Welcome to our July newsletter! 

Topics for July:
• Building Green in Central Virginia

What do the new Short Pump Mall, Richmond City Hall and the Consolidated Lab and Motor Fuel Lab on 14th and Main Street have in common? They were all recently constructed, renovated, or demolished with recycling in mind.

At the Short Pump Mall, the contractor for Nordstrom, Winter Construction, diverted nearly 100 tons of building materials from landfills by placing recycling containers for wood, concrete, metal, drywall and cardboard around the construction site. These materials were taken off-site to be recycled, except for the drywall, which was used onsite for groundcover and erosion control.

Photo courtesy of Richmond City Department of Public Works

Fifteen miles east, Richmond's City Hall is ensconced in scaffolding. The 30-year old white marble siding has become unsafe and is being replaced. The contractor for the project is donating the marble to Habitat for Humanity's ReStore and to the Department of Parks & Recreation where the marble will be used to line the culvert drain of the new bike ramp down to the river. Citizens are also entitled to the marble for use in home projects if they help load and stack the quarried marble. The slabs are a few inches thick, and although the marble is not safe as a building surface, it can be used in many ground applications (patios, benches, flower bed edging and dry-stack walls).

Photo courtesy of Virginia Department of General Services

Around the corner from City Hall on 14th and Main the Consolidated Lab and Motor Fuel Lab was demolished this spring. One hundred percent of the concrete from the building was recycled onsite using a large concrete crusher. The crushed concrete will be used as backfill on the construction site for a new 1500-space parking deck. Steel and asphalt were sent to an off-site recycling center. Recycling building materials on this project saved Virginia $485,000. "This is the best kind of savings for the Commonwealth," said governor Mark Warner. "We're saving the taxpayers money and protecting our environment at the same time. Virginia will continue to find new ways to recycle and re-use materials."

Photo courtesy of Virginia Department of General Services

Recycling during the construction phase is not the only way a building can help protect the environment. Once built, any building requires continual energy and water and it taxes the natural environment around it. "Green or Sustainable Building is the practice of creating healthier and more resource-efficient models of construction, renovation, operation, maintenance and demolition." For more information about building green, visit the portion of the EPA's website about sustainable development.