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| writing:deconstruction [2026/01/05 16:17] – JacobCoffinWrites | writing:deconstruction [2026/01/17 14:08] (current) – JacobCoffinWrites |
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| ===== Deconstruction - salvaging entire buildings ===== | ===== Deconstruction and House Shifting - salvaging entire buildings ===== |
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| [[https://www.epa.gov/large-scale-residential-demolition/reuse-and-recycling-opportunities-and-demolition|Deconstruction]] is an alternative to demolition. It means [[https://www.morrishabitat.org/programs/deconstruction|carefully dismantling the constructed components of a house (or other building) so the materials can be salvaged and reused]]. Materials are typically removed in the opposite order in which they were installed, to maximize reuse. | [[https://www.epa.gov/large-scale-residential-demolition/reuse-and-recycling-opportunities-and-demolition|Deconstruction]] is an alternative to demolition. It means [[https://www.morrishabitat.org/programs/deconstruction|carefully dismantling the constructed components of a house (or other building) so the materials can be salvaged and reused]]. Materials are typically removed in the opposite order in which they were installed, to maximize reuse. |
| * The building may be part of car infrastructure which can't be easily repurposed, such as a parking garage. In this case, the building's footprint may be far more useful than its current structure. | * The building may be part of car infrastructure which can't be easily repurposed, such as a parking garage. In this case, the building's footprint may be far more useful than its current structure. |
| * The building may be structurally unsound and unsuitable enough for repurposing that it's hard to justify investing resources into repairs. Some buildings are just built incredibly cheaply and may not be designed to last more than a decade without a serious overhaul. [[https://mcmansionhell.com/|McMansions]] and other 'builder grade' new houses are infamous for their cheap construction, but strip malls and other commercial buildings can be similarly unsustainable. | * The building may be structurally unsound and unsuitable enough for repurposing that it's hard to justify investing resources into repairs. Some buildings are just built incredibly cheaply and may not be designed to last more than a decade without a serious overhaul. [[https://mcmansionhell.com/|McMansions]] and other 'builder grade' new houses are infamous for their cheap construction, but strip malls and other commercial buildings can be similarly unsustainable. |
| * The location may be poor. Perhaps the building has been built on what used to be a train line which society is looking to return to use. Perhaps it's on a flood plain, a landslide-prone cliff, or recurrent wildfire area where it's likely to be destroyed anyways. Or perhaps society is just taking on a new shape - in present day, car-reliant exurban/rural areas, many residential buildings have been built an impractical distance from anything else. If cars become less practical and people rely more on trains and live in denser villages, these outlying buildings may eventually be abandoned. | * The location may be poor. Perhaps the building has been built on what used to be a train line which society is looking to return to use. Perhaps it's on a flood plain, a landslide-prone cliff, or [[https://www.theverge.com/features/861950/fire-resilient-home-neighborhood|recurrent wildfire area]] where it's likely to be destroyed anyways. Or perhaps society is just taking on a new shape - in present day, car-reliant exurban/rural areas, many residential buildings have been built an impractical distance from anything else. If cars become less practical and people rely more on trains and live in denser villages, these outlying buildings may eventually be abandoned. |
| * The longer they’re left abandoned, the more they’ll degrade. The structures will become unsafe, the materials will rot or break, or become inaccessible, and in some cases, they’ll pose environmental risks as fuel tanks rust out, chemicals escape their storage, or damaged structures catch fire (even with the powerlines cut upstream, abandoned solar panels or poorly-isolated generators backfeeding into the grid might allow for damage to an abandoned house to cause a fire). This is especially true with modern buildings, particularly the kind of cheap new houses and McMansions with their heavy reliance on petro-products like “structural” foam columns and facades, which will go up like a struck match. | * The longer they’re left abandoned, the more they’ll degrade. The structures will become unsafe, the materials will rot or break, or become inaccessible, and in some cases, they’ll pose environmental risks as fuel tanks rust out, chemicals escape their storage, or damaged structures catch fire (even with the powerlines cut upstream, abandoned solar panels or poorly-isolated generators backfeeding into the grid might allow for damage to an abandoned house to cause a fire). This is especially true with modern buildings, particularly the kind of cheap new houses and McMansions with their heavy reliance on petro-products like “structural” foam columns and facades, which will go up like a struck match. |
| * Weather, encroaching water, mold, ice, and animals can all cause compounding damage to empty buildings surprisingly fast. | * Weather, encroaching water, mold, ice, and animals can all cause compounding damage to empty buildings surprisingly fast. |
| * Additional inspections and work are conducted to ensure the building is safe. | * Additional inspections and work are conducted to ensure the building is safe. |
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| For a much more thorough guide [[https://www.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/noindex/2025-11/home-relocation-guide.pdf|this government resource]] seems to cover most steps in the process. There are also [[https://www.facebook.com/groups/1089622828550921/|groups online]] where people talk about their experiences with this process. | For a much more thorough guide [[https://www.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/noindex/2025-11/home-relocation-guide.pdf|this government resource]] seems to cover most steps in the process. There are also [[https://www.facebook.com/groups/1089622828550921/|groups online]] where people talk about their experiences with removal homes and house shifting. |
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| In the modern day house shifting is done using large trucks, and the size of each section of house moved is constrained by width the road. But it's worth noting that transporting this type of bulky cargo overland is the exact type of work modern [[https://www.flying-whales.com/en/home/|'flying crane']] airships propose to take on. It would take quite a bit of preparation, but its possible that these airships could transport suitable buildings the same way they propose to transport wind turbine blades, by lifting them by the winch and caring them along outside the ship just under the keel. This might even simplify the shifting process - the frame would still have to be supported from underneath, but buildings transported by air might need far less disassembly, and structures which weren't suitable for piecemeal transportation on a truck might do fine when lifted as one big, intact piece. This could mean that a solarpunk society could relocate more buildings than we can today. | In the modern day house shifting is done using large trucks, and the size of each section of house moved is constrained by width the road. But it's worth noting that transporting this type of bulky cargo overland is the exact type of work modern [[https://www.flying-whales.com/en/home/|'flying crane']] airships propose to take on. It would take quite a bit of preparation (including inspections, structural improvements, jacking it up off the foundation and attaching it to a special platform or frame), but it's possible that these airships could transport suitable buildings the same way they propose to transport wind turbine blades, by lifting them by the winch and caring them along outside the ship just under the keel. This might even simplify the shifting process - the frame would still have to be supported from underneath, but buildings transported by air might need far less disassembly, and structures which weren't suitable for piecemeal transportation on a truck might do fine when lifted as one big, intact piece. This could mean that a solarpunk society could relocate more buildings than we can today. |
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| | A solarpunk setting might actually find itself with a large supply of removal homes. As in real life, where houses moved with government funding assistance [[https://www.nsw.gov.au/departments-and-agencies/nsw-reconstruction-authority/our-work/resilient-homes-program/eligibility-criteria|can only be relocated to land outside of Flood Priority 1, 2 or 3 zones]], a solarpunk society might identify large swaths of land which are unsuitable for long-term human settlement because of flood or fire risk. |
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| | One of the main criteria for suitability for relocation is a wood frame, complete with floor, as wood handles movement and flexing better than brick and concrete, and houses built directly on concrete slabs will obviously have problems being moved elsewhere. Fortunately, stick-frame construction (on pylons or over basements) is very common in North America, so many buildings could be suitable. |
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