Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
Elementary school children are taught the three environmental R’s–Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Now there’s a growing trend in housing construction to have adults embrace the same mantra. Retired engineer Peter Dwan, a 53-year resident of Pacific Palisades, provided a textbook example in October of what can be accomplished. After he purchased two single-family residences at 935 and 941 Chautauqua Boulevard, he planned to have them demolished and a single-family residence built on the site. But first, his Santa Monica-based contractor, Philip Carnevale, persuaded him to dismantle the houses and donate the reusable materials to Habitat for Humanity. ‘I just got sick of the thought of someone bulldozing those two houses and hauling everything to a landfill,’ Carnevale said in an interview with the Palisadian-Post. After discussing the options, Dwan agreed. ‘I was concerned to see dumpsters filled with perfectly good lumber being trucked off to landfills,’ he said. ‘It didn’t seem right.’ The two Chautauqua homes totaled 4,150 square feet. Responding to rising landfill costs, tighter recycling guidelines and the growing trend toward ‘green’ building methods, builders and homeowners across California are opting for home recycling (or ‘deconstruction’). In San Jose, for example, 30 percent of landfill waste is due to construction and demolition debris. When applying for a permit for home construction or a remodel, homeowners must pay a deposit. To get money back they must show that 90 percent of the construction/demolition material generated has been reused. Other cities, including Seattle and Chicago, have also introduced measures to reduce demolition waste. ‘I believe the city of Santa Monica makes you recycle 50 percent,’ said Carnevale, Dwan’s contractor. ‘Los Angeles doesn’t, but we did it by choice.’ These were the first houses Carnevale has recycled, but the process went smoothly. He started by gathering information and assistance from The Reuse People, and as each house was deconstructed, all reusable material was stacked, inventoried, tagged and taken away. ‘The wood, windows and hardwood floors were all used,’ Carnevale said. The total cost of deconstruction’for the purpose of recycling’was $98,000, which included permits and temporary fencing. Carnevale said this cost was slightly higher than if Dwan had decided to simply level both houses in one day. On the other hand, Dwan received a $108,000 tax credit, meaning that he came out about $10,000 ahead. But as Carnevale said, ‘The main objective was to do the right thing.’ According to Carnevale, Dwan let people go through the two houses and take some of the fixtures, like doorknobs, which lowered his eventual tax credit. The only downside to recycling houses is that it takes two to three weeks longer because the structures are not simply demolished and hauled away. Many of the materials from the Chautauqua houses went to a ‘reuse’ store, which sells salvaged goods that range from wall sockets to vintage redwood floorboards for 50 to 75 percent less than if they were purchased new. Habitat for Humanity International, the affordable housing organization, runs 500 such shops in 45 states, mostly selling easily recoverable accessories like cabinets, doors and flooring. The Habitat Home Improvement Store in Carson offers an update of available materials. Last week’s Web site included these two entries: * 3,300-sq-ft home in Beverly Hills, including French doors with premium hardware, oak hardwood floors, Sub Zero refrigerator/freezer, Maytag washer/dryer and raised panel doors * 1950’s Pacific Palisades home, including oak hardwood flooring, T&G Douglas fir ceiling paneling, redwood decking and indoor Jacuzzi. Environmentally, neighbors are happy to know that the 935/941 Chautauqua houses are not in a landfill. There’s also an historical perspective to consider. Dwan discovered that the 941 house was the site of many Hollywood parties that included famous guests such as Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney, Bella Lugosi and Alfred Hitchcock. The woman who owned the house was a sculptor for the studios and her sister was an actress who appeared in numerous movies. It is nice to know that the walls that heard those famous conversations will still be around.
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