“I’m very glad we spent time considering how to take advantage of what the house already had instead of tearing everything down. Sometimes the future is about simply remaking the present.” – Shellie Collier, Marrakesh House’s Project Manager/LEED AP
We have taken pains during every phase of reconstruction to be environmentally-friendly and non-toxic, and also to reuse existing materials, such as lumber and dirt, whenever possible.
Some examples include:
- Existing trees on the property were pruned and used to create fences around the property.
- Retaining walls around the property were made from waste materials from other construction sites around the city. (No new materials used whatsoever.)
- Reclaimed barn wood was used for gates and privacy partitions around the property.
- The house’s original kitchen cabinets were recycled into bathroom cabinets.
A typical 2,400 square foot home construction project usually creates over 12,000 lbs of trash, but using these techniques, and others, we were able to reduce this by 75%.
We rarely wavered in our commitment to remodeling the entire 4,300 square-foot house using environmentally friendly guidelines. We assembled a team of dedicated craftspeople, led by project manager, noted LEED AP, Shellie Collier, and also brought on board sponsors who were passionate about a reconstruction that would showcase greener living.
Our team succeeded in making most changes to the house in accordance with the motto ‘reduce/reuse/recycle’. As Shellie explains, this motto means “using as much existing material as possible in order to significantly lower the carbon footprint during the remodeling process.” Paine ensured that measures were taken to harness the renewable, sustainable energy of the bright Southern California sun by installing roof panels to generate solar power for both plug-in electric vehicles and the residence itself.
The Marrakesh House team realized the ‘reduce/reuse/recycle’ theme by reusing lumber and soil from the original house, repurposing cement, and rebuilding the old kitchen cabinets into new bathroom cabinets. Materials that could not be used were sent to specialized reclamation. In the end, the Marrakesh House team managed to divert much of the construction debris from 1950s-1970s era construction from landfill into reuse.
Careful material selection during the remodel process allowed the house to evolve into a healthier, more environmentally conscious place to live.