Deconstruction

Free building materials, why not?

By Brett Marlo DeSantis

Published in Cities Unite, August 2012

Wouldn’t it be fantastic if you already have the materials for your next project right in front of you? Did I mention they are already bought and paid for?

Imagine removing an entire wall and transporting it to be reused as an entire wall. That’s just what is beginning to happen!

Imagine the piles of waste diverted from the landfill, the transportation, labor and dump fees you will save.

There are over 300,000 buildings a year that get demolished and approximately twenty percent of all solid waste comes from the construction industry.

There are alternatives to demolition such as deconstructing a building using a systematic approach and salvaging the materials. Deconstruction allows for the materials within a building to have a new life when the building can no longer be used as a whole.

There are deconstruction professionals that can assist you to ascertain the cost, time commitment and what is worth salvaging.

If you are employing deconstruction techniques in your project, you may be able to fast track your permit process.  As it stands now, to do this you will need to divert approximately 70 percent from the landfill and 20 percent of that amount has to be in a reusable form.  

Get a head start on your permit process. In some counties, such as King County, you can go straight to the top of the pile for permitting. Wow, talk about moving to the head of the class! There are tax incentives as well.

So you have now rescued your materials, what will you do with your treasure? You can reuse your finds, or donate the materials to a non-profit, sell or auction the items, or you can even give them away.

Are we currently throwing building materials, money and therefore jobs in the landfill? Deconstruction is done on a local level. We can support our communities by creating local jobs and keeping our materials to be reused and resold locally. Let’s keep our money in our communities.

You can even set up a mill onsite to reclaim the lumber…now that’s keeping it local.

Maybe you are already recycling some of your demolished materials. Great! What if we reuse before recycling?

Reusing materials is the best way to utilize the embodied energy that went into making that material, such as the energy it took to extract the natural resources, manufacture and transport that material. You can still recycle the materials after they no longer have a useful life.

So what will make deconstruction even easier to tackle? We design buildings with deconstruction in mind.

We can work towards not designing waste into a structure because when we design waste into a structure, that’s exactly what we get out of it.

Consider adaptable spaces, demountable panels, modules that form complete units, floating floors and using fasteners.

Imagine a society where deconstruction is the mainstream choice for building removal. Consider the history you might incorporate into your next space, memories to save and reinterpret.

What might you salvage from your built environment?

SMART gadgets = SMARTer consumers

June column, published in "Cities Unite."

By Brett Marlo DeSantis, Accredited Building Construction and Design Professional. Contact her at bmd@brettmarlodesigns.com.

Gadgets, gadgets, gadgets, oh my! And smarter than ever, at least that’s what they have named them – SMART gadgets.

You may ask (and I hope you do) if electronics are really smart. Do they show a quick-witted intelligence?

In the tech world, SMART often refers to self-monitoring, analysis and reporting technology. SMART is also known to be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. Now that’s an acronym that defines today’s gadgets.

Whether it’s a plug, an outlet, a strip, a switch, a thermostat, a meter or an appliance, they are all smarter these days.

Want to know what appliance is costing you the most each month? Is that compact fluorescent bulb really saving you energy and money? How much does it cost to charge your phone? These gadgets tell all and are geared for both residential and commercial use.

See your environmental impact in real time. Make energy saving decisions in real time. Save money in real time.

Smart Plugs literally plug into your existing wall outlet and measure the exact amount of energy consumed by a specific appliance or device on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. This information is available on your computer or wireless device.

You now can adjust your thermostat from your phone! It is amazing that you can see what is happening in your home from anywhere, modify your thermostat, set a vacation schedule, change your preferences and view reports online.

These smart thermostats account for elements such as the weather, square footage of a home or building, the number of occupants in the space and the type of HVAC system.

Your utility companies can even communicate with you via your energy display and notify you about price changes, critical conservation periods and more.

When a simple thermostat won’t do the trick, you can opt for an energy management system.

Commercial spaces will benefit from the use of energy management systems. You can see what is happening in your building from anywhere, manage multiple thermostats and locations, modify programs and view reports on performance. Remote sensor modules allow for refrigerator and freezer monitoring.

SMART appliances are hitting the market. You can connect to your refrigerator while away to see if you need eggs while at the grocery store.

You can wirelessly connect to your washer to start or pause cycles or just find out the status of your latest load of laundry. Why not have your dryer alert you via phone when the clothes are ready to fold so you don’t have to run it an extra cycle to get the wrinkles out?

Wouldn’t it be fantastic if your heater alerted you that maintenance was required before it broke, or the filter needed to be changed?

Next-generation appliances are smart enough to know to run high-demand cycles during low-cost times of day.

Well, it often takes seeing something to believe in it. Electricity use is no different.

So what’s so smart about these gadgets? They make us smarter by using them.

Thank you for voting us Best of South Sound 2012

Thank you for your vote! Because of you, Brett Marlo Designs won Best of South Sound 2012 for Best Kitchen and Bath Designer. We cannot thank you enough for letting us know how much you appreciate us. Now it is our turn to let you know how much we appreciate you!

We have thought of ways to thank you... you'll have to call us to find out!

The new workspace redefines the workplace.

The new workspace redefines the workplace.

By Brett Marlo DeSantis
Published in: the May edition of Cities Unite

So you are now working from home, or perhaps considering it. You may call it homeshoring or homesourcing. The truth is more of us are working from home every day. We are pursuing our own passions in business by choice or necessity.

You may be a financial advisor, a sales consultant, an architect or a writer. There are simply too many careers to mention that may be home based in this day and age.
Brick and mortar businesses are realizing that independent or self-employed agents offer a host of benefits.

Forward thinking executives see homesourcing as a double win. It is a cost-saving alternative without sacrificing quality and performance while also gaining a greater degree of flexibility.

These independent agents are educated and experienced. They are looking to have more control over the hours they work, whom they work for or with, and from where they work.

While working from home may be an ideal situation for some, others may find it to be too close to home. Really, you can't beat the commute, but I can understand the need or want to go out to work as well.

What does the workplace of tomorrow look like? A space, and it is closer than you think.

The new workspaces offer flexibility, connectivity, cooperation, and pooling of resources. They combine the values of independence with the benefits of interdependence. This design concept is known as a shared space.

This concept is not new.  However it has evolved into something fresh with new twists. Imagine a space with low capital investment, low overhead, a professional and prestigious mailing address, a receptionist, a conference room, even an event space and a shower if you choose to bike or walk to work...oh and a lounge.

Chats around the water cooler are now taking place in front of the espresso machine. You can breathe easily knowing the use of healthy building materials created these inspirational workspaces.

Well there's more to discuss and if it sounds like work might be fun after all, then you are getting the idea. The new workspace is not your old workplace.

Perhaps you are lucky enough to already have one of these shared spaces in your city.  If these workspaces are the right fit for you or your independent agents, fantastic! If you do not have one in your neck of the woods, please ask for one.

Acting collectively we have the ability to be part of a bigger conversation. We can: revitalize our downtowns, cut down the commute, create community connectivity, share in costs and personnel, consolidate back-offices, co-sponsor staff training, refer clients and contract labor in-house, locally and regionally, organize and host workshops, invite civic, business and thought leaders into our communities.

If you are looking for a workspace that promotes and embraces diversity, equity and a healthy work-life balance then you have found the place to hang your hat (just remember to bring it home.)

Are you ready to embrace this innovative workspace?

Building trends, on what resale depends

Published in Cities Unite, Gig Harbor, April Edition
Building trends on what resale depends

By Brett Marlo DeSantis

I love to keep you in the know so this month let’s talkabout trends. I aim to enlighten in 650 words or less!

The design build industry is taking hold of sustainabilitytrends and employing them in a various ways. Let’s begin with the low-hangingfruit and work our way up.

The trend of Eco-Appeal—aesthetically pleasing +environmentally friendly—this is the place to be. As this trend enters themainstream population the availability of environmentally-friendly buildingsupplies and materials is on the rise as the costs continue to decrease.

Not long ago, if you wanted green building materials you hadonly a handful of choices. In the recent years, manufacturers have been steadilyworking to satisfy this new consumer base and growing trend. You can now find aplethora of products in many colors and finishes to satisfy just about anybuilding style, design and décor.

The latest trend is greening existing buildings and it pays backin terms of higher rents and property values, greater comfort levels andhealthier spaces. Believe it or not, there are even certified residential greenappraisers now!

Next on the trend list are energy use trends. You may beperfectly happy in your current space, ready to sell, ready to remodel or readyto buy or build—either way, I bet you have thought about lowering your utilitybills.

You may already know that when the time comes to look at newappliances to check out the Energy Star program. The primary goal of EnergyStar is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This lofty goal means that their qualifiedproducts will not only be environmentally friendly, but will save you a ton onyour electric bill. What you may not have realized is that Energy Star’sprogram includes: air conditioners, furnaces, heat pumps, windows, andlighting.

While you are considering all of these state-of-the-artoptions, you may want to consider the next trend on our list—switching fuels. Currentlynatural gas is much less expensive than other forms of electricity. Here isanother example of where you can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and savemoney.

As trendsetters go, there are the early adopters and thereare the ones blazing the trail. You may be the type to dip your toes in the wateror just jump right in. If you fall into the latter category, you may want tocheck out alternative energy, such as geothermal and new solar technologies.

Even in the great northwest, solar is a great renewableresource. Did you know that we get more than enough sun to make solar panels aviable option? In fact, solar panels are said to work more efficiently incooler climates.

What not “off the grid” yet?  With these technologies in place, you can gocutting edge—net zero baby—with zero net energy consumption and zero carbonemissions annually.

Who would have thought being a complete zero would be soappealing? These newly designed and built structures are called “energy-plus”buildings and they produce more energy than they use at different times of theyear.

So what if you do decide to build rather than to green anexisting structure? Well then you may want to check this out. Building codes, currentlystating only minimum acceptable levels for safety, may soon change assustainability trends become the norm.

The International Green Construction Code is expected to bepublished at any moment and while it relies upon our jurisdictions to reviewand elect to accept it, it is clear that codes in the near future will be rampingup to conserve energy and water and just plain make our structures healthierplaces as well as safer ones.

Last trend—the art of being green—you can build the greenestbuilding on the planet and it will fail if the inhabitants do not participate.

So, how trendy will you be?

Becoming an agent of change

It was not long ago (in fact just December) when I decided to make great change. It's not that the thought had not occurred to me before. As a matter of fact upon graduation from my undergraduate degree, I had joined AmeriCorps to make change as well. I wanted to teach environmental education to young children and create neighborhood beautification projects and that is just what I did.

Now many years have passed. In those years I have devoted myself to gaining more specific knowledge in the field of architecture and design, gotten many pairs of shoes dirty on-site(s), my masters...oh yeah...got married and had kids as well!

And although life keeps getting busier, I still have this overwhelming pull towards bettering people's lives, and sustaining our culture. This may be by designing spaces that compliment the lives of the occupants and make life easier and just plain more enjoyable. Or by educating the public through the written word. Or by volunteering to become a public servant.

I want to thank my Tacoma/Olympia Cascadia Green Building Council Steering Committee for believing in me so much. The committee elected to use funds to support my leadership goals. And it was the Emerge Workshop the sent me to in December that helped me emerge as an agent of change.

No longer will I (just) think about change when I can make it happen.

If you are thinking of ways you would like to make a difference no matter what your cause, I urge you to sketch your goals down (even on a napkin) as once they are written, spoken or become real to you--they will become real to everyone else as well.

Thank you to my family, friends, clients and a huge thanks to my mentors (I think you know who you are) for supporting and guiding me. I have been so fortunate to make some really great strides this year already. Now the real work must begin.

I will work on the next step in my journey and of course I am here to support you in yours.

First Place Winner!!!!!

Please check this link out...we won!
First Place Baby!