Work begins on our newest Net Zero home

Site work has begun on our newest net zero home. The builder is O’Neill Development, with whom we have worked on all of our Passive Houses. The first step was to de-construct the original house, in which the owners had lived for the past twenty years. De-construction is being completed this weekend by Deconstruction Services, LLC.. Their first step was to glean all the usable equipment from the house — doors, cabinets, fixtures, etc — which they donated to ReBuild Warehouse. Then they tackled all finishes that could be removed intact and re-purposed, the hardwood flooring, and all the framing lumber. All nails are taken out  in their shop; the wood is stacked and graded; and then it is given to Community Forklift to go into other homes.

The next step is for Bartley Concrete, the concrete subcontractors, to demolish the brick walls left standing and all the existing concrete. These materials will all then be put in a dumpster and taken to a commercial recycling facility for sorting. They will end up as rubble for roadbeds and the like. In our last project, less than 8% of the house went to a landfill.

View from street after deconstruction, before demolition.

View from below after deconstruction, before demolition.

Rendering of the final design