Sustainable Past. Sustainable Future?

SUSTAINABLE PAST

SUSTAINABLE FUTURE ?

TERRY QUARMBY

He is a Chartered Occupational Health & Safety Professional, a Chartered Environmentalist, a Fellow of the Institute of Demolition Engineers (IDE) and an Expert Witness for demolition related matters.

Quarmby is a former President of the IDE and has represented NFDC, BRE, CIRIA, Defra, HSE and several Academic Institutions on Industry topics.

Terry Quarmby has spent the best part of 50 years working in the demolition sector from site labourer through to Director and Consultant.

emolition is one of those words that most people probably think they understand because it’s a word that’s been around all of their lives.

Yet if you were to ask the average ‘Janet’ or ‘Joe’ what meaning the word had for them, you are most likely to get answers ranging from the ordinary to the sublime and the ridiculous.

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It’s a fact that most people have no real perception of demolition or its often unseen impact or in uence on their daily lives or routine. If you’re unconvinced by that statement, try a simple test by selecting a cross section of friends or family and see what responses come back.

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It may be obvious that construction activities certainly do in uence their daily lives. They see the structures being built, they visit, work or live in those structures and they traverse, walk, drive and manoeuvre past them throughout their lives.

Making the leap to connect demolition with construction is never a natural or obvious consideration. So it’s little wonder that the demolition industry receives few plaudits or accolades compared to those that constructors enjoy.

Dr Terry Quarmby

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Going back in our recent history may help to clarify what I mean by socio-economic and how construction and demolition are linked.

I’d like to say that it’s a well-kept secret, but that’s not really helpful in pushing for a welldeserved recognition. For those of us who live and breathe demolition there can be no doubt that without our skills and knowledge, the construction and building sectors would struggle to provide and ful l their contractual and socio-economic obligations.

THE GEORGIAN ERA 1714-1830 his was a time of great growth in our towns and cities when Georgian architecture gave us a ‘classicism’ style imitative of ancient Greece and Rome.

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Great examples of this style being commonplace in such as Edinburgh, Bath, Bristol, Dublin and Newcastle.

I’m pretty sure that those of us with an interest in reclamation have dismantled one or two such regency treasures and sold them on.

However, the most common building materials of this period were brick and stone and the colours used extensively were mainly red, tan or white.

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The period was so named after the continuous and uninterrupted reign of four Monarchs from the ‘House of Hanover.

George I, George II, George III and for a short period within this time line was that of the ‘Regency’ style derived from the short reign of George IV where uted pilasters and decorative motifs replaced classical columns and general re nement.

The so called ‘Blanketeers’ who were mainly spinners and weavers marched on the capital from Manchester in 1817 whilst the ‘Luddites’ attacked northern mills and factories destroying machinery and burning buildings. One of the UK Governments answers to this malady was to establish a penal colony in the newly-won continent of Australia and to ship miscreants out of the country for life.

But what is it that we within our industry recognise from this time? If reclamation is one of your forte’s there are plenty of goodies to be recuperated from project sites of this age and even if you don’t transfer to a dedicated sale site, the types and amounts of architectural salvage available would attract buyers aplenty to your site. With the attraction that buildings of this era generate we also seem to be in the eye of TV companies seeking interesting structures with a history.

The Georgian era was also a time of British expansion throughout the world and the Georgian style of building became part and parcel of the established training given to architects, designers, builders, masons, carpenters and plasterers everywhere.

It was also a time of great depression in the UK in which commoners vented their anger at Government and Industrial magnates alike.

he end of the Georgian era came with the death of William IV eldest son of George IV. William inherited the throne at the age of 64 and his reign, a short one, lasted only seven years with the throne passing to his niece Victoria.

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What an age this was for Great Britain and the Commonwealth. In the Victorian era, the population of England and Wales almost doubled from 16.8 to 30.5 million. In Scotland, it increased from 2.8 to 4.4 million while Ireland’s population decreased from 8.3 to 4.5 million, mostly due to the great famine and emigration to the USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

THE VICTORIAN ERA 1837-1901

The Victorians also staged the Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace and imitated the style for Kew Gardens. Stagecoaches gave way to steam and Isambard Kingdom Brunel gave us the SS Great Britain, Great Western, the Clifton Suspension Bridge and others.

It was a boom time for the railways and London Underground. Gas lighting led to hundreds of gasworks being built which eventually gave way to electricity, creating power stations and associated infrastructure. Huge engineering feats such as the London sewerage system was completed.

Churches were built in their hundreds, houses by the millions, factories, warehouses, shops, public buildings, docks, museums, banks and many more. It was a time for the perfect marriage of materials and structures.

Architectural changes saw a gothic revival mixed with the classical where the New Palace of Westminster, built in the medieval style of Westminster Hall, is a good example.

THE EDWARDIAN ERA 1901-1910 he Edwardians continued the building and restoration of earlier structures and oversaw the installation of London as the nancial centre of the world.

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Domestic servants became fashionable and common place for the gentry and elite amongst society. The architectural style of the age took on an ‘art nouveau’ look with designers such as Charles Rennie Mackintosh and neoclassical revival styles inspired by the Christopher Wren design of the late 17th and 18th centuries.

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Edwardian and Victorian home styles took on a most unique look that can be recognised even today in those remaining properties. We were treated to: patterned bricks with alternating headers; Flemish and English bond with stretchers; terraces off kitchens onto front and back gardens and spaces for car parking, which had become commonplace in cities and towns.

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All of this means a virtual and physical goldmine for the demolition industry to feast upon when it came time to demolish and re-coup these ne materials.

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Barge boards and decorative wood panels on gables and elevations Decorative roof tiles, slates and ridges in terracotta styles Bay and sash windows in singles or up to 3 bays often glazed in the new plate glass.

Floor tiles in terracotta with vivid colours in red, blue, white, black and brown Stained glass in mosaic or plate Fireplaces in every room and surrounds made from stone, wood, marble and iron and at roof level topped off with terracotta chimney pots of every description Porches to the front door in stone or brick with steep roofs and nials Date stones on houses and other structures showing names and dates above the door Mass produced bricks

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OTHER ITEMS OF NOTE INCLUDE:

THE MODERN ERA 1910-ONWARDS or nearly 40 years the UK and the rest of the world battled with politics, depression, wars and strife.

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In 1940 Winston Churchill kick started a process of rejuvenation to the country’s infrastructure and the modern-day demolition industry was formed.

Bricks, mortar and masonry debris was utilised to ll exposed cellars and voids, timber, steel and roo ng materials became a saleable commodity and architectural salvage dealers moved into a pro table market that prospered and grew over many decades.

These included products that we now know to contain deadly health risks such as asbestos and toxic chemicals that claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of workers and their families.

Elsewhere, laminated materials and foam- lled cladding provided energy and re protection but inadvertently had the potential to damage the environment.

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Concrete and steel was the building choice of architects and developers.

Prefabrication became commonplace along with the new energy ef cient and cost saving products introduced into the new build process.

The demolition industry, has through the ages, adapted to meet the challenges that the built environment has thrown up when it comes to taking down and disposing of in the most economical and sustainable way.

That challenge is becoming ever more onerous as hightech, high rise structures and infrastructure pervade our environment forcing us to look for alternative markets, produce innovative solutions and procure the modern tools and equipment so vital to maintain the equilibrium.

We may continuously ask designers when will they realise that radical change in current product and building design needs to happen.

They don’t and most likely will not respond positively without legislative intervention. The Georgians, Victorians and Edwardians built their structures and buildings with a love of art, symmetry, beauty in the materials and still managed to do it with functionality and longevity in mind.

The high cost of building in the three previous eras had now given way to lo- cost building with low- cost products. However, the disposal costs rose and is continuing to rise to this day.

Architects seem trans xed by aesthetics and the desire to placate the environmental lobby who themselves seem gripped by the desire to reduce carbon usage and primary energy use.

Despite the good intentions to be derived from the Building Information Modelling (BIM) platform there was little or no liaison or interaction with the UK demolition industry to determine if all aspects and considerations given over to the new build process would have or may have implications at the end of a buildings life cycle.

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To the man in the street this may seem an irrelevance based on the premise that builders and constructers

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Today’s builders and developers usually have a twenty- ve-to-thirtyve-year time frame in mind and have an eye on cost in building product use, time and ef ciency.

will know far more about the built environment than those involved in the demolition process.

However, if the question was aimed at end-of-life cycle of a building and what considerations and actions follow, would it be natural to consult a builder or constructor? It is possible that the man in the street may answer in the af rmative but all that would prove is the statement made in the rst paragraph must be true.

Global warming is having a disastrous effect on many parts of the world and their economies. However, global warming, as important as it is, is only one of the many issues to be addressed.

Another key issue is, of course, waste.

Humans have an unenviable disposition to discard objects, materials and substances when they no longer use them or as they become unusable.

Statistics gathered by a plethora of agencies, government, or non-government suggest that waste production increases year on year.

The UK government introduced a tax to deter wholesale land ll and set targets for the recovery of materials and introduced initiatives to be followed for sustainable practices, mainly to no avail.

Waste in all forms continues to escalate. Fly tipping continues to escalate. Disposal costs continue to escalate as do the costs incurred in following and adhering to environmental legislation.

Is it any wonder that waste handlers are battered and confused by the legislation produced by the UK and European governments that at times seems to contradict and confuse?

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In this year of 2021 the topic on most of the world’s leaders and environmentalists’ minds is Climate Change, and rightly so.

Would it not be far better to simplify this conundrum by slashing the production of waste at source? In other words, doing what the Georgians, Victorians and Edwardians did.

In summary; Building with products and materials that lend themselves to re-use, reclamation and re-sale at the end of their current life cycle.

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By dictating through legislation that the products designed and used in the built environment must be recyclable and inherently safe.

That those who are responsible for designing and procuring buildings and structures be responsible for their end-of-life disposal.

That failing all efforts to recycle and or re-use, the disposal of residues be of use in the production of energy.

That all previous and or current land ll sites be excavated, and their contents re-evaluated and processed to maximise re-use possibilities.

That we stop referring to everything produced as a byproduct, residue, left over, cast off, remnant, abandoned or empty article, substance, material or structure as waste simply because the Environmental Agency can’t or won’t think of another word in case, they lose revenue.

Architects and designers be compelled to consider Design for Deconstruction and end of life cycle outcomes

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Insurers and speci ers be compelled to consider and utilise reclaimed products and materials in the new build

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Components integrated into the built environment be data tagged to indicate their properties and value for salvage and recycling at the end of their current life cycle

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A cessation of the use of all known or suspected hazardous substances or materials and their substitution for inherently safe others for use in the built environment.

DR TERRY QUARMBY