reported are used to assess the potential volume of materials for deconstruction.
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Estimating the Size and Location of the Supply of C&D Materials
A data extract was requested of the Clallam County Building Department to assess the volume of construction/demolition activities as represented by the permitting function. This extract included all permit records from January, 2007 through November 12, 2012, and will be referred to as 2007-2012 in all charts, tables, or graphs, and included a total of 3902 records. Records prior to these dates were excluded, as they are not accessible by the same database system. Manual tabulation of non-mechanized data is outside the scope of this study. The extracted records were then reviewed and analyzed for duplication, completeness, and other data integrity considerations.
The authors and sponsors of this study recognize that some amount of “off-permit” activities take place in the county, including demolitions, remodeling, and renovations. It is outside the scope of this effort to quantify these activities, although some building permit enforcement actions and self-report violation data were part of the extract file the County Building Department provided. The volume of “Built Without Permit” records were insignificant compared to the other types of permitting data included in the file, thus having minimal impact on the study’s overall conclusions and recommendations regarding D&C debris.
A policy decision by the Clallam County Building Department may be needed to change current practices. It is outside the scope of this study to assess the financial and other impacts of this policy issue.
Similar requests for data were made of Port Angeles and Sequim building departments, and some printed data was made available for review. The more robust data for analysis was the Clallam County extract file and is the focus of more detailed consideration. The Port Angeles and Sequim data represented such low volume of activity that further analysis was deemed uneconomic and county results could be extrapolated if necessary.
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Data was analyzed to determine the potential demand for C&D debris materials, as represented by building permit activity for New construction as well as Alterations and Additions. Permit data was also reviewed to assess the volume of Demolition activity.
A breakdown of the permit records included in the extract file for Residential permit activity is shown in the chart below:
Residential Permit Activity 2007-2012 - Clallam County Permit Type Single Family Dwelling NEW Detach New Single Family Dwelling Alt/Add Demolition Res MINOR Alt/Add Change of Use Detach Alt/Addn Built w/o permit Woodburning Appliance Alt/Add to Manufactured Home Propane Replace Structure Fence NEW MULTI-UNIT Dwellings NON-Building structure NEW Manufactured Home Placement Other Sign
Count 753 629 480 117 87 53 52 41 37 33 23 20 16 14 13 12 6 3
% of Total 31.5% 26.3% 20.1% 4.9% 3.6% 2.2% 2.2% 1.7% 1.5% 1.4% 1.0% 0.8% 0.7% 0.6% 0.5% 0.5% 0.3% 0.1%
Total
2388
100.0%
Source: Clallam County Building Department Data Extract 01/01/07 thru 11/12/12
Table 1-Residential Permit Activity
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Residential Permit Activity 2007-2012 - Clallam County Replace Structure, 20 Alt/Add to Manufactured Home, 33
Fence, 16
NEW MULTI-UNIT NON-Building Dwellings, 14 structure, 13
NEW Manufactured Home Placement, 12
Propane, 23
Other, 6 Sign, 3
Woodburning Appliance, 37 SFD NEW, 753 Built w/o permit, 41 Detach Alt/Addn, 52 SFD Alt/Add, 480 Change of Use, 53 MINOR Alt/Add, 87 Demolition Res, 116
Detach New, 629
Source: Clallam County Planning Dept Figure 2-Residential Permit Activity
The majority of the permits issued were for new construction of single-family dwellings, SFD NEW, with 753; new construction of detached structures, Detach New, with 629; alterations or additions to single family dwellings, SFD Alt/Add, with 480; and Demolition, minor alterations or additions, change of use, and alterations or additions to detached structures accounting for another 308. Together these 6 categories account for almost ninety percent of Residential permit activity contained in the extract file.
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The County Building Department also publishes its own charts and graphs of select permit types.
Figure 3-1975-2011 New Home Construction Clallam County
For the above 36 year period, 273 permits were issued, on average, per year, while for the period 20072012, an average of 166 permits were issued, an almost 40% drop. The severe economic downturn is primarily responsible for this decline. There are few reliable estimates about future housing sector activity at the national, state or local levels due to a wide variety of factors. The current consensus is that 2013 will be a year of slow economic recovery nationwide, with the Olympic Peninsula somewhat lagging the rest of the nation.
The Clallam County Permit data extract file contained project valuation and project square footage data, similar to that used in other studies (R.Weber, S. Kaplan, and H. Sokol, et al), to assess the viability of the D&C debris recycling and re-use. Unfortunately, the square footage data fields are used inconsistently across permit types, rendering them somewhat unreliable for the purposes of this study and accurate correlational analysis. A major data scrub, specific to the needs of this study, but currently out of scope, would be necessary to assure the reliability of the square footage data, if used for this study’s purposes.
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A policy decision on the part of the Building Department would be necessary to address this data on a going forward basis if other square-footage based analysis is desired.
Unlike Square Foot data, Project Valuation data were consistently populated throughout the data extract records reviewed. The following chart depicts the estimated aggregate project value of the various Residential sector permit types:
Residential Permit Activity 2007-2012 - Clallam County in order of Project Valuation Permit Type
Valuation
Single Family Dwelling NEW
$
163,916,747
62.1%
Single Family Dwelling Alt/Add
$
56,793,870
21.5%
Detach New
$
27,526,659
10.4%
NEW MULTI-UNIT Dwellings
$
3,680,777
1.4%
Replace Structure
$
2,448,086
0.9%
Built w/o permit
$
2,005,051
0.8%
Change of Use
$
1,878,615
0.7%
Detach Alt/Addn
$
1,477,176
0.6%
Demolition Res
$
1,203,894
0.5%
Alt/Add to Manufactured Home
$
982,549
0.4%
NEW Manufactured Home Placement
$
830,368
0.3%
MINOR Alt/Add
$
453,199
0.2%
Other
$
282,549
0.1%
NON-Building structure
$
224,621
0.1%
Woodburning Appliance
$
125,111
0.0%
Fence
$
74,934
0.0%
Propane
$
68,580
0.0%
Sign
$
3,000
0.0%
Total $ Table 2-Residential Permit Activity by Project Valuation
263,975,786
100.0%
Project valuation data indicates that 94% of permit activity was comprised of three main types: construction of New Single-Family Detached Residences, Alterations or Additions to same, and construction of New Detached Structures. Permit activity data also indicates that the combination of Alterations/Additions to Single Family Dwellings and new construction of Detached structures account for slightly over half the project valuation of new Single Family Dwellings construction.
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Residential and Commercial Demolition permit activity included in the extract file broke down as follows:
Demolition Permit Activity 2007-2012 - Clallam County Year 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Totals
Residential 17 20 19 22 23 16
Commercial 6 0 5 2 6 4
117
23
Table 3-Clallam County Demolition Permit Activity 2007-2012
2007-2012 Residential Demolition Permit by Type Type Manufactured Home Single Family Dwelling Detached Structure Fire Other Total
Count 42 31 26 12 6 117
Table 4-Residential Demolition Permit by Type
The above results indicate that using Demolition Permit data records alone to capture and estimate the potential volume of deconstruction materials is not sufficient. The low sample size also constrains the statistical analysis that can be performed, impacting results variability and reliability. Further, the square foot data reported in the demolition permit records did not lend itself to analysis that would yield comparable results to other projects. A visual review and manual classification of the free-format comment section of Residential sector Demolition permit records was completed and is summarized in the Table 4, above. Demolition permit records indicate Manufactured Homes, Detached Structures, and Single Family Residence permits rank first, second, and third, in volume, respectively. The first two categories may not be high-yield sources of
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deconstruction material re-use. With only 31 Single Family Dwelling Demolition permits over six years, the volume of available deconstruction materials represented by this source is questionable. A review of the commercial sector demolition permit records included in the extract file for 2007-2012 shows the following:
2007-2012 Commercial Demolition Permit by Type Type Building Manufactured Home Fire Detached Other Total
Count 7 1 3 4 8 23
Table 5-Commercial Demolition Permit by Type
The review of the Commercial Demolition permit records comments section shows: Permit 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Comment DEMOLITION OF GREENHOUSES DEMOLITION OF EXISITING STRUCTURES; INCLUDING PUMP ISLAND CANOPY; PUMP ISLANDS REMOVAL OF THREE 20,000 GALLON U/G GASOLINE STORAGE TANKS 675 GALLON REMOVAL OF UNDERGROUND FUEL TANK; FILLING WITH SLURRY 425 GALLON UNDERGROUND DIESEL FUEL TANK ABANDONMENT - FILL W/SLURRY#RECIEPTS SHO DEMOLITION OF OFFICE BUILDING *PRIOR TO FINAL OF THIS BPT PUMPING RECEIPT FOR S DECOMMISSION OF 250 GAL U/G GASOLINE FUEL TANK TO BE FILLED WITH SLURRY * PROV DEMO PERMIT FOR 3 MANUFACTURED HOMES UNDERGROUND FUEL TANK REMOVALS (1) 4000 GALLON & (1) 6000 GALLON WASTE OIL (COMB DEMOLITION (FORMER K-MART) 80,500 AND 9,000 SQ FT BUILDINGS ## KOLONEL WAY IS DEMOLITION OF SHELL FISH PROCESSING BUILDING ON A PIER DEMOLITION OF FIRE DAMAGED STRUCTURE - INDIAN VALLEY MOTEL (GRANNY'S) PER ORCAA ABANDON IN PLACE, 275 GALLON UNDERGROUND FUEL OIL TANK, AT GRANGE HALL * PRIOR T REMOVAL OF 10,000 GAL UNDERGROUND FUEL TANK (GASOLINE) (ORIGINALLY INSTALLED UN DEMOLITION OF CABIN BEING USED AS STORAGE * CALL FOR FINAL WHEN DEMO IS COMPLETE (NON-RESIDENTIAL) DEMO OF 18' X 40' ADDITION BUILT W/O PERMIT * CALL FOR FINAL DEMO OF GRANDSTANDS FOR SPEEDWAY * CALL FOR FINAL INSPECTION WHE DEMO AND SEPTI DEMO OF COMMERICIAL BUILDING DAMAGED BY FIRE * EASTERLY BUILDING-METAL CONSTRU DEMOLITION OF RESTAURANT COLLAPSED BY FIRE (PEKING CHINA) * CALL FOR INSPECTIO DEMO OF "OLD" LITTLE BROWN CHURCH OF BLYN *CALL FOR FINAL INSPECTION WHEN DEMO DEMO OF COMMERICIAL BLDG (SCHMITT SHEET METAL) * CALL FOR FINAL WHEN DEMO IS COM DEMO OF 400 SQ FT STORAGE BUILDING * CALL FOR FINAL INSPECTION WHEN DEMO IS COMP DEMO OF OFFICE BUILDING * CALL FOR FINAL INSPECTION WHEN DEMO IS COMPLETE & PROV
Table 6-Commercial Demolition Permit Comments
The data do not indicate a high-volume source of deconstruction materials to be handled in a centralized recycling center. Deconstruction opportunities can be addressed on a project-by-project basis. 13
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Other jurisdictions address demolition permitting in ways that differ from how it is done in Clallam County and the cities of Port Angeles, and Sequim. For example, some places differentiate between demolition and deconstruction as a matter of policy and their permitting processes encourage deconstruction and recycling/re-use over demolition and transfer-to-landfill. In some cases, it costs an applicant more to get a demolition permit than a deconstruction permit. Yet other places allow deconstruction permits to affect the processing queue of new construction permits as an incentive. Many policies and practices are well-documented and available for review via the internet.
These studies show that policies can be developed and put in place to encourage deconstruction, recycling, and re-use to replace transfer to landfill. It is outside the scope of this project to analyze, contrast, compare, and assess in detail the specifics of the current permitting practices in the three jurisdictions in Clallam County.
In summary, the use of demolition permit records to quantify the potential supply of deconstruction materials is inadequate to fully and accurately quantify said materials. The relatively low volume of demolition permits in either the Residential or Commercial sectors may not adequately capture the materials flow for the purposes of this study.
A review of the comments section of the Residential Alterations/Additions permits indicates a potential source of deconstruction materials. Manual tabulation of this otherwise non-formatted data into a quantifiable potential is outside the scope of this study.
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The Commercial sector as represented in the County Extract File record counts is shown in the table below and includes a record count, Project Valuation, and reported square footage, each grouped by Permit Type and sorted by permit volume:
Commercial Permit Activity 2007-2012 - Clallam County Commercial Alt/Add Commercial - NEW Sign Change of Use Commercial - Non Building Structure Demolition* MISC - Commercial Propane Demolition* Commercial Structure Replace Commercial Structure Built w/o Permit Other Alt/Add to SFD Solid Fuel Totals
Count 127 102 51 24 17 15 13 4 3 3 2 2 2 1
Value $ 13,274,819 $ 15,346,862 $ 251,461 $ 1,371,719 $ 684,410 $ 328,500 $ 252,294 $ 13,700,352 $ 81,000 $ 157,169 $ 117,551 $ 52,119 $ 6,992 $ 2,000
Square Footage 236,462 262,527
366
$ 45,627,248
843,829
138,947 1,662 12,490 4,588 181,843 1,128 2,288 1,894
*5 record difference in Demolition counts is due to data field use inconsistencies Table 7-Commercial Permit Activity 2007-2012
Based strictly on permit data record counts, the volume of activity in the Residential sector is almost seven times that of the Commercial sector, and almost six times the Project Valuation. Given these results, we determined it was uneconomic to consider the Commercial sector more fully without more robust data. We now change focus to consider the waste stream data as a source of potential deconstruction/reuse/recycle materials.
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The most current Statewide Waste Categorization Study completed by the Washington State Department of Ecology in 2009, which included Clallam County, yields the following results.
Annual Disposed Tonnage by Waste Generation Area WASTE GENERATION AREAS ANNUAL DISPOSED WASTE TONNAGE Central WGA (Yakima, Grant) 523,636 East WGA (Spokane, Walla Walla) 734,627 Northwest WGA (Whatcom) 306,189 Puget Sound WGA (Kitsap) 2,810,988 Southwest WGA (Lark, Lewis) 428,085 West WGA (Clallam, Grays Harbor) 174,971 Total 4,978,496 Source: https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/publications/publications/1007023.pdf, Table 23, pg. 46 Table 8-Annual Disposed Tonnage by Waste Generation Area
Annual Wood Debris Tonnage – West WGA DISPOSED
SELF-HAUL
Material
Est %
Est Tons
Est %
Est Tons
TonnageTotals
Treated Wood
0.1%
65
2.1%
253
318
Painted Wood
0.4%
292
8.6%
1020
1312
Dimensional Lumber
0.3%
194
9.8%
1155
1349
0.3%
187
6.5%
772
959
Engineered Wood Pallets & Crates
0.0%
0
1.6%
192
192
Other Untreated Wood
0.0%
23
0.7%
82
108
Wood By-Products
0.2%
124
0.4%
45
169
R/C Wood Debris
0.0%
20
3.0%
349
369
1.3%
905
32.8%
3870
4776
Wood Debris Total Total Waste for WGA Sector
68,636
11,808
Source: https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/publications/publications/1007023.pdf, pp 103, 104 Table 9-Annual Wood Debris Tonnage - West WGA
Of the above Wood Debris estimated waste tonnage, Painted Wood (1312 est. tn), Dimensional Lumber (1349 est. tn), Pallets & Crates (192 est. tn), and Other Untreated Wood (108 est. tn) are the most likely candidates for potential re-use or recycling. There is a potential 2961 tons, if 100% re-purposed, available to deconstruction or recycling. This would equate to approximately $414,000 in tipping fees, at an approximate cost of $140/ton. This does not include potential revenues generated by the sale of 16
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materials to deconstruction/recycling materials vendors, nor the labor costs associated with performing the deconstruction activities necessary to prepare for re-sale, transport, or storage costs.
Annual C&D Debris Tonnage – West WGA DISPOSED Material
SELF-HAUL
Est %
Est Tons
Est %
Natural Wood
0.1%
38
0.0%
0
38
Insulation
0.0%
0
1.5%
178
178
Asphalt Paving
0.0%
0
0.0%
0
0
Concrete
0.2%
132
0.5%
64
196
Drywall
Est Tons
Totals
0.1%
46
18.2%
2147
2193
Carpet
0.1%
98
4.8%
563
661
Carpet Padding
0.0%
4
2.8%
334
338
0.7%
497
0.0%
0
497
1.3%
905
9.8%
1159
2064
Soil, Rocks, Sand Asphalt Roofing Plastic Flooring
0.0%
0
0.0%
0
0
Ceramics & Brick
0.2%
133
3.1%
368
501
R/C Construction Materials
0.6%
422
5.1%
601
1023
Total Construction Materials
2.0%
1369
45.9%
5414
6783
Total Waste for WGA Sector
68,636
11,808
Source: https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/publications/publications/1007023.pdf, pp 103, 104 Table 10-Annual C&D Debris Tonnage - West WGA
The above Construction debris results above indicate there may be opportunities for re-use of some materials. Of those with a potential for consideration, Asphalt Roofing, with an estimated 2064 tons, has the most opportunity for immediate conversion from landfill to re-use/recycling. If 100% converted to these purposes, the impact to tipping fees is approximately $289,000. Carpet (661 est. tn) and Carpet (338 est. tn) padding have also been mentioned in some informal data gathering interviews as potential sources of re-use/recycle materials. Together, they account for and additional estimated 999 tons and an additional $140,000 in tipping fees. In summary, using the most recent Statewide Waste Categorization Study, and assuming a 100% conversion from current practice to deconstruct/re-use/recycle practices, a potential estimated 6,024 tons of Wood Debris and Construction/Demolition Debris components is available for consideration, representing an impact of approximately $843,000 in tipping fees.
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Clearly, a change from current practice to deconstruction/re-use/recycle will not achieve 100% conversion, and the estimated tonnages provided via the statewide waste characterization study are subject to variance from actual amounts, as the study so indicates. Nevertheless, almost a million dollars per year are potentially being spent on tipping fees and over 6,000 tons of debris is likely being buried in landfills when they could be otherwise put to use.
Additional tipping fee savings and landfill diversions may be possible for the Drywall component of the C&D Waste Summary. This component accounts for an additional 2,193 estimated tons and approximately $307,000 in tipping fees. The above estimates are based on the Waste Characterization Study tonnage estimates. An updated calculation of benefits was provided as part of the presentation to the Solid Waste Management Committee and is included as part of this document as an Appendix. As the data indicates, the vast majority of the potential sources for deconstruction materials are in the Self-Haul category. Accordingly, efforts to facilitate the separation of potentially re-usable materials from that which can only be transferred to landfill are an opportunity to be explored further. Included in this exploration is the establishment of a temporary location for the sorting of materials for deconstruction/re-use. Currently, Around Again (a local vendor of deconstruction materials) staff has expressed interest in establishing such a site. Details of the proposed approach are being developed and will be communicated once more firm. Additional effort to establish a co-located site with the current Port Angeles Transfer station facility is indicated.
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Existing Demand for C&D Materials
The demand for C&D Materials for re-use and recycling is comprised of a number of variables. The County Building Permit Data Extract File was used as a basis for analysis of potential demand. One variable used to estimate demand for re-use was volume of building permits issued for new construction of Single Family Dwellings. The first ten months of 2012 yielded less than 100, while the end of year 2012 was just shy of 110 permits for new Single-Family Dwellings. Of all permit types in the file, these permits rank first in terms of Project Valuation. Although some migration from construction of new homes to Alterations or Additions of Single Family Dwellings is expected, the potential increase is not expected to drive a large demand for deconstruction materials. As shown previously, six years’ data on the Project Valuation field in Clallam County extract files shows that Alterations and Additions to Single Family Dwellings are approximately one-third the stated Project Valuation of permits for new construction. Permits for new construction of Detached Structures is even less, approximately only 17% of the value for new construction of Single Family Dwellings. Consequently, the permit data would indicate that demand for any building materials, much less re-use deconstruction materials, is suppressed, and likely to continue for at least this year.
The lowered demand for construction services in the county is also reflected in the local lumberyard retail trades. A shuttered lumberyard/building materials retailer on Highway 101 between Sequim and Port Angeles has not re-opened. Informal in-person surveys of three other existing lumberyards/building materials suppliers showed decreased staffing and reduced hours, as well as reduced customer traffic. Informal interviews with local contractors found that some premium custom home builders are taking on smaller projects, such as storage sheds to keep staff busy. Given the above, as well as the current economic forecasts for the nation, state, and region, leads us to conclude that demand is likely to continue to be lower than hoped.
Further affecting our estimate of subdued demand are the County population demographics and economic statistics. The market for re-use material, in the consumer segment, tends to be concentrated in the younger population with more disposable income.
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Built Green – Clallam County
January 2013
The 2011 US Census Bureau website estimated population of Clallam County is listed as 71,838. Of these, 24.6% of the population is over 65 years in age, and another 17.8% is under 18 years of age. These facts reduce the number of people between the ages of 18 and 65 to approximately 41,480 potential consumers. Clallam County has a median household income of $46,212 per the US Census Bureau website. As contrast, one of the most successful counties in Washington State, two hours away by ferry, in the deconstruction trade is King County. Per the US Census, King County has 94,460 households with household incomes between $35-49,999; 138,336 households earning $50-74,999 and another 109,540 with earnings between $75-99,999. Clearly, these and other demographic factors make for a much more favorable source pool of potential customers.
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January 2013
Potential Demand for a Re-use Facility in Clallam County
With analysis of the County Building Permit Extract file completed and a review of current economic forecasts and County demographic data indicating a potentially lower than ideal level of consumer demand, we focused on determining what level of re-use facility could be supported in the County. Key characteristics of a re-use facility include: -
Easy access for consumers and contractors to drop-off and pick-up re-use materials
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Convenient location to minimize out-of-the-way travel if already going to Transfer Station
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Large enough space to allow for materials clean-up/salvage operations, storage of product for re-sale, and room for dumpsters
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Low-cost rental of property to reduce overhead to minimum
With the low volume of materials being captured via the demolition permit process, and the potential volume of materials already being sent directly to landfill via the transfer station as a result of the Alterations/Additions activity, it raised the question of whether this Re-use Facility could be co-located with the Port Angeles Regional Transfer Station. A more thorough investigation of this possibility was outside the scope of this study. However, a local deconstruction/re-use contractor is filling the current and anticipated need via the Around Again retail operation. A coordinated and integrated project with them and Built Green Clallam County is a possibility that can be further explored, but beyond this study’s scope.
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January 2013
Market Barriers to Building Deconstruction and Material Reuse
The overall economy continues to have significant impacts on construction activity; nationally and locally, the rate of improvement is only slight, and the core segments of the housing construction industry are in slow recovery mode. Without an increase in demand of significant size, the local market for deconstruction materials for reuse is likely to continue to be small. Clallam County is a rural county, with nearly 72,000 total estimated residents. Not all of these potential consumers are attracted by the “reuse aesthetic.” This reduces the potential local market size as well. The local market, when compared to pre-recession levels, was not supporting significantly more deconstruction materials retailers than today, so increases from today’s levels may prove less than desired. The deconstruction reuse market can be defined in many ways, but a large component of the market can be said to be in the “eye of the beholder.” Some people prefer the look and feel of old rustic wood on their floors. To be able to say that it was re-sawn from the deconstruction of an old barn is an added sought-after bonus. Yet other consumers like to focus on the history of the pieces that were rescued from the landfill. The decision to use reclaimed materials is a sometimes less-than-straightforward process. In some cases, the re-purposed material tends to be just as, or considerably more expensive than “new” products. Sometimes it takes time to gather all the right pieces together for that “just right” look and feel. Each of these attributes about the potential consumer of reuse material fragments the market into smaller niches. Clallam County does not appear to be represented in high numbers in these market demographic niches. Another potential barrier to the establishment of a robust local deconstruction material reuse market is lack of “desirable” inventory. The meaning of “desirable” is again being defined in the “eye of the beholder.” There were only a few local single family dwellings being demolished per year, as previously shown via building permit analysis. Whatever of those future demolitions were instead converted to deconstructions is difficult to establish, and there are no significant incentives to do so. For future consideration as a potential source of deconstruction material, policy incentives might be considered for residents to give serious consideration to deconstruction versus demolition. There are few alternatives for residents to consider for drop-off and storage of deconstructed materials they may generate. Whatever materials that are generated via alterations or additions are either being sent to landfill or being re-purposed through existing processes. 22
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January 2013
Without a convenient and effective way to gather, prepare, inventory, store, and display available deconstruction materials, it becomes more difficult to match buyers with sellers. One of the most successful deconstruction markets is a two-hour trip by ferry: King County. The selection of materials, the displays, the volumes, the convenience – they are all there, and many in very mature businesses. For those Clallam County residents that do fit the reuse demographic, they have King County. Even closer, Jefferson County also offers many alternative sources for materials and artisans that integrate them into their work. Some of these businesses are also mature and well-established. A robust local market would need to offer something unique to compete and succeed. The largest barrier, however, will be cultural – because it will require people to change – change their attitudes, their behaviors, and their understanding of a number of issues, many covered here. Some will be open to it, some may resist. Not all affected by potential change will have the same stake in the outcomes. Some may have more at stake than others. All of this will take time to work through. The longer it takes to get a cohesive group together to act in a concerted way to achieve the change, the less likely a robust market will be created, nurtured, and supported.
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January 2013
Best Practices for Building Deconstruction and Material Reuse
The following is excerpted from the March 2011 Go Guide for Deconstruction and Re-use, produced by the Delta Institute and available online in its entirety at URL:
http://delta-institute.org/sites/default/files/GO-GuideToDeconstructionAndReuse.pdf
Part III: Practitioners Guide for Contractors Traditional demolition typically involves the salvage of building materials, such as metal, wood, concrete or roof shingles, and subsequent recycling or processing to create new products or uses. Material is transformed, requiring new energy and losing embodied energy. Deconstruction is the process of carefully dismantling a building in order to salvage components for reuse in substantially the same form, requiring less energy and resulting in the recovery of higher-value materials. This section provides practical information to help contractors interested in participating in this growth industry:
Understand the business opportunity in deconstruction; Learn steps for getting started and succeeding long-term; Understand how to market deconstruction services; Discover strategies for overcoming common challenges; Get more information.
All of the above topics are covered in more detail in the guide, and are not repeated here. Further, the Go Guide recommends the following additional resources: Guide to Deconstruction, Deconstruction Institute www.deconstructioninstitute. com/files/learn_center/45762865_guidebook.pdf
A Guide to Deconstruction, National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), prepared for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development www.huduser.org/publications/pdf/decon.pdf
Recycling How-to Guide, Madison Environmental Group, Inc. www.madisonenvironmental.com/documents/pubs_deconkit.pdf
In summary, there are substantial resources available to help anyone seriously considering entering the Deconstruction practice.
Locally, there are several for-profit and non-profit organizations involved in a variety of segments of the re-use market. One for-profit business closed in Port Angeles and none has yet replaced it fully. Each existing organization has its area of specialization and customer base, and there are cross-over customers amongst store types.
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January 2013
One non-profit, Around Again, participated in a public works deconstruction project with the North Olympic Library System (NOLS) from contracting to completion. As part of this study, several field visits were made to document progress, initial and follow-up interviews were conducted with the NOLS Facilities Manager and the Contractor. In brief: -
Each would do it again,
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They both learned a lot in the process
Public works projects require prevailing wages be paid. The word “demolition” versus “deconstruction” apparently had an impact on the determination of a prevailing wage requirement in excess of $40.00 per hour for the worker. If this determination is not modified or a better way to define the work is not established with the Department of Labor and Industries, it will be severely UN-economic to perform public works deconstruction work with this classification. It is outside the scope of this project to pursue this issue.
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January 2013
Policy Incentives for Increasing Building Deconstruction
In reviewing the literature and media available on the internet, one study, cited earlier, the Go Guide, (http://delta-institute.org/sites/default/files/GO-GuideToDeconstructionAndReuse.pdf ) contained a section specifically addressing Policy subject matter and is excerpted below: Strategy #1: Be a Role Model In areas of the country where disposal costs are high or for specific buildings that have a large volume of higher-value reusable materials, deconstruction is cost competitive with traditional demolition and disposal. Local governments can be role models by requiring audits or inventories of salvageable materials for public projects as part of the bid process
Strategy #2: Fund Demonstration Programs Grant funds can subsidize deconstruction project costs in cases where the higher cost of deconstruction is unlikely to be offset by avoided disposal costs, value of reused materials, or tax benefits to the building owner. Government grants for housing rehabilitation, job training or energy conservation are potential sources of funding for subsidized deconstruction programs. Subsidized programs can be used to train contractors on handling materials and to find markets for highervalue reusable materials. The City of Chicago and Cook County are examples of local governments that are currently using government grants to subsidize deconstruction work, provide an example, build capacity and jump-start the local market.
Strategy #3: Adopt Supportive Local Ordinances Local governments can support the reuse and recycling of C&D materials by passing ordinances that require private demolition contractors to recycle a specific percentage of materials or that incorporate green building standards in public building projects. These types of ordinances are more common in states with high levels of environmental awareness and regulation, such as California, Colorado and Washington. Examples in the Great Lakes region are less common, but do exist. See the sidebar for a list of prominent ordinances. For more detail, see Appendix A. Some local governments are also supporting deconstruction activities by expediting the permitting process or waiving permit fees for demolition and new construction that involves deconstruction. For example, Los Altos Hills, CA, waives the permitting fee for projects when a deconstruction contract is attached to the permit application and expedites the process for new buildings.
Strategy #4: Provide Education and Training for Contractors Local government and non-government partners can provide funding, education and training for contractors on topics that will help them grow their deconstruction line of business, including: The value and markets for a broad range of reusable materials; Methods for carefully handling and packaging reusable materials for resale markets; Risks and regulations in handling materials that may contain lead-based paint or other potential contamination; Labor standards for deconstruction workers and risks relating to work in areas where these standards have not yet been defined formally; Hybrid deconstruction techniques, which combine manual deconstruction to maximize reuse and recycling and traditional machine-operated demolition techniques; and Potential tax incentives for donation of building materials by higher-income homeowners or commercial building redevelopers. More detailed information on these topics is included in the Practitioners Guide for Contractors (page 19). A number of non-profits that provide training services for contractors are listed in Appendix D. Other training publications and resources are also provided in Appendix E.
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Strategy #5: Support New Labor Standards Because deconstruction is relatively new, there are no specific labor standards for deconstruction workers in many states. Government-funded programs that require payment of prevailing wage have been stalled because of the high cost of paying lower-skill and youth trainees wages that may not fit their job site activities. A recent forum hosted by Cook County, IL, on market barriers to deconstruction resulted in a recommendation that deconstruction be defined as an occupation through the Department of Labor’s Office of Apprenticeship.
Strategy #6: Support New Appraisal Standards Charitable tax deductions for donation of used building materials are an important incentive to offset the higher up-front cost of deconstruction. The IRS requires an appraisal by a qualified appraiser of materials valued at more than $5,000. Deconstruction of an entire home is sure to yield materials with a value over this threshold. Finding a qualified appraiser that has education and experience in valuing used building materials may be a challenge, however, given that national appraisal organizations do not yet have specialized certification programs for this type of personal property. Most personal property appraisers specialize in art, antiques, jewelry, or specialized equipment. Outreach to appraisal organizations is needed to encourage them to provide new appraisal standards for valuing donated building materials.
Strategy #7: Advocate for Clear Environmental and Public Health Policies for Handling and Selling Salvaged Materials Environmental and health regulations are clear on the removal and disposal of asbestos-containing materials and other types of hazardous building materials. Regulations on handling lead-based paint in rehab situations are also clear since the EPA’s Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) rule took full effect in April 2010. However, it is not yet clear if this rule or other regulations apply in deconstruction or demolition cases where a building will no longer exist or be occupied. Some national deconstruction advocacy groups are seeking clarity from government officials on this issue. Organizations that sell used building materials are also establishing best practices for the safe reuse of salvaged materials. During the salvage process, as long as there is no flaking, peeling, or cracking, lead-based materials are still often sent to retail centers and sold to customers. In these cases, customers are directed to a wide range of existing lead-management resources. Reuse retailers cannot play the role of educational resource regarding lead issues because of potential liability, but they can encourage customers to educate themselves about lead, especially given the amount of information already published by the EPA.
Strategy #8: Build Public Awareness Although there is a long-standing public preference for new goods, the recent economic downturn and changing tastes are increasing demand for salvaged and reclaimed materials. A small but growing group of artists, craftsmen, do-it-yourselfers and architects are embracing the reclaimed aesthetic and making it a norm of the green building movement. Education and marketing by government and advocacy groups is needed to increase awareness among homeowners and building managers about deconstruction and reuse opportunities. In most parts of the country, nongovernment practitioners are leading the way in expanding awareness.
Clearly, each of the above strategies needs to be considered in light of a number of factors, including all other high priority issues that are currently before the various affected regulatory agencies, staffing needs and workloads, budgets, and many other considerations. Some work is being performed in some of these areas on a more ad-hoc than formalized basis, and that may be appropriate for the current economic environment. The NOLS project is but one example of executing the Role Model strategy listed above. 27
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January 2013
The current permitting processes in Clallam County, regardless of regulating agency, do not differentiate between demolition and deconstruction. There are no policy-based incentives to encourage one activity over the other. The same is true for ORCAA-issued permits. Whether it makes sense at this time to review these and related issues is up to each regulating agency to determine, given the numerous ongoing issues they face.
9.0
Conclusion
A Powerpoint presentation summarizing this material and adding additional tables and charts was prepared for and presented to the Solid Waste Advisory Committee on January 17, 2013. Recommendations and discussion are part of the public record, available from the SWAC sometime in February.
10.0 Appendix
January 17, 2013 Powerpoint Presentation to Solid Waste Advisory Committee
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