NonA Weekly: REDUCE, REUSE AND RECYCLE 🔥
Image by @broadcity
Dear readers and friends,
The construction industry 🏗️ is a significant contributor to environmental degradation 🏭, and the overuse of natural resources, including raw materials 🪓, has become a major concern. However, there is a growing awareness 📈 among builders and contractors 👷 about the importance of reusing materials in construction projects. Reusing materials not only helps to conserve natural resources 🌲 but also reduces waste generation, which can be beneficial for the environment 🌍. It can also reduce costs associated 💰 with material procurement, transportation, and disposal. By adopting these practices, the construction industry can play a significant role 💪 in reducing its impact on the environment and promoting sustainability.
Discussions of embodied carbon in buildings today focus 🔍 on the early stages of the MATERIAL life cycle. And yet, embodied carbon connects to a building’s 🏙️ entire life cycle – including its maintenance and end of life.
As a way to promote waste reduction or prevention, the 3 R’s rule 📝 is created: reduce, reuse and recycle. These actions, together with sustainable consumption standards, have been promoted as a means to protect natural resources 🏞️ and minimize WASTE.3. REDUCE, REUSE AND RECYCLE TO BUILD 🚧
Cities are an intermediate store for valuable MATERIAL resources. However, 🤔 the longevity and potential for reuse of building materials is currently not being exploited. During building reconstruction or demolition ⚒️, too many materials are still thrown away and disposed of before the end of their useful lifecycle.
4. ZERO WASTE DESIGN GUIDELINES 📋
As a resource to help designers, building operators, and planners, the Guidelines 📖 will encourage the collaboration needed to dramatically reduce WASTE 📉 and work toward greater adoption of circular material flows. Treating waste as a resource rather than trash depends on our ability to easily separate and manage our waste.
5. BUILT USING WASTE MATERIALS 🧱
Architect Hiroshi Nakamura incorporated around 700 windows donated by the local community into the facades of this WASTE recycling ♻️ facility in the town of Kamikatsu, the first place in Japan 🗾 to pass a zero-waste declaration.
6. RETHINKING 💭 ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN TO FACILITATE A ZERO WASTE FUTURE
Recently, the concept of circular economy has been picking up speed 💨, and manufacturers and retailers across the globe are implementing it. But can it be applied to ARCHITECTURAL design, and more importantly, can it be done well? 🤯
7. DESIGNING ✍️ OUT CONSTRUCTION WASTE
Historically, 📜 responsibility for construction waste has generally been placed with contractors. However, effectively designing out waste requires a more collaborative approach with different actions placed on contractors 👷, clients, engineers, architects and designers. 👉 HERE is a guide for project design teams.
Daniela
