Designing to Disassemble
Hailey Beliveau
Thompson Rivers University, Architectural & Engineering Technologies
Kamloops, B.C.
The basis of this research is to understand and provide clear information on how designing to disassemble in building construction and design reduces construction waste, going into the depth of the process involved in designing to disassemble. Written documents and working drawings will be produced throughout the following year of an already existing commercial building.
Commercial buildings are more likely to be changed or replaced to suit the needs of a new tenant or need more frequently than residential homes, therefore, making them large contributors to the issue of construction waste, or demolition, landclearing and construction (DLC), that consumes approximately 35% of our landfills in British Columbia. Designing buildings to later disassemble them greatly reduces the amount of waste produced from renovations and demolitions of buildings. Recycling previously used construction products does help decrease the carbon footprint left from a construction project but this research paper looks further into making the best use of what has already been produced. Designing to disassemble makes best use of the construction materials in their initial state and reduces not only waste but harmful emissions, effects on our environment and costs of breaking down materials to re-produce new but similar products of the same composition.
Although a great benefit to our environment, the common argument of initial increased costs and more involved labour during construction and demolition is an issue when persuading humanity to replace traditional methods with new techniques. The research will consider the disadvantages in designing to disassemble and attempt to present benefits that will over power the reasons why the method may not be a suitable idea.
The research will look at what the effects and methodology are of designing to disassemble in comparison to traditional design and construction. Working plan and detail drawings will be produced and compared to the already formed drawings of a industrial style commercial building located in British Columbia, therefore making the comparisons between the two more realistic and accurate. The drawings and research will be performed as if a building were to be constructed from the end result, taking into consideration British Columbia Building Code 2006 requirements.
Although research is still in it’s initial stage of development, the goal of the results is to provide information and a better understanding on how to reduce DLC waste through the process of designing to disassemble.
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I see you have made a friend (above).
ReplyDeleteThe abstract is a bit wordy. Try to condense by removing any unnecessary commentary. By this point you should have done enough research to include some recommendations about how buildings can be designed for disassembly. For example, buy using mechanical connections rather than adhesives, or by using prefab panels instead of components that are assembled in the field.
Be clear that you will document and existing building and make recommendations in the form of drawings for how the design could be improved.