Help with our current barn deconstruction
or
Why Deconstruction (still) needs to be subsidized
Goal: Sell $ 3,000 in
eGift Cards to support the barn project.
Our current barn deconstruction is an important opportunity. The Regional Water Authority supports sustainable practices
and has contracted us remove a barn via deconstruction so that the historic materials may be saved and so that waste can be minimized.
Though the RWA is supporting this removal , Urbanminers still has to sell the materials in order to make the budget work. In this case the value of the materials is the subsidy ( read below about why deconstruction as an industry still needs to be subsidized)
The good news is that we have sold some of the materials. On the other hand, we still have most of the materials left that we have not yet sold ( see below). That means we need cash in lieu of sales in order to pay for the removal and we may also have the added cost of moving and storing materials that are unsold by the time the job ends. The materials from this barn are worth saving - and in the long run will be sold profitably. Perhaps someday the materials will have such a market demand they will be sold 6 months before we even remove them ! But it may take 6 months to a year or more to sell all of these materials,
after we remove them. Not to mention we are still setting up both of our retail outlets at this time. And we are currently trying to save another three barns worth of materials.
Don't need any barn materials right now ?
Get
egift cards now and buy something for you or someone else later. Note that eGift Cards can be used on our Website Shopping Page, while the "old fashion" Gift Cards can only be used at our retail locations.
Or you are a philanthropist and are able to provide cash and still buy materials some day ,as some of our amazing supporting "Miners" have:
Funding Page
Hint for holiday shopping: buying local is more sustainable than getting your friends something imported, just sayin')
Not in a position to be buying anything? Still easy to assist: Just tell someone about us.
Below is a link to a video we created in 2012 about our Newhall Deconstruction Project. This project assisted in removing 4 houses and 2 barns. Not only did we save all the materials, but it also provided job training for about 8-10 people for up to a year or more.
This project was subsidized in cooperation with Hamden Economic Development Corporation , The Connecticut Department of Labor and Gateway Community College.
Years later, hundreds of homes are still demolished and not deconstructed because the "free market" does not fully support deconstruction in most cases. Forward thinking organizations such as The RWA, CT DEEP , Hamden Economic Development Corp, The CT Trust for Historic Preservation , and others, are moving us in the right direction. But we still do not have a reuse market place that fully supports saving even a small percentage of the buildings that need to be removed.
The answer to this question below posed by CT DEEP is generally: no. Other cities have passed ordinances ( two out of the entire country last I checked), and there are many programs supported via not for profits, grant subsidized work programs , etc.
Nevertheless, in Connecticut most buildings are simply thrown away. And most materials from renovations are also not recovered.
CT DEEP Website:
"Does your town have a construction and demolition (C & D) recycling or green building ordinance that requires reuse and recycling of C & D debris?
There are many states and cities across the country that are passing laws or ordinances that require the recovery of waste generated from construction, renovation and demolition projects through reuse or recycling. These programs often have a minimum requirement of recovery - 50%, 75% or more of waste generated from a project and may include enforcement fees or other financial incentives."
Links to our barn board sales
See more barn materials for sale on our shopping page under " Unique Salvaged Materials"
lot of 1x6 barn siding, 500 sq ft.
lot of 500 sq ft, random length
random width 1 full inch hardwood barn flooring, 300 sq ft lot
pine barn flooring 1x8 random length ( mostly 12 footers) lot of 300 sq ft.
Oak barn board special 300 sq feet
Note: all of the above materials are from a barn we are deconstructing , C. 1850 -1870, in Prospect, Ct.
