Residential building material reuse in sustainable construction

Social concerns about resource utilization and energy consumption have resulted in an expanding view of our common sustainable future, one that is being shaped by a growing need to improve environmental performance with an eye toward the economy. The role of residential deconstruction in reuse and recycling was examined within the broader context of material and energy conservation in sustainable development. The life cycle of residential building products was examined to identify potentially high impact opportunities to address sustainability.;Extending the service life of building materials through reuse presents an opportunity to address sustainable development through reducing material and energy demands. To extend the service life of building products it is necessary to understand the current use and service life of materials used in structures. Additionally it is apparent that the application of design for deconstruction concepts combined with a fastening methodology that enables deconstruction while reducing design event and deconstruction damage is required. The use of hollow fasteners may satisfy the requirements of a fastening system that reduces damage in the connected materials. The objectives of this research were to predict the service life of building materials and to develop an understanding of the behavioral characteristics of joints connected with hollow fasteners.;Housing inventory data obtained from U.S. census housing surveys was used to build housing age distributions. Weibull and Gompertz curves were fit to the distributions and used to predict service life. The service life of residential structures was estimated as 99 to 110 years.;To characterize hollow fastener behavior, fasteners were subjected to shear loading in test fixtures and in lap-joints. Regression techniques were used to model hollow fastener behavior as impacted by fastener diameter and wall thickness. A displaced volume method in combination with dowel bearing test results was used to model laminated strand lumber (LSL) deformation under loaded fasteners. It was found that bearing material damage can be decreased when joint yield results from fastener buckling. Through application of the models, LSL lap-joints can be designed such that the primary mode of initial joint yield is due to deformation in the hollow fasteners.