Maximize Savings and Minimize Waste
A Circular Economy Approach to Renovations
Renovating your home or office can be an exhilarating journey, but it often comes with a hidden cost. Construction and renovation projects generate a significant amount of waste, wasting capital and materials. Waste also contributes to landfills, leading to a reduction in property values and harming the environment. However, by adopting the circular economy, such as a zero-waste mindset, you can significantly minimize waste while keeping your budget in check. In this blog post, we'll delve into practical strategies based on our successful pilot projects at Le Cercle House in St. Louis, MO.
Before we get started, a bit of information on the house in St. Louis. It is a two-unit flat made of brick and was built in 1912 with some original features intact such as the pine floors, built-in kitchen hutch, and fireplaces. Each floor is approximately 1,000 SF, very common in the area during the 18th & 19th century as the neighborhoods around the city were being built. Our focus is the second-floor unit, which we renovated as our zero-waste short-term rental pilot.
Insight: If you make it to the end of this post, you’ll see our total spend and savings for the house in St. Louis, MO.
The Circular Strategy: Vision and Assessment
A successful zero-waste renovation begins with a well-thought-out strategy. A strategy must include a vision statement and the strategic plan will include an assessment:
Vision statement: Determine what you or your organization would like to achieve in the long-run and what actions to take to achieve the goals set out in your mission statement. And yes, whether you’re an individual or organization, I recommend having a mission statement.
Assessment: Start by evaluating what can be salvaged or repurposed in your current space to save money and reduce waste.
Length of Stay: Consider how long you will be in the space. If it is for less than 5 years, working with the current layout makes more financial sense than completely gutting and rearranging major appliances.
Example: Our company’s mission statement is to “Inspire individuals and organization to practice circularity, so we can preserve and use resources where they matter most.”
For the kitchen (pictured above and bel,) we knew that we may flip the house into a single-family home in 2-3 years, so spending the money to rearrange it now did not make sense. The current layout also works well, so while it may not be our desired layout, it works great for our needs. We also assessed what materials to keep and what to donate. For an updated look, the countertop, sink, faucet, ceiling fan, and above sink light had to go. They were still in excellent condition and would be perfect for rental units, so we called Habitat Restore and they picked up those items for free. We now also have a tax write-off. Leaning back into our strategy of making this kitchen work for a few years, we chose to go with butcher block countertops. They cost us $600 and long-term, this is a material we can remanufacture and reuse elsewhere if they no longer work as countertops in our future kitchen. The faucet and kitchen sink were purchased with an intent to reuse them in a future kitchen renovation as well, so we spent a little more money here to ensure the material was high enough quality to re-install. The cabinets were in excellent condition, so we kept those and moved them up the wall about 8 inches to make room for a salvaged wood shelf underneath. We painted the cabinets and installed hardware where none previously existed. The above kitchen sink light was replaced with a refurbished light for $15. The tile floors were in great condition, so we kept those because we weren’t sure what the future space might look like. No need to spend money here so we leaned into the color and applied new grout to freshen the look. The grout we applied was saved from a previous tile install. No cost here, a good reason to keep scraps. Lastly, we kept the short white stools, refinished the top of the stools, and purchased additional solid wood counter stools from a reuse shop for $40 total. Purchasing used allows you to buy quality materials at an affordable price, such as solid wood furniture. When you choose quality material, such as solid wood, you can refinish it repeatedly as well as repair it when broken.
Total kitchen renovation cost: ~ $ 1,600
Total saved: ~ $12,500
Deconstruction Over Demolition
When it comes to removing old materials, opt for deconstruction rather than demolition:
Careful Removal: Take apart and remove materials with care to minimize damage, making them easier to reuse or recycle.
Donation: Donate usable materials to local charities and construction reuse centers such as Lifecycle Building Center in Atlanta or Refab STL in St. Louis. This not only diverts waste from landfills but also provides resources to support the local community through less expensive material and free educational workshops.
Recycling: Identify materials that can be recycled in your area such as metal, plastic, cardboard, electrical, and Styrofoam.
Example: Whether you are renovating yourself or working with a construction team, deconstructing not only saves money, but can be a safer way to renovate. Often, deconstruction does not take more time than demolition if you plan accordingly. Removing cabinets is as easy as unscrewing them from the wall and each other so you can paint or donate. If tearing down a wall, try prying the drywall off where it is nailed to the studs. This allows you to save larger chunks of drywall to be used later in your renovation where you may not need a full piece. Framing for walls, such as studs or 2x4s, can also be deconstructed and reused. There might be a few nails that need to come out or be cut off, but if they are in good condition, they are a great way to save on material cost and use as framing or on other projects like creating a standing desk on your treadmill!
For the project in St. Louis, we deconstructed the kitchen faucet and sink, ceiling light fixtures and fans throughout, kitchen countertops, bathroom pedestal sink, bathroom wood shelving and towel hooks. We stored them in the garage until Habitat Restore St. Louis could pick them up. Most organizations that accept building materials, fixtures, and furnishings such as furniture take about 2-3 weeks to pick up. It is important to phase your renovation to allow removal, storage, and pick-up of donated goods. Most items are attached by screws and can simply be unscrewed to remove. We also recommend deconstruction over demolition because you will cause less damage to the ceiling and walls, saving you time and capital on making repairs.
Below are examples from some of our other projects. We thought these were the best examples on how you can reuse salvaged 2x4s during a renovation.
Efficient Waste Management During Renovation
While your renovation is in progress, adopt these waste-reduction strategies:
Separate Waste: Sort waste into categories such as metal, wood, plastic, and paper for easy recycling or repurposing. If possible, reuse containers such as extra plastic bins or large 5-gallon paint buckets to minimize the single use packaging for recycling. Yes, save those paint buckets!
Minimize Packaging: Purchase materials from a reuse center where packaging is not used and purchase in bulk where possible.
Reuse Materials: Prioritize reusing materials in the space as well as using reclaimed materials such as wood or light fixtures, giving your renovation a unique touch.
Keep scraps: Do not throw away scraps such as leftover wood from cutting a shelf to size, paint, wood trim, tile and grout, and drywall. There are many ways these can come in handy during your renovation, saving time from going back to the store and capital.
Example: Prioritizing the purchase of reusable materials allowed us to cut down on waste generated by newly purchased materials. The reuse centers do not provide packaging as most of their materials are donated as demonstrated in the image below. For separation, we sorted materials for recycling or reuse to offset waste from purchasing new items shown in the image below, to the right. Since this was a small-scale renovation, we were able to reuse various containers lying around to take items out to the recycle bin or recycling center. In St. Louis, either the city or recycling centers took plastic bags and packaging, plastic containers, metal, electronics, electrical wiring, glass, Styrofoam, food and beverage cartons, paper, paint cans (metal and plastic), and cardboard.
Since we didn’t have a scale to weigh each item, we used estimated weights for similar products.
We landfilled approximately 100 pounds of damaged plaster that had to be removed and miscellaneous items such as caulk tubes, paint rollers, cloth used to stain and poly wood, etc.
We donated and recycled approximately 363 pounds. In most renovations, all the items we donated and recycled would typically end up in the landfill. Habitat Restore picked up ceiling fans, light fixtures, countertops, stainless steel sink and faucets, a pedestal sink and faucet, and tub faucet and showerhead. We donated various electronics, metal such as doorknobs and pipes, Styrofoam, and plastic packaging. In addition, we recycled typical items St. Louis City picks up such as paper, flattened cardboard, plastic bottles and containers, glass bottles and jars, metal food and beverage cans, and food & beverage cartons.
Design for Ease of Repairs and Disassembly
Incorporate what the end of life looks like for the material used. By planning for the long term, we ensured that materials used can be repaired, remanufactured, and reused without losing their value. The materials that allow us to do this the best are wood (solid, veneer, or engineered) and metal. Items that are cheap and not repairable are laminate, medium density fiber board, and various forms of plastic and PVC. These items usually can’t be recycled so they need to be sent to the landfill.
Design for disassembly: Design how a material can be taken out to be reused instead of demolished when it’s time for a refresh. Prioritize materials that can be reused without losing their value, supporting a circular economy.
Right to repair: Ensure materials are easy to repair by reviewing the manufacturer’s warranty. If it looks complicated, it might be more difficult to repair. The material will usually be a higher quality and more expensive than cheaper materials, but it can be fixed, saving time of sourcing a new product and capital on purchasing and installing that new product.
Example: Thinking about how to disassemble a material, whether for repair or to update the look of an item or room, is an important piece of the circular economy. We steer away from any materials that are laminate, PVC, etc as much as possible because they generally are not easy to repair or remanufacture. Throughout the home, we have installed reclaimed wood shelving that we can take down and reuse elsewhere, either as the same thing or as something else because it is solid wood, not a laminate shelf. By purchasing reclaimed, we saved money verse buying new. If you compare the cost of a laminate shelf to what we spent, it is comparable. However, if you compare the cost to a new solid wood shelf, we saved approximately $250. This equated to us having a higher quality product at roughly the same price as a lesser quality product. The butcher block counters in the kitchen were chosen to be able to easily take off and reuse as a counter or remanufacture them into something else. We also saved the scraps and made a tabletop, a shelf, and cutting board! The material for the countertops cost approximately $16 per square foot, whereas laminate costs approximately $35 per square foot and stone $70 per square foot. You’ll see compared to stone, laminate is cheap, but you can’t refinish it or reuse it as easily as you can wood. This is why butcher-block counters are a great way to save money and have a product you can reuse down the road. Especially when your plans might be short-term.
Butcher block countertop spend ~$600 (Total is roughly 37 SF)
Laminate countertop cost: ~$1295 | Stone countertop cost: ~$2,590
In conclusion, renovating your home or office with a zero-waste mindset is not only environmentally responsible but also cost-effective in the long run. Through meticulous planning, material reuse, and the adoption of sustainable practices, you can keep 90% or more of waste out of landfills during your renovation. Take the leap into your renovation journey with the confidence that you can save money while making your space a testament to sustainable living. Collaborate with professionals who share your zero-waste mindset. Work with reuse specialists, architects, designers, contractors, and builders experienced in zero-waste renovations to ensure your project's success.
Our total renovation cost, including furnishing the 1,000 square foot unit was approximately $10,700.
We saved approximately, $15,600 by buying reused, saving scraps, and working with the original features of the home.
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