WASTES

LIKE ENERGY, MANY BUILDING MATERIALS ARE NON-RENEWABLE RESOURCES. FURTHER, THEY ARE BEING CONTINUALLY DEPLETED TO SUPPORT A GROWING WORLD POPULATION. WHEN BUILDINGS ARE DEMOLISHED TO ALLOW NEW CONSTRUCTION, MOST WRECKAGE WASTE BECOMES A DISPOSAL PROBLEM FOR OUR ENVIRONMENT. THIS DEMOLITION WASTE IS A POTENTIAL BUILDING MATERIALS RESOURCE IF PROPER REPROCESSING METHODS CAN BE INVENTED. THIS PROJECT WILL STUDY THE PAST HISTORY OF BUILDING MATERIALS REPROCESSING, WHAT HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED IN PARALLEL INDUSTRIES (WOOD, METAL, CONCRETE, ETC.), AND THE STATUS OF REPROCESSING TODAY. IT WILL CHARACTERIZE MAJOR SOURCES OF MATERIALS FOR REPROCESSING BY: A) THEIR ABILITY TO BE SEPARATED FROM EACH OTHER, AND B) THEIR QUANTITY IN THE U.S. BUILDING STOCK (E.G., HOW MUCH IS BRICK WITH WOOD SPANNING MEMBERS, ETC.). OTHER ISSUES INVESTIGATED WILL BE: THE NEED FOR TESTING AND QUALITY CONTROL TO ASSURE GOOD ENGINEERING PROPERTIES AND THE RELATIVE BENEFITS IN EMBODIED ENERGY BY REPROCESSING. A CANDIDATE LIST OF REPROCESSING METHODS WILL BE DEVELOPED. THE METHODS WILL BE PRIORITIZED BY SCREENING AGAINST THE PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED FACTORS. IF A LIMITED NUMBER OF HIGH PRIORITY BUILDING MATERIALS REPROCESSING METHODS EMERGES, PHASE II WILL EXAMINE THE TECHNICAL VIABILITY OF DEVELOPING PRACTICAL, USEFUL AND COST-EFFECTIVE METHODS FOR COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS. THE BENEFITS TO SOCIETY COULD BE VERY GREAT IN PROVIDING NEW BUILDING MATERIAL RESOURCES WHICH RESULT IN LOWER COST BUILDINGS AND LESS NEGATIVE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT.