August 13, 2008

Canadian Standards Association

Association seeks support for national deconstruction standard for existing buildings

PATRICIA WILLIAMS

staff writer

The Canadian Standards Association (CSA) is seeking support from industry stakeholders to kick-start development of a national standard on “deconstruction” of existing buildings.

Dwayne Torrey, CSA’s project manager for built environment standards, said preliminary research is underway, but formal development of the standard is on hold until financial and other resources are in place.

“CSA has received initial support from several stakeholders, including the Canadian Construction Association,” Torrey said.

“We are currently working to find additional stakeholders to establish resources to begin full development of the proposed standard.”

Potential stakeholders include construction-related associations and firms involved in deconstruction. The committee will rely on input from deconstruction practitioners to develop the standard, Torrey said.

Deconstruction is defined as a systematic dismantling of a structure to salvage materials for re-use.

Materials that cannot be reused are considered for recycling.

The intent is to maximize reuse and recycling while diverting materials from landfill sites.

The standard would apply to industrial, commercial, institutional (ICI) and multi-unit residential projects designed by architects and engineers.

It would address specific stages of deconstruction.

Recommended practices could cover such areas as material separation streams, decommissioning, removal of the building envelope and materials staging for subsequent removal from the site.

“The standard would potentially be designed for contractors, but could benefit others such as architects, owners and specification writers,” Torrey said.

The standard would be drafted by the CSA technical committee on sustainable buildings.

The initiative comes in the wake of publication in 2006 of a CSA guideline for design for disassembly and adaptability in buildings, which provided principles to reduce building construction waste at the design stage.

“Although the publication provided sustainable design principles for new projects, the need for a national, consensus-based standard for deconstruction of existing buildings was identified,” Torrey said.

The deconstruction standard could be referenced in contracts.

CCA president Michael Atkinson said his association is certainly interested in development of a deconstruction standard.

“But I’m not sure we would actually lead the charge,” he said.

While CCA has agreed to provide a certain amount of funding, Atkinson said it is not sufficient to cover the entire costs of developing the standard.

Funding aside, another problem facing the CSA is finding personnel to sit on such committees.

“These projects take a lot of time,” Atkinson said.

“Contractors have a lot of other things to do these days.”

While standards developed by CSA are not mandatory, many ultimately are referenced in legislation by governments and other regulatory bodies.

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