THE EMERGENT PROCESS

Creates Building Material Re-Use Culture:Holistic, Economic, and Scalable

According to the US EPA, 19 million tons of residential and 65 million tons of nonresidential demolition materials are generated in a year in America. Meanwhile, the Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD) estimates that over 230,000 public housing units are already scheduled for demolition. These numbers show that a holistic strategy for productively reclaiming unwanted building stock is critically needed.

THE EMERGENT PROCESS

Formed in 2009, Emergent Structures is driven by a vision to create a global building material re-use culture. Through 5 years of innovative strategic collaboration across all sectors, this organization has created a comprehensive strategy that can transform the steady flow of construction and demolition (C+D) waste in every city into a source of local wealth, economic mobility, and ecological health. The major catalyst to kick start this process was to show economic value in re-use versus demolition. The major challenge was to develop a process that was holistic, economically feasible, and scalable to any city, large or small. projects.

Emergent has a proven 3-Tier model of stakeholder engagement, developed through a rigorous, 5-year pilot project in Savannah, Georgia, this process can be used by municipalities and developers around the world, and Emergent has the knowledge and the tools to provide top-level consulting strategies to these institutions. One of the major strengths of Emergent’s process is the flexibility of scale in which it can be applied. The opportunity for a la carte choices, in which municipalities, communities and developers can pick from a selection of C+D material harvest strategies, allows for various levels of ambition, and negates the intimidating ‘all or nothing’ scenario.

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Other outcomes from this process include the creation of small business opportunities for local craftsmen, carpenters, and furniture makers, as well as at-risk youth apprenticeship programs and other green job development

Emergent Structures is Transforming the Public’s Perception of Waste