An end to stifling business growth

London UK

Business Secretary Vince Cable today announced an action plan to “re-open Britain for business” and bring an end to the excessive regulation that is stifling business growth, especially of small businesses. The action plan will establish a new “challenge group” to come up with innovative approaches to achieving social and environmental goals in a non-regulatory way.

Vince Cable said, "The deluge of new regulations has been choking off enterprise for too long. We must move away from the view that the only way to solve problems is to regulate. The Government has wide-ranging social and ecological goals including protecting consumers and protecting the environment. This requires increased social responsibility on the part of businesses and individuals."

Department for Business Innovation & Skills

Brian Murphy's presentation 'Specifying Reclaim & Reuse'

Brian Murphy of National Green Specification has produced a publicly available slideshow of points for architects and others to consider when specifying reclaimed materials. This is the nearest thing we have seen to a reclamation checklist for professionals.

Reclaim & Reuse: Specification Issues (Rev 2)

Scribd

Green Spec

Reuse industry comes of age

Raleigh, North Carolina USA

Reuse Alliance is holding a conference on October 18-20, 2010. The event is being organized by the Reuse Alliance, a national nonprofit association working to increase public awareness of reuse and strengthen the sector through networking, support and promotion. The first National Reuse Conference and Expo in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The event will feature experts from the reuse industry, including key note speaker Garth Johnson -- author of 1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse. It will also offer a trade expo, intensive workshops, reuse tours, a reFashion Show, and film screenings.



ReuseConex

Scrapped plasterboard no longer considered waste in Scotland

[photo. edie]

Scotland UK
Rules that determine the legal definition of surplus building materials in Scotland have been tweaked so that plasterboard that ticks the right environmental boxes need no longer be considered waste.

SEPA, Scotland's environmental watchdog, now says that plasterboard that meets a certain standard, as laid out by the BSI PAS109:2008, it won't count as waste, cutting down on costs and paperwork when it comes to reprocessing it.

edie

London funds building waste reuse centre

The London Waste and Recycling Board (LWARB) are investing £0.5m into a social enterprise that will collect unwanted construction materials from building sites and sell them on to the public and trade. The project is to be led by BioRegional who are based in Croydon.

The centre will not be based on selling high value items instead it will focus on saving building materials that would otherwise find their way to landfill sites or, at best, be crushed and re-used as aggregates. The centre will also include surplus materials which have come from building sites but never used.

James Cleverly, chair of the London Waste and Recycling Board said: "Last year London created a massive 9.7million tonnes of construction and demolition waste. Around half of this was recycled but there is still much more we need to do to tackle the rest which largely ends up dumped in landfill sites. This innovative project ticks all our boxes - reusing waste, cutting emissions and bringing jobs and real social benefits to the capital."

Construction companies wanting to donate their waste a worthy cause can contact the centre at jonathan.essex@bioregional.com

edie

Architectural Heritage at TATE Britain & The Chelsea Flower Show

The past few months have been extremely busy for Architectural Heritage. The successful Christies sale was quickly followed by the installation at Tate Britain of pieces as commissioned by the artist Pablo Bronstein for the Clore Garden. Architectural Heritage will also be exhibiting at Chelsea Flower Show 25-29 May 2010.



Over the past year Architectural Heritage have carried out a number of fireplace installations in both America and England.



Architectural Heritage

Reuse of reclaimed steel beams

Modern Steel Construction magazine containing all the latest news in the steel construction world, including features on reusing salvaged steel and the 2010 Ideas Awards which celebrates innovative design in structural steel.





MSC

Positive attitude at Ronsons

Above: A large timber framed Pagoda, arched gothic style windows and doorway, zinc and copper roof, sold for £6,800 to a local private (est £5k-£8k)

Above: A pair of iron gates from Twickenham rugby ground by T W Palmer sold for £1,100 (est £1k-£2k), one of two pairs which sold at the sale.


Sandhurst, Gloucestershire UK - THE auction sale at Ronson Reclaim by Brightwells on 6th May 2010 resulted in around half the lots being sold. There was a good turnout of bidders on the day and the top lot was a reclaimed garden pagoda which sold locally for £6,800, followed by a Portland stone fountain basin which sold for £2,000 to the USA. Ron Jones, owner and founder of Ronsons, said that the sale was a success and he definitely wanted do another next year.

"It went well," he said, "we pitched the reserves on our own lots quite low which resulted in some good sales. But some lots put in by the trade had too high a reserve, and so did not sell. Ronsons was keen to move stock. It is about time to start knocking the prices down. This is about moving money basically. My catchphrase for 2011 is that you lose on the swings and gain on the roundabout. You have to move, not stagnate."

"Regarding the future, Ronsons will be going back to its roots by moving away from the high end architectural and garden ornament and back to concentrating on basic reclaimed building materials at our Sandhurst site. Darren (Ron Jones son and business partner) will continue trading at the top end with Lichen Garden Antiques at his Tetbury showroom."

Asked whether the sale date coinciding with polling day had an impact on the auction, Mr. Jones was cryptic. "I specifically chose the date of the election," he said, "which meant that we had a lot of tourists at our sale."

Ronson Auction Catalogue & Results
Ronson Reclaim
Lichen Garden Antiques

Deconstruction courses in USA

USA
The second round of NSP funding is being distributed in the US, cities have an opportunity to capitalise on both the long and short-term benefits of the program. In addition to the rehabilitation of low-income housing, the funds can be used for demolition or, preferably, deconstruction. The Reuse People explain that deconstruction can be beneficial as abandoned and dilapidated houses can be removed and salvaged materials can be used in the renovation of existing housing.

Most city officials understand that NSP funding will run out in two more years and are searching for ways to leverage the remaining monies to achieve long-term benefits. TRP’s deconstruction training program, “An Introduction to Deconstruction,” offers cities an way to train unemployed and underemployed workers in skills applicable to many of the construction trades. TPR also offers a shorter deconstruction training course for local contractors which includes skills such as de-nailing lumber, how to remove building components while protecting and preserving their reuse value.

The Reuse People

Letter about eBay from an ATG reader

Antique Trades Gazette, 15 May 2010

The Antique Trade Gazette has recently printed an interesting letter from one of its readers;

'SIR- I'd like to add a further tale of caution to the recent 'buying on eBay' letters.

Some time ago I spotted a piece listed on eBay which was of potential interest to me. I readied myself for a last-minute bidding frenzy but then I noticed the self-same piece coming up at a provincial English auction room. The eBay listing photograph was the same one as presented on the auction house site and the piece was unique enough to make this more than a coincidence.

I contacted the eBay seller and he was quite open about the face that he didn't actually own the object he was trying to sell. He had downloaded the auction house image and put it on eBay. If he got a good eBay price he would bid at the auction up to a level giving him profit. If he couldn't achieve a profit the eBay listing would be cancelled because the piece had been 'damaged' or 'stolen'. . . Is this legal? - if not it's certainly immoral.

Bob Mills'

ATG

Decon '11 Radio Interview

Decon '11 Radio Interview

Listen to this radio interview (follow link below) about Decon '11 on Connecticut's Cox Radio. Bob Falk (BMRA president), Sherrill Baldwin (CT DEP), and Lil Snyder (City of New Haven) all came together to discuss the next May's Decon '11 conference.

Building Materials Reuse Association

UK 2010 upcoming elections

For the forthcoming election Salvo requested people to ask their parliamentary candidates about their policies on reuse. We also asked dealers for their opinions on who to vote for.

Two people asked the following question of Lib Dem, Labour, Green and Conservative parliamentary candidates in the Westminster North and Canterbury constituencies:

Please tell me your views or your party's policies on encouraging the reuse of building materials. There has been much emphasis on recycling but reuse would both reduce the increasing amounts sent to landfill and help reduce global warming. Reuse of an old brick for example would mean saving the energy needed to make a new one in its place. The cost saving in monetary terms and to the environment should make it a policy priority for any future government. Every year we continue to throw away huge amounts of reusable building materials - just look in any skip! Looking forward to hearing your comments.

No Green party candidate replied.

The following replies were received from Westminster's Lib Dem, Tory and Labour parliamentary candidates, and from Canterbury's Labour and Tory candidate, which includes an interesting link to a speech about reuse given by the Tories in January 2010.

Reply from Lib Dem candidate (Westminster)
It was extremely informative to learn some of the realities of the brick trade and as someone who loves the idea of re-use and reclamation (we did our house up when we moved into Westminster a few years ago and used as many reclaimed materials as possible) I was fairly horrifed. If elected I promise to look into the situation further and do what I can do address the senseless waste.

Reply from Tory candidate (Westminster)
As you rightly point out, Britain is struggling to cope with mountains of waste. We will introduce a new approach, one which minimises waste and promotes recycling. A Conservative government will introduce a Responsibility Deal on waste which is a voluntary arrangement among producers to cut back on the production of waste and improve its disposal. We will also put a floor under landfill tax until 2020 to give businesses long term certainty to invest in new forms of waste disposal and we will encourage councils to adopt a scheme which gives incentives to families that recycle. It is hoped these two measures will mean it will make economic sense for businesses to reuse building waste. The environment is central to the modern Conservative Party's agenda and Joanne also recognises its importance.

Reply from Tory candidate (Canterbury)
Thank you for your email which was forwarded by the Conservative Association office asking about my views on recycling. As a keen recycler, and once the Parliamentary advisor to the BSMA (British Secondary Metals Association, now BMRA) I share your concern about the amount of building materials sent to landfill. Small businesses who find it difficult to pay for a waste licence tend to be better at conserving materials – or selling them on through specialist recyclers/reclamation companies. You will not find much copper, re-sellable metals or reclaimable bricks, for example, on waste sites, as the builders concerned appreciate their second hand value. Old bricks, like Kent Reds or traditional London stocks, are currently double the price of new ones, which encourages recycling. I do believe that we could do more, however, to reuse materials such as timber and modern bricks. Part of the problem with reclaiming bricks is that modern mortar clings to them so they tend to break up when removed, as the bricks are softer than the mortar. The bricks are therefore only really suitable for hardcore. My colleague, Nick Herbert, has spoken about this issue, and his speech is on the Conservative website: Nick Herbert's speech

Reply from Labour candidate (Westminster)
Re-use and recycling is a very important issue, and there is no reason, subject to basic safety considerations, why this should not include building materials. Britain is subject to a Landfill reduction tax liability if targets for cutting the use of landfill, so there are powerful incentives to cut these methods of disposal already. There is a growing network of both advice and information about recycling (The Association for Environmentally Conscious Building is one) and reclamation centres being set up. Much of the responsibility for driving this agenda lies at the level of local government, which in turn has incentives built in through something called 'Local area agreements', in which local councils agree improvements with central government in exchange for financial support. There should, for example, be a way of recycling materials left as a result of home improvements and small building projects, without this having to place too much responsibility on the individual. I hope that this is helpful.

Reply from Labour candidate (Canterbury)
This is an excellent point. When I was talking to some building companies recently they made me aware that the new standards for heat retention etc made reuse of some materials not possible but argued like you that for some carbon neutral materials it was more a matter of recycling so that the materials were available in the right places. They must also be acceptable to home buyers. This last point is in regard to new owners wanting the brick in their houses to match etc. so i guess the emphasis must be on repairs rather than new builds.


The comments below were from people in the architectural salvage trade.

Comment from a dealer (The Cotswold constituency)
I fear writing anything without considerable editing for fear of slander, libel, blairphemy (denigration of TB and his wife, Jaws - I wouldn't mind a butchers at their expenses, don't suppose they're available under the f.o.i. act?). As for another dose of Brown. No way. He got us into this mess as chancellor with the expansion of credit and lack of bank regulation. Go ahead lads, lend as much as you like to whoever you like. Can only be good for the country 'cos the more they spend the more they pay in taxes and while we're at it, sell 'em more insurance, I'll tax 'em 5% on that as well. Then with all this extra tax revenue I'll spend more on employing civl servants and quangos and keep unemployment low 'cos everyone I employ will have to pay tax and so I'll get even more tax to waste er sorry spend until one day we all disappear up our own a********. Oh damn, too late, it looks as though we have done. If the worst happens and Gordon gets back in (no, no it's not possible, surely?) then you can bet that brown noser, twice disgraced Mandelson will be the unelected PM of this country within the year. At that point I leave. Not that I'm  a great Thatcher lover either. Her vision of everyone enjoying  more leisure and full employment being in the financial and
service sector was idiotic.OK she walloped the unions but that was about it. A country has to have manufacturing. You have to add real value. Take a bit of metal for 1p, bash it into a widget and flog it for 5p. That's the way forward. Thatcher did for manufacturing and look at us now. All those small businesses gone. Everything made in China. Financial services are based on fresh air well actually foul air. Banks talk about their products. Their products!!! A product is a widget not an effing insurance policy you don't need. Ted Heath was a traitor. Nuff said. And how did Callaghan get all those farms and Neil Kinnock and family all those unelected jobs in the EU. Jobs for the boys. Behind every failed politician is a nagging greedy spouse/partner what have you. And ploliticians look after their own. There's some recent story about a former civil servant chief responsible
for helicopter procurement now being ceo of an overseas helicopter mfr who has just got the contract for our new machines. Funny? Is that a bad smell in the State of Denmark (read Westminster). They're all at it - pigs with snouts in troughs. Looking after their own. And as for local councils paying their chief execs, thousands a week. What do they know about anything. It's easy spending the dosh, it's making it that's difficult. A council doesn't have to work hard to make any money.It is given it and still the tossers make a balls of spending it, always asking for more. Live within your means, I say. Wish I could, I also say! When they talk of cuts, they always slash the sharp end - the road diggers, the nurses, the firemen it's never the chiefs or the office wallahs. Oh no. One glimmer of hope is that they've taxed evryone so much know that any further attempts will result in declining revenues. A couple of garage mates are already reporting lower sales of fuel. But that won't put 'em off. They are so thick and stupid they won't notice that all the tax payers have left until it's too late. We pay more and we get less.
P.S. I actually think we need people like the The Taxpayer's Alliance to open our eyes to the theft that is going on.

Comment from a dealer (Stratford-on-Avon constituency)
I do not have time to think about all this, but I agree with much of what the dealer above (The Cotswolds) wrote. Grocer Heath was guilty of High Treason and should have been hanged but chose burial at sea when he died naturally; am sure this was to frustrate people like me who wished to dance on the wretch's grave. So much control and sovereignty has been given to the anti-democratic E.U. that the U.K. Independence Party offers the only hope: get out of it before their police state takes over completely! If UKIP continues to make progress, the other parties will have to offer a genuine referendum at some point. God speed that day!

Comment from a dealer (Berwick-upon-Tweed constituency)
Nick Griffin reuses reclaimed bricks. Vote BNP


How should I vote? - a decision tree to help you decide. Surprisingly this worked for two people I know!
Daily Telegraph : How Should I Vote?

RIBA believe press are to blame over low pay row

Although no formal complaint has been made by the institute over BD’s coverage of the issue in recent weeks, letters from two senior staff have emerged claiming the paper’s coverage was “misrepresentative” and “skewed the facts”.

It comes as a Facebook group set up three weeks ago to highlight the issue reached 1,000 members this week. Keith Tomlinson, the architect who resigned his membership in protest and set up the Facebook page, revealed he had received letters from Janine Chasmer, the RIBA’s head of membership services, and executive director Richard Brindley blaming BD’s coverage for the row.

He said, "The idea that the storm was cooked up by the paper was laughable and patronising. If they think that this furore has been entirely manufactured by BD then they are living on a different planet from me. That’s very far from the truth." He argued that BD's story was 'just the straw that broke the camels back' following reports weeks ago that London practice Parritt Leng were advertising jobs below the minimum wage.

bd

Manchester Confidential browses at InSitu

Hulme Manchester, UK
Reporter Melanie Mingas of Manchester Confidential has a browse around InSitu. 'InSitu has been trading in the South Manchester and Trafford area for over 25 years. Run by Salvo Code dealer Laurence Green, it's an “architectural salvage” enterprise, aiming to pair customers with the period, unique and antique items their restoration project or simple home furnishing idea requires. “It's a bit of a schizophrenic business of sorts. People come here looking for certain things from the past but then other people are looking to re-imagine the future," said Lawrence.

Recently it's undergone a bit of a transformation and is now part of an antique cooperative of sorts, based in an old warehouse on Chester Road. Laurence said, "InSitu is part department store, part gallery and part market.” In total, four business trade from the premises: Planet Vintage Girl- interior design with an environmental conscience where post war influences are applied to practical objects. Silverleaf- antique mirrors and lighting. FE26 – sculpture and design from scrap materials.
Kyran Hall- stained glass creation and restoration.



Manchester Confidential

'Missing' Moses statue is found

Burnley, UK
Onlookers had questioned the disappearance of a 10-foot tall statue of Moses, which stood outside a former Burnley Baptist chapel. The site is currently under construction to be turned into a dental super-center. Lancashire Telegraph managed to track down the 'missing' statue of Moses to Ribble Reclamation.

The question of its disappearance was Unbeknown to anyone at Ribble Reclamation who received a call from the developers of the Baptist chapel site asking if they wanted to have a look at it. Under planning conditions, the health trust was not required to keep the statue in situ. Ribble Reclamation are now offering the Moses statue for sale.

Ribble Reclamation

Passionate about antiques/salvage, want to be on TV?

We recently received an email from Ife Okwudili the Co Executive Producer at Cineflix Productions (see below), if you are interested in participating please respond directly to Ife Okwudili, whose details are given below;

My name is Ife, and I work for a TV production company called Cineflix Productions. We make a huge range of shows for major networks across the world. You can see more about our company and shows by visiting www.cineflixproductions.com_shows

Why am I emailing you?
One of our most recent successes has been American Pickers for the History Channel. Because of that, we've been asked to look further into the world of antiques, estate clearance and architectural salvage etc here in the UK. If you want to have a peek at that show, you can do so here: http://www.history.com/shows/american-pickers.

What do we want?
I am looking to find people spend their lives immersed in the world of antiques and collectibles. Maybe you have a shop; perhaps you're a runner for lots of different traders; ideally you'll have more than one string to your bow, perhaps you'll do valuations, architectural salvage or estate sales as well. We are interested in people who come across and trade in a wide range of items rather than solely specialist markets. We're looking for interesting and outgoing characters, who are passionate about the subject and can communicate that to others. Ideally you'll work with a colleague or a spouse - or have a regular cast of characters you interact with as part of your business.

What do you need to do next?
Just drop me an email to iokwudili@cineflix.com with a few lines about yourself. It would also be great if you could send a photo or any video footage you may have (just a short clip - no more than 2 mins). NB attaching these files can cause the email to fail - so if you're able, the best thing to do is upload it to a Facebook page or free You Tube account and send me a link.

Alternatively, you can call 07947 042626 / 0207 193 8669 and we can have a quick chat.

Blaze destroys 50 per cent of a Cradley Heath Business

Cradley Heath, West Midlands UK
A severe blaze has caused tens of thousands of pounds of damage and destroyed 50 per cent of a wood-working operation at Oldfields Reclamations Ltd. The blaze was believed to have been started deliberately by vandals who broke into the premises and torched he building at around 11.30pm on Monday 5 April. Joint owners Brian Smith and Keith Shaw said the fire-revaged building would have to be demolished and two wood working machines that were destroyed alone came to £50,000.

Mr Smith said, "The single storey building and its contents, including antique fireplaces, were not insured and the fire signalled the death-knell for the wood-working side of their enterprise."

Halesowen News

USGBC 2010 Federal Summit puts its greenest foot forward

Washington DC, USA
From May 18-19, Washington will be hosting the USGBC Federal Summit which boasts the theme, "Leadership in Sustainability from Coast to Coast." The Federal Summit provides the USGBC, government officials, industry leaders and non-profit community experts the opportunity to learn from one another, discuss policies, and network.

Keynote government speakers will include Director of U.S. General Services Administration Office of Federal High Performance Green Buildings Kevin Kampschroer, U.S. Department of Energy Federal Energy Management Program Manager Richard Kidd, Urban Land Institute Senior Research Fellow Tom Murphy, U.S. General Services Administration Commissioner of Public Buildings Bob Peck, Office of Management and Budget Deputy Associate Administrator for Procurement and Senior Budget Analyst Cynthia Vallina.

Among the many educational sessions to attend is 'Building Material Reuse, the Purest Form of Recycling - Successful Models and Future Tools.' The focus of this session shall be, "how practitioners and clients have addressed challenges and opportunities around reuse, including how they dealt with government infrastructure to accomplish their goals."

If you wish to attend the USGBC Federal Summit, early-bird discount rates will be available until May 4th for both government and non-government workers, visit the link below. . .

USGBC 2010 Federal Summit

English Heritage boss supports reclaimed

In the latest edition of Listed Heritage magazine Salvo posed the following question to Baroness Andrews OBE, the new chair of English Heritage:

Why does English Heritage not recommend that owners should reclaim and reuse old Victorian bricks when a historic building is altered or demolished, in line with current government policy? English Heritage's policy seems to be to encourage the bricks to be crushed.

This was a follow-up to Salvo's request for the trade to lobby MP's about English Heritage's proposed new PPS15, which neglects the need to reclaim old materials from demolition for reuse.

Here is Kay Andrews response which seems very positive:

We absolutely do advocate the reuse of authentic materials and like-for-like replacement as much as possible. If a building can't be saved then we would encourage as much as possible to be used again. The embedded energy in building materials is an important resource that should not be wasted. Re-using building materials not only retains local distinctiveness and authentication but reduces carbon emissions.

Reclaimed French windows on BCA's gallery

Maine-et-Loire, France
BCA have uploaded some cast and wrought iron French windows on to their gallery. To view the windows follow the link below. . .


BCA gallery