National Demolition Association inaugurates Environmental Excellence Awards

DOYLESTOWN, PA — The National Demolition Association (NDA) presented the inaugural Environmental Excellence Awards to 11 companies which have performed demolition projects that have had a significant positive impact on the quality of life in the United States and Canada.

“We created the awards program to recognize NDA member companies which are true leaders in environmental stewardship, a key goal of the NDA’s mission,” said Michael R. Taylor, CAE, executive director of the NDA. “We believe that we recycle the nation’s most valuable commodity: its land. The demolition industry makes way by demolishing outmoded buildings, performing historic preservation efforts, handling hazardous materials, and participating in major recycling efforts.”

The winning projects, which were honored at the NDA Annual Convention in Las Vegas in March, are:

Project: City of Lights Casino Removal
NDA Member: Alpine Demolition Services, LLC, Batavia, Ill.
Alpine Demolition Services removed a casino boat in Illinois that was catching river debris and silt. Alpine had the casino moved by a truck able tug to a suitable area for interior demolition, removal of all oils, fuel, and Freon. The casino structure was removed to the top of the existing barge. The engines and generators were salvaged for reuse and the majority of the boat’s structure was recycled. The previous staging area for the casino will be developed for a park.

Project: Industrial Brownhoist Site
NDA Member: Bierlein Companies, Inc., Midland, Mich.
Bierlein Cos. abated the environmental hazards including asbestos, 6,000 tons of contaminated soil, and 50,000 gallons of impacted water from the 136-year-old Industrial Brownhoist site in Bay City, Mich. The removal of the structure in partnership with Bay City will produce remarkable marketable waterfront property, nearly 1/2 mile of frontage, along the Saginaw River 2 miles from Lake Huron.

Project: Ohio State University Medical Facilities
NDA Member: B&B Wrecking and Excavating, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio
As part of a $1 billion development program at Ohio State’s Medical Campus, B&B Wrecking & Excavating removed Means Hall, a former tuberculosis hospital, an MRI building, with salvage of the MRI and several connecting halls while preserving existing underground pedestrian tunnels with live utilities and communication. The project required rigid dust monitoring and recycling of all concrete, metal, and clean fill materials.

Project: Duke Energy
NDA Member: Environmental Holdings Group, LLC, Charlotte, N.C.
Partnered with Duke Energy, Environmental Holdings Group launched an innovative approach to restore the natural resources and reduce the environmental footprint at three Duke Energy locations — the Lee Nuclear Site, Thorpe Hydro Plant, and Nantahala Operations Center. The effort involved relocating 23 residential homes and remediating and demolishing more than 90 other residential structures with the objective of restoring the land back to its natural state. The demolition focused on maximizing the recovery and reuse of the buildings’ components while reducing the project’s carbon footprint by decreasing waste, emissions, and fuel consumption as the need to transport waste offsite was minimized.

Project: York Mills Renovation
NDA Member: EnviroVantage, Epping, N.H.
EnviroVantage participated in the restoration and revitalization of a major part of New England’s manufacturing heritage: the York Mills in Saco, Maine. The seven-building complex was being renovated for use as commercial office space, residential condos, a brewery and restaurant, townhomes, and marina. EnviroVantage abated the lead-based paint, recycled many historic windows, preserved the original brick, and recycled the metal, wood, and other materials. Renamed Island Point, the new development is planned to support more than 2,000 people and produce new tax revenue, as well as an environmentally friendly new village community in the Saco/Biddeford area.

Project: Clovis Landfill Reclamation Project
NDA Member: Kroeker, Inc., Fresno, Calif.
In order to increase the life expectancy of the Clovis, Calif., municipal landfill while mitigating groundwater issues, providing a source of soil, and placing old waste in a lined portion of the landfill, Kroeker, Inc., excavated and sorted the facility’s buried waste, sorting the excavated material, screening it, saving the soil for reuse, and returning the screened waste to the landfill’s active face. They processed more than 2.5 million cubic yards, thereby allowing the city to reutilize and expand its landfill for a much longer period of time. It also mitigated groundwater contamination, and the soil recovery eliminated the need to import millions of tons of new soil for ongoing operations. The project added 30 years to the facility’s lifespan.

Project: The Minnesota Building
NDA Member: Lloyd’s Construction Services, Inc., Savage, Minn.
Partnering with the St. Paul Housing & Redevelopment Authority, Lloyd’s Construction Services “deconstructed” this 82-year-old, 101,000-square-foot building in the heart of St. Paul. Lloyd’s removed the entire interior of the 13-story structure for development into 137 housing units and 10,000 square feet of commercial space. Environmentally sensitive planning allowed for a significant diversion of waste from the landfill, greater recycling, more than 225 tons of metal, and preservation of this aged yet remarkable icon in Minnesota’s capital.

Project: Harvard University Art Museum
NDA Member: NASDI, LLC, Waltham, Mass.
Harvard’s Fogg Museum is the university’s oldest, opening in 1927. The project that calls for the redevelopment of the site to house all three of Harvard’s art museums involves 204,000 square feet above and below ground including the demolition of 50,000 square feet and renovation of 104,000 square feet. NASDI, working with Skanska to achieve LEED Gold certification, involved the use of locally sourced building materials, the addition of a stormwater retention tank, and state-of-the-art climate control system. NASDI demolished most of the interior of the building while maintaining its exterior brick façade and interior marble courtyard. Extensive use of shoring, bracing, and selective demolition maintained the structure’s historic exterior while allowing renovation.

Project: Beacon’s Bluff Redevelopment
NDA Member: Rachel Contracting, LLC, St. Michael, Minn.
This project involved managing the Brownfields redevelopment of 3m’s former world headquarters in St. Paul, Minn. It included demolition of 625,000 square feet of industrial and office buildings, asbestos and other hazardous materials abatement, soil remediation, geotechnical correction of site soils, constructing a new road, and the installation of new water mains, storm, and sanitary sewer infrastructure. Rachel Contracting with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) clarified the beneficial reuse of processed building materials including concrete, brick, and aggregate resulting in 31,000 cubic yards of material used onsite. The project also generated thousands of tons of ferrous and non-ferrous scrap metal and more than 100,000 board feet of timber.

Project: Refrigerant Recovery
NDA Member: Rapid Recovery, Inc., Peoria, Ill.
Founded to assist contractors in meeting the Clean Air Act requirements for refrigerant recovery, Rapid Recovery created two proprietary refrigerant recovery machines to handle any low, medium, or high pressure needs, enabling the company to achieve faster recovery time than most common equipment. In 2009 alone, Rapid Recovery helped contractors reduce carbon dioxide (C02) emissions by more than 1.1 billion pounds in the United States. Many refrigerants are CFCs that are leading cause of ozone depletion contributing to climate change.

Project: Berth 301 Port of Los Angeles
NDA Member: Standard Industries, Ventura, Calif.
Standard Industries was able to recycle or reuse 98.78 percent of the onsite materials from Berth 301 in the Port of Los Angeles. They were able to conserve more than 1.7 million gallons of water in water-scarce Los Angeles while using more than 40,000 cubic yards of coal and petroleum coke impacted soil at a local landfill. They recycled more than 700 rail ties and 10,000 tons of metal and salvaged Berth 301’s coal and coke transporting conveyor system for use in the Midwest. Berth 301’s coal rail car dumper was dissembled and move to Australia for reuse there. All of the transformers, electrical switchgear, breakers, and lights were salvaged and reused by the U.S. Navy. Standard Industries extracted 320 steel piles, some 75 feet in length, for use as falsework for bridge construction. They also recycled more than 150,000 tons of concrete and asphalt for use as base material for new roads and as foundation support.