Equity officials utilizing 'green' demolition practices

  • Published
  • By Tyler Hemstreet
  • Staff writer
MCCHORD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. --  There is a 'green' purpose behind the many piles of demolition debris throughout Cascade Village housing complex.

Scattered around a mountain of torn-up wood are piles of vinyl siding, scrap metal flashings, brick and concrete rubble.

All of the piles will be recycled or reused in one way or another with very little going to the landfill.

"It's becoming a whole new generation of demolition," said Boyd Lucas, Vice President of Construction Management for Equity Residential. "Ten years ago nearly all of this would have gone to the landfill."

The mountain of wood scrap is headed for a plant in Everett which will grind it up to generate power for a steam plant, while the concrete and brick rubble will be ground up and reutilized as road fill elsewhere in the housing project, Lucas said.

The scrap metal and vinyl will also be recycled.

Neatly arranged under carports are rows of bedroom doors, washing machines, driers, refrigerators, stoves and stacks of ceiling fans. All of the items are staged to be moved to a secondhand warehouse in Thurston County owned by a local Habitat for Humanity group.

"Those items can really come in handy for residents down south who lost everything during the floods in January," Mr. Lucas said.

Although the 'green' demolition takes a little longer than a standard demo, McChord housing officials say it was an initiative they eagerly supported and it fit perfect with the project timeline.

"The base has been very supportive of the green demolition," said Cal Lovering, 62nd Civil Engineer Squadron housing privatization project support contractor. "There was also some substantial cost savings in the reuse of materials in the overall project."

"Green demolition benefits the project and our community" said Donna Dahlstrom, 62nd CES housing asset manager. "This is something that we fostered since the beginning of the project. It's a real positive for us to be able to give back to the local community with many of the items going to the secondhand warehouse which under normal circumstances may have gone to a landfill."