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The purpose of this study is to explore how demolition contractors coordinate project activities for buildings at their end-of-life. The organizations are thereby conceptualized as information processing systems facing uncertainty.

A multiple-case study methodology was selected to gain in-depth insights from three projects with different end-of-life strategies: a faculty building (material recycling), a nursing home (component reuse) and a psychiatric hospital (element reuse). Using a theory elaboration approach, the authors sought to explain how and why demolition contractors process information for end-of-life coordination.

End-of-life strategies differ in the degree of building, workflow and environmental uncertainty posed to the demolition contractor. Whether or not a strategy is effective depends on the (mis)match between the specific levels of uncertainty and the adopted coordination mechanisms.

The explanatory account on end-of-life coordination refines information processing theory for the context of (selective) demolition projects.

The detailed case descriptions and information processing perspective enable practitioners to select, implement and reflect on coordination mechanisms for demolition/deconstruction projects at hand.

Reflecting its dual conceptual-empirical and inductive-deductive focus, this study contributes with new opportunities to explain building end-of-life coordination with a refined theory.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a novel tool to support decision making for enhanced demolition process efficiency and material waste sortability through computerised 4D motion workflow simulation.

A time-lapse evaluation model was developed to classify and estimate the impact of building demolition processes and material waste recovery. The dynamic assessment of demolition, collision and mechanical impact was measured through computerised 4D motion game and physics engines. Waste recovery and treatment complemented the simulation algorithm. The simulation of the information workflow was tested through case study using two demolition strategies.

The simulation successfully estimated the efficiency and efficacy of the different demolition strategies. Thus, simulation results can potentially support better decision making related to the definition of demolition strategies associated with recycling and re-use targets.

The simulation was limited to a simple machine-led demolition strategy. Further research is required to understand the impact of complex machine mechanic movements and processes on complex building fabrics.

Modelling and evaluating the demolition process and its impact on material waste recovery with a time dimension is novel. The comparative analysis of quantitative data allows demolition professionals to find optimal and more sustainable demolition solutions and more efficient and safer implementation on site. It also contributes to a better understanding of the relationship between demolition strategy and waste sortability. This research represents a significant advancement in applied computing for building demolition waste recycling and notably, it improves the quality of information available in the definition of building demolition strategies.

Demolition is a high-risk operation in construction projects that may lead to serious accidents. Risk assessment is a fundamental step in managing demolition risk and preventing casualties and financial losses. The present study aims to provide a framework to identify, analyse and evaluate the risks in building demolition operations.

According to previous studies and the use of expert knowledge, 10 possible risks of the building demolition operation were identified. Subsequently, these risks were assessed using a combination of fuzzy logic with fault tree analysis (FTA), criteria importance through inter-criteria correlation (CRITIC) and technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS). Then, the risks were classified with the help of a risk decision matrix (RDM), and appropriate treatment strategies were presented according to the level of importance of each risk.

Considering the obtained magnitude for each risk and its rating, building collapse and noise pollution were identified as the most and least significant risks, respectively. The results of this study were in good agreement with the data provided by the Iranian Ministry of Cooperatives, Labour and Social Welfare, as well as obtained results of the previous studies on demolition.

This paper provides a novel framework for assessing the risks in building demolition operations. The findings of this study help demolition project managers to manage the risks in their projects properly.

This paper presents findings of a comparative study on the removal and disposal of fenestration units in two separate buildings, belonging to the same period and built with similar construction materials. Demolition techniques were used for removing the fenestration units from a building that was undergoing refurbishment; while, deconstruction techniques were used for dismantling similar units from another building that was being selectively demolished.

It was concluded that the amount of energy consumed, time taken and waste generated, were far greater, and the revenues much lower, when conventional demolition techniques and tools were used. Hence, from the point of view of resource conservation (material, energy, time, and money) deconstruction was found to be more advantageous in the disposal of reusable building components.

Considers section 7 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 concerning demolition of and alterations to listed buildings. Examines the legal meanings of the terms “demolition” and “works which may affect character” and the distinction between them by reference to appropriate court cases. Concludes that the difficulty surrounding Listed Building Consent, evidenced by the number of court cases, shows a need for clearer advice to be presented to those with a legal interest in listed buildings.

Lean management has been used in various constructions around the world for more than a quarter of a century, and it is an important factor in the construction of new projects. In relation to demolition management, only standards and codes and general principles of demolition of specific buildings were evaluated. The purpose of this study is providing relation between lean management on demolition processes of municipality buildings evaluated.

This study investigates the lean demolition of demolished and renovated buildings in a metropolitan area that can be extended to all cities. In the first stage, the effective factors in the demolition of the building based on lean management were identified through a valid questionnaire based on the valid Delphi approach. Social, economic and environmental considerations were considered in designing the appropriate questionnaire.

The modified approach between the fuzzy method and partial least squares was used to evaluate important variables. All of the modified processes were developed in MATLAB by the authors of this paper. The results show that customer-focused degradation parameter has the weakest effect and waste removal variable has the most effect on lean management.

Statistical results show that there is no significant difference between the effect of lean management on variables such as demolition time, quality and type of construction (p < 0.05).

Building on the thematic intersection of architectural waste and conservation, the purpose of this paper is to look at the demolition and deconstruction of Honest Ed’s and Mirvish Village – an iconic site in downtown Toronto. In doing so, it examines contradictory site values and tensions inherent in sustainable heritage practices.

This article uses a “follow-the-thing” methodology – an approach developed by the cultural geographer Nicky Gregson (Gregson et al., 2009) – to demonstrate how engaging with processes of building demolition and deconstruction can begin to reveal the site’s multiple legacies.

Recognizing that materials are not lost, but instead move through and are determined by various physical, spatial and cultural conditions, this piece demonstrates how an attention to the choreography of demolition and deconstruction may deepen our understanding of notions of ownership, responsibility and stewardship.

Exposing material trajectories and various actors in the chain, this work challenges the save/discard binary which underpins conventional heritage practices and provides insight into new ways of considering the significance of demolition/deconstruction sites as well as broader social and environmental landscapes implicated in its reconfiguration.

Whereas heritage value is often defined in contrast with perceptions of loss, this piece suggests that engagement with processes of demolition and deconstruction constitutes a form of conservation that simultaneously acknowledges the difficult heritage of these procedures, while also commemorating the site’s ongoing transformation.

The purpose of this paper is to study the sustainable impact of adaptive reuse of shopping malls built during communism in Kosovo.

The present study uses qualitative research using semi-structured interviews with architects, civil engineers, real estate developers and facility managers.

The study found that it is the predominant opinion of respondents that the economic impact of adaptive reuse of old shopping malls in Kosovo is reflected through extension of useful life of the malls, lower cost of reuse vs demolition, economic and tourism development of the neighborhood, job creation and increase of property prices in the surrounding area. In addition, the study found that it is the predominant opinion of respondents that by adaptive reuse of old shopping malls, the revitalization and social dynamism of the surrounding area will be improved and collective memory and identity of these shopping malls will be extended, including the increased traffic, space utilization and security. The study concludes that operational CO₂ emission of the old shopping malls will be reduced after their sustainable adaptation and also the embodied energy of the building materials will be reused.

The study has several implications. For real estate developers, it shows that is less costly to adapt and refurbish rather than redevelop. For authorities, it shows that by adapting old communist shopping malls, they would extend the collective memory of those locations, improve the social life and utilization of public spaces in the surrounding areas. The final implication is for municipal authorities and environmentalists that but allowing adaptation rather than demolition and redevelopment the embodied CO₂ emission will be significantly reduced.

The study is the first qualitative study about the impact of adaptive reuse of old communist style commercial centers in Kosovo.

This chapter compares programmes for urban housing regeneration in France and England, showing how ideological similarities reflected in policy ideas and programmes played out differently in significantly different contexts.

The chapter draws on results of several major research programmes, including in-depth extensive fieldwork in a number of cities and regions in France and England. Field research included participant observation in participatory planning events, interviews, home visits, guided walks in the districts, etc. These enabled a multi-site and multi-perspective understanding of urban housing renewal at different sites.

In both contexts, early promises for participation in housing renewal gave way to an imperative for demolition, justified on purely technical grounds that were not shared with participants. The linking of social mix and demolition for local ‘improvement’ also then appeared to be a contradiction between different policies that few residents could endorse, other than selected beneficiaries. Participation, social mix and demolition thus formed an unholy trinity in urban renewal policies.

Housing renewal requires much greater commitment to the experience of residents, to avoid exacerbating social problems rather than relieving them.

The chapter reflects on a wealth of in-depth research over more than a decade to consider the broader implications and outcomes of housing renewal programmes in two countries. It highlights the different balances of power in the two cases and the trajectories of respective urban social politics, including the overlaps between policy objectives and similarities in the government of housing renewal. It also highlights the determination and commitment among residents to the value of housing that is judged from the outside to be ‘poor’.

The purpose of this paper is to address a gap in current heritage practice within the USA, as defined by the US Secretary of Interior’s Standards, which offers no treatment for a building entering the end of its lifecycle.

Building on research conducted for “Deconstructing the Culture of Demolition,” Master of Design Studies thesis completed in 2018, this paper seeks to better understand how deconstruction industry practice could be changed by the inclusion of heritage values through a case study of the sustainability non-profit Emergent Structures of Savanah, Georgia.

The benefits of replacing demolition with deconstruction extend beyond the preservation of materials alone. Applying critical heritage theories to deconstruction practice addresses challenging issues in the discipline, such as mutability of heritage objects and equity in heritage practice. Deconstruction redefines the concept of death in the built environment, harnessing its energy to serve the heritage goals of memory, revival and sustainable community development.

The findings are based on real-world practice, linking heritage methodology to deconstruction practice. These examples will be useful to preservation professionals who deal with demolition in the course of their work, to rethink the idea of waste and value in heritage practice.

This paper explores best practices in promoting heritage value and community engagement through deconstruction. This insight will promote interdisciplinary communication around historic materials and their treatment, which remains unexplored in both deconstruction and heritage research.