Hertfordshire, UK - The amount of reclaimed walling stone which is salvaged has dropped by half in 10 years and is still falling, according to Thornton Kay, one of the partners who runs Salvo Fair. In 1998 the total reclaimed was 1.1mt. The latest figures indicate this has fallen to 570,000t.
He says reclaimed walling is the most sustainable stone you can buy with a much lower carbon footprint, environmental and social impact than new stone.
Kay is working on embodied carbon calculation for old stone compared to new stone and currently the estimate is one fiftieth of the carbon footprint. He is a member of the BSI committee which wrote the forthcoming BS8905 Guidance on the Sustainable Use of Materials.
Most reclaimed walling stone comes from Victorian times and was handtooled, with an aged patina. Varieties include sandstone, granite, limestone, whin and slate. It comes from craftsmen who were from generations of stone-workers and produced a durable end product.
According to Kay, many salvage yards stock small amounts of reclaimed walling stone, but the larger ones, like the three at the fair - Abacus Stone, Steptoe's Yard (see picture) and Valley Reclamation, which formed the Salvo Fair Reclaimed Stone Park, rescue thousands of tonnes from the demolition crushers and landfill.
In terms of new houses, reclaimed dressed walling stone can be backed off to give an even thickness and then built on to the external skin attached to an outer block wall or as an outer leaf to a frame structure using wall ties. For a small garden retaining wall, reclaimed rubble stone can be laid as easily as drystone or in a weak lime mortar. Lime mortar is the best when dealing with reclaimed stone so it will be reclaimable again in the future.
The reclamation industry was hoping that the Waste Framework Directive would have been transposed by 2010, but DEFRA is dragging its feet on its transposition. The directive puts "preparing for reuse" in the strict hierarchy below prevention, but significantly above recycling, and this would have helped the industry immeasurably.
Since the demolition industry has moved to increased mechanisation, it is easier to crush re-usable material, including stone and bricks, than reclaim it. It is also in the interest of brick manufacturers to crush reclaimed bricks, giving rise to increased market demand and in some cases increased landfill void space.
The reclamation industry is still fighting to get into the commercial specifier market. According to Kay, it is client led. To help the architects and specifiers, the industry has set up a pilot scheme - a deconstruction management system, and there is an existing code of conduct for dealers.
When he started Salvo in the 90s, Kay said that a good aim was for architects to specify 5% by value reclaimed materials on projects. And that target remains a goal today. Retailers seem keener than others in the commercial sector to use reclaimed materials, largely through its inherent aesthetic qualities, although restaurants are increasingly seeing the value, including Jamie Oliver's chain.
Picks from the fair
Architectural Salvage Source was showing a variety of bricks - yellow, soft red, and tudors. Dean Carradine explained that each brick reflects the materials from where it originated. He made the point that size is important, with bricks form the North, predominantly 3 inches thick and those form the South 2.5 inches. Eighty per cent of the material is from demolition and the company is finishing removing bricks and timber roof work from Epsom Hospital.
According to David Ackers, consultant to France-based BCA, there is a big demand in the UK for French oak and terracotta tiles for roofing. He says there is trend at the moment for modern buildings to integrate antique features and vice versa. He says often the quality of the materials is superior and some have a unique patina developed over ages which designers go for. BCA works with demolition companies and has to come up with detailed plans as to how it is going to salvage materials, often in a competitive tender. He said there are a lot of military barracks from which material is being reclaimed at the moment.
In terms of other picks, the Vintage Fridge Company takes well-built old cabinets and wardrobes, puts in well insulated zinc liners, adds ice cubes or blocks, and creates ready made low carbon attractive fridges.
Ecovril is integrating salvaged materials into building designs and had three projects on show, a thatched roof, oak framed annex to a listed building including an unusual waterwheel proposal, an underground earth shelter and a pv powered recycling centre.
Trinity Marine explained the hazardous and dangerous business of salvaging scrap from ship breakers, but said the quality of the materials, be it desks, lights and metal fittings is high because they were made by craftsmen who intended them to last in harsh conditions.
[Republished with kind permission from Sustainable Building magazine June 2011
Sustainable Building magazine
Story Type: Fair Report
ID: 60852
