Nearly 100 people participated
in the "ReBuilding Communities Through DeConstruction Enterprises"
conference. Co-sponsored by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance
(ILSR) and the Connecticut Institute of Municipal Studies, Inc.
(CIMS), the event was held in the State Capitol Building in Hartford,
CT. Participants from 18 states and 47 cities included deconstruction
workers and companies, equipment manufacturers, wood brokers and
processors, community development organizations, union and housing
authority officials, and local and federal officials. The Honorable
Jessie Stratton, Chair of the Environment Committee of the Connecticut
General Assembly, served as the host and set the tone for the
conference with her keynote address.
In addition to outlining state-of-the-art
deconstruction techniques and technologies, the conference provided
a forum to establish working relationships among community groups,
small businesses, and government development agencies. "Our goal
was to educate key players about deconstruction as an environmental
and economic development tool, but we also wanted to make connections
between these individuals and groups, to help get new projects
started," said Neil Seldman, ILSR President and one of the conference
coordinators. "The bottom line is that deconstruction is creating
opportunity and wealth in low-income areas around the country.
It's saving money, it's generating money, and it's changing the
way we look at materials - taking a major industry like C&D from
consumption to recovery. This conference was a way to get the
word out, so that more communities can bring these benefits home
to their citizens."
ILSR Deconstruction Training Manager
Jim Primdahl said that six new projects are being planned as a
result of the conference. "We're launching full-scale projects,
including deconstruction services and materials resale operations,"
he said. "That's what's so exciting about deconstruction - it
creates jobs not just in the construction fields, but in sales,
marketing, and management. There are opportunities for everyone."
Matt McKinney, Deconstruction Manager at ReCycle North in Burlington,
VT, which assisted ILSR in deconstruction training at Stanton
Dwellings in Southeast Washington, DC, is now assisting the Pioneer
Valley Project, based in Springfield, MA, to develop their own
capacity for a deconstructing businesses
Workers recruited from public
housing, as well as union and housing officials, offered insights
into the impact of deconstruction on communities and residents.
John Wardlaw, Director of the Hartford Housing Authority (HHA),
spoke about the Family Reunification Program he launched following
the Million Man March. Under this program, public housing residents
signed contracts with the HHA, agreeing to take financial and
parental responsibility for their children in exchange for training
and placement in family-wage jobs. "When Neil [Seldman] came to
me to discuss deconstruction, I knew it would be a great fit with
our program." Victor Rush, President of the Hartford Community
Construction Company (HCCC) and Director of Human Services for
the HHA, explained how the Hartford Construction Company was formed
by recruiting local, low-income residents. Training for the project
was provided by Pavitra Crimmel, owner of Beyond Waste, an independent
deconstruction company based in Cotati, CA,the International Laborers'
Union, and ILSR. HHA, the workers, and Manafort Brothers, Inc.,
a local construction and demolition company, then formed a joint-venture
partnership. CIMS President, Nick Carbone, outlined the benefits
of this corporate structure: "By creating a joint-venture, HCCC
gained access to insurance, equipment, loans, and contacts - and
the workers were able to get additional training in the construction
trades. When the workers aren't working under their own company
name, they are unionized employees of Manafort. And with Manafort
providing guidance and mentoring, HCCC has time to establish itself
in the industry before breaking off on its own." The company already
has $1 million in machinery, rolling stock, a warehouse, and has
$750,000 in current contracts. Modesto Rey, Construction Manager
for Manafort Brothers, stressed the need "to live outside the
box, as well as think outside the box" when dealing with the deconstruction
concept. Foreman Ray Ramos spoke about the impact on his life.
"I am taking care of my family - with a paycheck, with health
insurance, and with a new home." Charles Tisdale, Executive Director
of ABCD, Inc., helped arrange pre-approved mortgages for the workers.
This Spring, Ramos and other workers will buy new homes built
on the site they deconstructed during their training program.
Deconstruction workers DeFonties
Broome and Jamal Harris, Site Supervisor and Safety Facilitator,
respectively, from Henson Ridge Works in Washington, DC, discussed
the impacts of deconstruction on residents and workers. "I am
not only a deconstructionist now, I'm an environmentalist," pointed
out Harris. "I never believed that I could survive and prosper
in my neighborhood by selling legal materials instead of drugs,"
said one worker, who also described a recent visit to the site
by members of the Metropolitan Police Department. "The cruisers
stopped at our site, put on their sirens to get our attention,
and then the officers started applauding the workers and our work.I
couldn't believe that 48 black men and women didn't run away when
they heard the sirens. Deconstruction has changed all of that
for us." The Stanton Dwellings site is the largest single deconstruction
project in the United States, encompassing 348 units in 87 buildings
and employing residents of the very public housing complex they
are deconstructing. The project was launched by ILSR and the DC
Housing Authority (DCHA), under DCHA's HOPE VI grant from the
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development." Bob Cook, Training
Director at the Sheet Metal Workers' Local Union #38, presented
on the "Community Union Hall" created in Bridgeport, CT, in cooperation
with ABCD. To date, 26 workers have been placed in union jobs.
Donna McDaniel, Program Administrator at the Laborers' International
Union of North America, explained the training opportunities available
for people working with hazardous material, lead, and asbestos
abatement.
Equipment manufacturers and technology
developing firms were also present. A denailing gun called the
"Nail Kicker" was demonstrated by the company RECONNX. This equipment
cuts by 2/3 the time required to denail recovered wood, and has
proven a valuable asset at the Stanton Dwellings project, which
has eight of the denailing guns. The psychological impact of the
air guns has also been an important factor. "We know that we are
being trained with the latest, most efficient equipment in the
field today, stated Broome.
Stanley Eller, of Auburn Machinery,
Inc. (Lewiston, ME), presented new technologies for manufacturing
new products from pallet and other scrap urban wood. Forrest Charnock,
of C&C Recycled Hardwoods, a broker and manufacturer of recovered
wood, provided a riveting discussion and dialogue on sales and
technology, and demonstrated how to separate tongue and groove
flooring quickly without damaging the product. Even more intriguing
was his description of how to recover flooring in large buildings,
such as gymnasiums, using a small CAT instead of the commonly
used wedge tools. Charnock also provided pricing guidelines for
different types of wood and wood products, offering essential
insights into the used wood markets in the U.S.
Janet Meister, Program Director
of the ReUse Center/DeConstruction Services at The Green Institute
(Minneapolis, MN), Teresa Lemmons, Director of the Center for
Economic Opportunity at the Metropolitan Development Counsel (Tacoma,
WA), and Leslie Kirkland, Executive Director of The Loading Dock,
Inc. (Baltimore, MD), focused on an array of issues including
inventory controls, sales procedures, safety, insurance, "selling
the harvest," and how to spot and take advantage of business opportunities.
Dick Saul, in the Office of Community Services at HHS, described
a variety of sources of grants. Saul's agency has provided more
grants to deconstruction programs than any other federal agency.
Stephen Cosper and Tom Napier,
of CERL in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Robert Falk,
of USDA Forest Products Laboratory, provided a similar run down
of the deconstruction of military facilities. This group offers
assistance to deconstruction companies and non-profit programs
in initiating dialogue with the appropriate base officials. Seldman
provided a discussion of private and public sources of capital
and joint-venture models to fit a variety of military, residential,
and commercial buildings.
Rick Anthony, of the GrassRoots
Recycling Network, moderated several panels and helped place deconstruction
activities in the context of the new international zero waste
movement. Bert Ball, of L.A. Shares, provided strategic feedback
to the participants on marketing and cooperation with industry
donors of excess materials.
The conference was co-sponsored
by: Action for Bridgeport Community Development, Inc., African-American
Environmentalist Association, Center for Environment, Commerce
and Energy, Corporation for Enterprise Development, E Magazine,
GrassRoots Recycling Network, Healthy Building Network, National
Black Environmental Justice Network, National Congress for Community
Economic Development, Reuse Development Organization, Used Building
Materials Association, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS).
