1 Design for Deconstruction and Materials Reuse

The building legacy of the 20th century has been one of waste and toxicity. The US EPA has estimated that the materials debris from building renovation and demolition comprise 25 to 30 % of all waste produced in the US each year. Aesthetic conventions and economic factors that influence land use and buildings over long periods of time are not predictable by the building designer, but nonetheless, buildings can be built with the intention of adaptation and/or eventual removal. Design for deconstruction (DfD) can make use of the lessons learned from product design for environment, and from the obstacles encountered in the deconstruction of modern buildings. This paper will discuss principles of design for disassembly and lessons learned from deconstruction practice to propose guidelines for design for deconstruction as a form of environmentally responsible architecture. Although there are three fundamental building types-residential, commercial and industrial, this paper will focus on the generic levels of: whole-building, elements, components, sub-components, and materials