M id A tlantic Real Estate Journal — 2020 Forecast — January 31 - February 13, 2020 — 15C
www.marej.com
R efuse and L iquidation By Jamie Gutkin, HF Planners, LLC Garbage Never Looked So Green
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nterior design in commer- cial spaces is primarily fo- cused on creating the most
During a design project, un- less it is new construction, the ‘old’ furniture, furnishings and more are typically discarded even though they still might be functional. Sustainable trends like upcycling and repurposing go hand-in-hand with refuse be- cause the discarded items that can be upcycled and repurposed was once considered refuse or waste. Discarded furniture ends up in landfills and increased costs to budgets because of dis- posal management and the use of furniture that is not sustain- ably sourced. “According to the EPA, there is a large amount of office furniture thrown out each
year, generating an enormous amount of wasted resources. This is also $93 to $100 million in disposal costs per year used by said companies trying to get rid of said furniture”. On Ecy- cleenvironmental.com, they talk about repurposing furniture and waste, particularly in an office setting. Upcycling or repurpos- ing can contribute to construction and design and reduce waste. A facil- ity planner “can specify renew- able materials, or products with high recycled content or low embodied energy, and ones that have minimal environmental impact. Or can you can choose
to reuse existing materials by salvaging a building instead of demolishing it” according to Reinholdt. Reinholdt confirms that there are countless ways to utilize refuse and cut down on waste and extra production and use existing sources. Using refuse, as opposed to looking to procure new supplies for every project, effectively minimizes, or possibly eliminates waste by making refuse valuable and by contributing to a sustainable design. Although not as flexible with taking on a different purpose, liquidated items hold their own when promoting sustainability
and extending purpose. Liquida- tion coordination and manage- ment is a booming business that should be taken advantage of by facility managers, designers and planners because of the amount of discarded matter that still has plenty of life left. Sourcing for liquidated items is one of the most sustainable sourcing strategies that is not often talked about in the world of design because it does not ex- actly qualify as recycling, repur- posing or upcycling. Liquidated materials can be considered refuse because of their dis- carded nature, but often times continued on page 16C
e r g o n o m i c a n d u s e r - friendly work- p l a c e w i t h productivity and efficiency inmind, while creating and adhering to the vision of
Jamie Gutkin
the client. “Out with old and in with the new” is one of the most relevant idioms used when considering interior design for commercial spaces, but where exactly does the ‘out’ go? What if the ‘out’ can come back ‘in’? Refuse and liquidated materi- als come from sources that either have been refurbished, recycled, upcycled, reclaimed, repurposed, simply used prior, or even not used all! As a facil- ity designer, facility manager or a facility planner, the use of refuse and liquidation can not only be for sourcing, it can help keep the project within a cli- ent’s budget as well as educate the end users to be considered a part of sustainability initiatives. A facility designer, manager or planner can cure the headache of figuring out how to use re- sources that are already in ex- istence through the utilization of refuse and liquidation. With a goal of minimizing new production, refuse comes as a great resource. Facility planners, managers and espe- cially designers find themselves with the headache of having to manage waste and negatively contribute to the endless cycle of new production. Refuse can be given a new life by taking on a different form through sustain- able trends such as recycling, upcycling and repurposing. By utilizing items that were de- rived from refuse sources, there is a lower environmental impact and a decrease in production for new products. “Site materials, insulation, concrete aggregate, countertops, carpeting, glass tiles, lumber and even drywall can all be sourced with high re- cycled content” according to Eric Reinholdt fromhouzz.com. Even if refuse cannot be directly used in a new design or for construc- tion purposes, there are ways to reduce or eliminate new produc- tion through the highly recycled content. This gives the refuse new life with new purpose. Re- fuse can be recycled and given a new purpose in different forms than its originally intended use.
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