Buffalo ReUse to be Featured on “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”

Buffalo ReUse, a green demolition and salvage company based in Buffalo, N.Y., has completed the ‘hybrid deconstruction’ of a Buffalo house for ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” The deconstruction project was carried out in order to build a new home at the location.

The company says it was able to deconstruct the 2.5-story, 3,300-square-foot house in only 15 hours, using a combination of heavy machinery and manpower. More than 150 volunteers from Buffalo and western New York contributed to the deconstruction effort.

In deconstructing the home, Buffalo ReUse diverted 97 percent of the materials, by weight, from the landfill, according to the company’s Web site.

Milwaukee-based WasteCap Resource Solutions, which provided documentation and monitoring of materials for the project, reported that the following materials were hauled away by Waste Management and recycled in the Buffalo area:

·         Wood debris was taken to Lardon Construction Corp., Buffalo, for grinding   up and use as landscape mulch;

·         About 4,800 pounds of bricks were recovered for reuse in community projects;

·         Asphalt material was taken to Swift River Associates, Tonawanda, N.Y., for use in making new asphalt; and

·         Steel and other metal was taken to Hurwitz Co. Inc., Buffalo, to be used in making new steel and other metal products.

Additionally, wood that had been contaminated with paint or other substances was taken to Covanata Energy, Niagara Falls, N.Y., to be used in producing biofuel energy, according to Caesandra Seawell, director of community programs for Buffalo ReUse. She adds that furnishings such as cabinets, bath tubs and toilets as well as limestone materials from the house’s porch were reused in other houses in the neighborhood.

A wooden banister was actually removed during the deconstruction activities and re-installed into the new house built on the site.

The ‘green demolition’ was the first in the five-year history of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’s” and contributed to the Emerald LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Certification earned by David Homes in the construction of the new house at the deconstruction site.

The episode of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” featuring Buffalo ReUse and its ‘hybrid deconstruction’ work will air on Sunday, Jan. 24, at 8 p.m. on ABC.