1656 Westwood
Repurposing historical buildings to reduce the carbon footprint
MSD and the Environment
The fate of all waste that gets flushed down the toilet in Cincinnati is ultimately governed by the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati (MSD), a public organization that maintains and operates the sewer system for most of Hamilton County and many surrounding areas.
MSD has served the city of Cincinnati since its founding in 1968, providing an estimated 230,000 residents with sewage collection and treatment over its 290 square mile operation zone. The utility estimates that roughly 184 million gallons of wastewater are pumped through its seven treatment plants, more than 120 pump stations, and three package treatment plants every day. With much of the city’s piping dating back to the 1860s, Cincinnati’s sewer system faces increasing challenges in supporting the growing number of users.
A major concern to MSD is the volume of wastewater being ejected into Ohio’s waterways via the sewage system’s Combined Sewage Overflows (CSOs). These points of overflow are designed to prevent backup due to the addition of storm water to the sewers caused by heavy rainfall. When the combined sewage water reaches a certain height in an overflow chamber, floodgates are opened and the excess is dumped into nearby waterways. As Cincinnati has grown, so too have the
number of CSOs in operation, reaching a present number of 214 by MSD’s count. Needless to say, releasing raw sewage into the county’s public water causes many public health and environmental hazards which are only compounded by the sheer volume of waste currently released (MSD estimates 11.5 billion gallons per year). Such a system cannot exist indefinitely.
EPA requirements force change in Cincinnati
This is why, in 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mandated that MSD capture and treat 85 percent of the water that would otherwise be released by the CSOs in their jurisdiction. Informally called a “Consent Decree” by MSD this regulation requires Hamilton County residents (with EPA assistance) to pay for a means by which to staunch their flow of waste. Several measures to reduce storm water flow into the sewer are being taken, centering on the Valley Conveyance System (VCS). This System would entail constructing a stream in South Fairmont to carry excess water from the surrounding urban landscape and various other MSD projects to the Mill Creek a mile away. In total, this stream, which will bear the name “Lick Run,” will account for 500 million gallons of diverted rainwater each year according to MSD’s website.
While the VCS may be a valuable modernization to Cincinnati’s aging sewer system, Lick Run and its surrounding landscape require a large, continuous space in the city’s congested urban center. This means entire neighborhoods will have to be demolished in one of Cincinnati’s most historic locales. Understandably, there have been many complaints by South Fairmont businesses and residents who would be uprooted by the VCS. While many of the properties are in fact abandoned, some are of historical value or are owned by longtime residents, which has complicated MSD’s ability to move forward with construction.That being said, MSD is making efforts to demonstrate its dedication to the wellness of South Fairmont.
Building Value provides alternative to demolition
A primary indicator of this consideration was MSD’s decision to favor building deconstruction company Building Value over traditional demolition ones when removing the necessary buildings. Whereas “demolition” simply tears down a building in the most convenient way, “deconstruction” disassembles the building piece by piece so that valuable materials may be preserved and reused.
The logic behind it was simple, as Andrew Reynolds, former project manager for the CVS at MSD, explains, “[We] sought out a partnership with Building Value because we identified early on in our planning process that with the scale of demolition required to construct the VCS—a 'green' solution—we should be as green as possible in as many aspects of the project as possible, including demolition. Building Value's deconstruction process met that end in that it reduced waste going to the landfill and it also allowed community residents to have a chance to buy salvageable elements of the buildings as a way to commemorate and perpetuate the history of the neighborhood.”
Another factor that weighed into MSD’s decision to work with Building Value is the deconstruction company’s commitment as a nonprofit to hiring and training disadvantaged adults from the community.
Building Value is able to accomplish all of these seemingly impossible feats due to its business model of reselling usable goods to consumers, as well as relying on deconstruction customers to value their commitment to a cleaner, “greener” removal process. Both facets are attractive to MSD and as such, it gives Building Value “first dibs” on any property that is going to be dismantled, according to Deb Leonard, a consultant partnering with MSD.
The deconstruction company appraises the salvageable value of the house and then declares whether it is worth deconstruction, or if demolition is the only feasible action. So far, Building Value has deconstructed 12 out of the 24 removed houses and Leonard says they are in the process of deconstructing 6 of the 9 currently being dismantled. While it is still too early to say how many of the remaining 77 buildings Building Value will deconstruct, MSD anticipates further collaboration with the deconstruction company.
Building Value's Chris Miday weighs his opinion of the Lick Run Project
The environmental benefits of working with Building Value
So far, the environmental benefits of Building Value’s operation in South Fairmont have not been negligible. MSD’s records as of February 2015 show that they have saved 3,500 feet of raw lumber, 1,350 feet of wood trim, more than 650 of wooden railing and wrought-iron fencing, over 4,000 feet of tin ceiling and pine wood flooring, and over 450 miscellaneous items from the landfill. Building Value has also recycled nearly 7 tons of scrap metal, 1,750 tons of concrete and 12.7 tons of lumber.
Many of the items Building Value recycles and reuses would have to be manufactured overseas if they were to be replaced, which costs a premium in both money and carbon emissions. When this greenhouse gas reduction is added to the portion saved by not transporting the goods to the city dump, it’s no wonder why MSD has been so adamant in awarding Building Value deconstruction contracts.
A final bonus of going with deconstruction is the prevention
of “brownfield” formation. This is the industry term for a plot of land that becomes unusable due to toxic waste
contamination. Because Building Value removes all toxic materials before deconstruction, none are left over to pollute the soil and this keeps South Fairmont’s citizens safe.
Keeping the environment as clean as possible during dismantlement is a two-pronged goal for MSD. First of all, the organization’s mandate is to provide a cleaner, safer environment for Cincinnati’s citizens, so why should that pertain just to the sewage system? Both Leonard and Reynolds vehemently affirm that all of MSD’s actions should strive toward this ideal. Second, there was strong public support for the most environmentally friendly solution to be implemented by South Fairmont’s citizens. With MSD’s hiring of Building Value, they got exactly what they asked for.