Vancouver pre-1940 houses: a cache for old-growth forest wood
Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development
ISSN: 2044-1266
Article publication date: 10 December 2019
Issue publication date: 15 January 2020
Abstract
Purpose
Single-family houses in Vancouver that were built prior to 1940 are a cache of wood from British Columbia (BC) old-growth forests. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the environmental and heritage values of maintaining this finite resource, assess the current policy and regulatory efforts of the City of Vancouver to save this resource and recommend further opportunities to improve and expedite these efforts.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the City of Vancouver as a case study, this paper identifies effective policy practices to encourage and facilitate salvaging and reusing old wood resources. Additionally, the paper discusses the key challenges and risks that need to be addressed for these policy approaches to succeed.
Findings
Pre-1940 houses constitute about 40 percent of single-family houses that have been demolished in Vancouver in the past few years. The City of Vancouver enacted the Green Demolition Bylaw in 2014 requiring a minimum of 75 percent diversion of demolition waste. However, wood from these houses has been mainly chipped and recycled as biomass fuel or landscape mulch rather than reused. The result shows that regulatory enforcement along with support for infrastructure development may be crucial to protect the remainder of this valuable heritage resource.
Originality/value
This paper considers the environmental and heritage values of wood elements used in old houses and recommends further policy and regulatory interventions to maximize wood salvaging and reuse. Since protecting entire houses may not be always feasible, retention of wood elements is proposed as an alternative path for maintaining and cherishing this ancient and irreplaceable heritage.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This paper is based on research conducted by Zahra Teshnizi as Greenest City Scholar program of the University of British Columbia in partnership with the City of Vancouver. The author here would like to thank UBC staff at the Sustainability Initiative office who provided this opportunity, as well as the City of Vancouver staff who kindly provided mentorship and guidance throughout this study. The author would like to specially thank Lisa Brideau and Brad Badelt at the City of Vancouver and Hugo Haley the former City staff. Lastly, this study would not have been possible without the insight from industry, public sector and academic leaders including Nermine Tawfik and Esther Berube of Metro Vancouver, Greg Johnson of UBC School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture and Adam Cornel of Unbuilders.
Citation
Teshnizi, Z. (2020), "Vancouver pre-1940 houses: a cache for old-growth forest wood", Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 41-51. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCHMSD-06-2019-0077
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited