1. GREEN MANUFACTURING

“Green manufacturing involves making manufactured products and the manufacturing process safer for the environment and human health” (Cha).

What does this mean?

Regarding Products

The use of less toxic or nontoxic materials

Post-consumer recycled content (containing materials that consumers have used and recycled)

Locally sourced materials (ex. Stone and granite from local quarries rather than imported from around the globe)

Products manufactured and used in renewable and energy efficient systems (ex. Gearboxes used in small-scale wind turbines)

Regarding Process

Improving operational energy efficiency

Onsite recycling

Employee occupational health and safety

2. DECONSTRUCTION

“Deconstruction is the process of carefully dismantling and removing

useable materials from structures for reuse, recycling, and waste

management” (Cha).

Examples and Advantages:

Maximizes the recovery of valuable building materials for reuse and

recycling

Minimizes the amount of waste destined for landfills

Alternative to demolition

Susquehanna project

experimenting with

“paneling,” where large

sections of row houses are

removed intact for

disassembly and reuse.

Unique architectural features such as a

corner turret and radiators are retrieved from

urban row houses and sold through local

Susquehanna architectural salvage business.

Images courtesy of OSWER Innovation

Project Success Story: Deconstruction

“Atypical 13,300 square foot

commercial demolition project

generates over 155 pounds per

square foot or over 2 million pounds

of waste;2 building-related projects

in the U.S. alone generate an

estimated 164 million tons of

construction and demolition (C&D)

material every year. Approximately

40%of this material is

reused, recycled, or sent to waste-to-

energy facilities, while 60 percent is

sent to C&D landfills”

One Cleanup, Design for the Environment, and U.S. EPA. 2007. Draft Final

Report, Waste and Materials Flow-Benchmark Sector Report: Beneficial Use of

Secondary Materials—Construction and Demolition Materials.

3. REUSE

“This subsector redistributes unwanted yet perfectly usable materials

and equipment, including items from demolished structures” (Cha).

Advantages

Keeps goods and materials out of the waste stream

Advances source reduction

Preserves the „embodied energy‟ originally used to manufacture an

item

Creates less air and water pollution than making a new product or

recycling

Saves money in purchase and disposal costs

4. RECYCLING

5. REMANUFACTURING