Deconstruction Has Started at NEST’s Site, 3 Ways We’re Doing It Sustainably

We are excited to announce that work has begun at the corner of Cook and Yates streets to make way for our upcoming homes at NEST, and we are proud to be taking a more sustainable approach to removing the existing building through deconstruction!

At Chard, we strive to leave a lasting positive impact on the communities where we build. With that in mind, NEST offers 104 one-to-3-bedroom homes in a boutique building that includes some much-needed community amenities. Among them are a brand-new daycare facility and landscaped public central mews. As the replacement of the existing public-serving conveniences was an important consideration in NEST’s design, retail spaces designed with small businesses in mind will activate both Cook and Yates streets.

Further, we take our environmental responsibility seriously, which is why we opted for a sustainable method when it came to preparing the NEST site for construction – deconstruction, rather than demolition.

So, what makes deconstruction a more environmentally friendly option? The typical process of taking down an old building through demolition often generates unnecessary waste. Rather than taking the building down through demolition and throwing away the materials, we’ve joined forces with Unbuilders to deconstruct the building and salvage the useable materials to minimize any waste.

At NEST, the deconstruction process is being done intentionally to promote sustainability through the following 3 steps:

1. The team at Unbuilders took apart the existing building in layers and put aside reusable materials. The building was built in 1917 with old-growth fir studs, rafters and beams – great materials for re-use!
2. After sorting and separating the materials, they salvaged and diverted metal, drywall, wood, and cardboard from going to landfills.
3. These salvaged components were then taken away to be reused in future projects! Unbuilders sells a selection of reclaimed wood from their deconstruction projects. To learn more about purchasing available reclaimed lumber from Unbuilders, click here.

We’re proud to be a part of the solution as we continue to grow communities and NEST is no exception. We’ll continue to share more updates along the way. Interested in learning more about NEST? Use the link below.