Deconstruction

Our old 1930s house in Wisconsin is going to be deconstructed and then built into a new home. Deconstruction means that we will take apart the home and salvage as much as we can for our new home and will donate the rest to resale shops like GreenLynx in Santa Rosa, CA.

Deconstruction allows you to avoid the landfill. The built environment generates 40% of annual global CO2 emissions. Demolishing a home is terribly wasteful. For example, renovating a 1,500 sqft older home reduces embedded CO2 emissions by 126 metric tons, versus tearing down the same structure and replacing it with a new 3,000 sqft residential building.

Sadly, since our home is so old, we cannot renovate but we can deconstruct. We hope to save enough wood for the new build, the rocks from a huge fireplace, and antiques like a gorgeous 1950s Youngstown kitchen sink.

We hope to save at 50% of the homes materials which would save about 1000 metric tons of carbon! And, depending upon your state, you may qualify for tax exemptions or credits.