Deconstruction Case Study:
(before what would become...)
The Almost All-American Home
99% of the entire existing 1950's ranch house was diverted from landfills and reusable building materials were donated to the City of Houston ReUse Warehouse, Houston Habitat ReStore and Habitat for Humanity of Northwest Harris County. This project serves as a model for making deconstruction feasible in Houston and across the country.
READ ARTICLE HERE:
"Recycling an entire house - and saving money"
by Lisa Gray, Houston Chronicle
“Deconstruction is win-win-win. It’s good for the environment. The client saves money. Charities get a donation. The builder gets the house off the lot. It’s all good.”
Karen Lantz was invited to collaborate with the Materials Resource Collaborative at the University of Houston, Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture by Professor Donna Kacmar in order to further develop and share deconstruction resources.
Currently 38% of the City of Houston waste stream comes from construction and demolition waste. There are many companies in Houston that reuse or recycle construction waste, but often these resources are difficult to find. The Materials Research Collaborative (MRC) developed a deconstruction database for the Houston professional community, local businesses and non-profit groups to help reuse or recycle building materials.
The MRC serves as a materials resource for material discovery, innovation, instruction, and research for the 700 students at the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and area professionals. The MRC has developed a material database that catalogs the physical product samples in its collection. On-going work of the MRC includes uncovering new and innovative construction materials, cataloging the physical samples, and researching and inputting data regarding the specific extrinsic and intrinsic properties of these materials.