Present: Bill Barry, Matthew Bronski, Susan Close, Anthony Consigli, Vance Freyman, Donna Harris, David M. Hart, John Hecker, Lisa Howe, David Kelman, Michael Lynch, Henry Moss, Ivan Myjer, Albert Rex, Roberto Rosa, Susan Schur, Caroline Schwerin, Malcolm Smiley, Tobin Tracey, Robert Thomas, and Sara Wermiel 1. Reducing Construction and Demolition Debris - Managing the Waste Stream: Massachusetts is poised to impose the country's first statewide regulations banning construction and demolition debris from landfill sites. Consigli Construction has undertaken a 5 site pilot study for the Department of Environmental Protection that aims to assess the practicality and cost of reducing and separating various streams of construction and demolition debris on site, and distributing categories of refuse to direct salvage or recycling centers. When direct recycling and source separation are not possible, material will go into a mixed dumpster and deposited in a landfill where it will incur the highest disposal fee. Vance Freyman and Anthony Consigli presented an overview and answered detailed questions about their experience at the pilot program sites and about the general diffusion of improved waste management practices on all their projects. Consigli's aim as a general contractor was to cut their waste stream by 50% between 2001 and the end of 2003, and they know that they will succeed. Advance planning (a recycling plan for each project), a designated monitor as part of Consigli's staff on every site, monthly reviews of continuous monitoring, standard recycling language in all subcontracts, dumpster signage, and penalties for repeated dumpster contaminations all contribute to making the program successful. Filed sub-bidders cannot yet be required to participate in source separation, but Consigli has experienced a high rate of cooperation on Chapter 149 jobs. It is now becoming second nature for all tradesmen on well-run jobs. Furthermore, the Massachusetts Department of Capital Asset Management (DCAM) is working on a standard specification for source separation in its project manual requirements. Source separated materials include wood, concrete, asphalt, brick, metal, cardboard, and new gypsum wallboard. Concrete, asphalt and metal have been separated on sites for a long time. Future categories are likely to be asphalt shingles and carpet. DEP is working with manufacturers to reduce the amount of extraneous packaging material, as this is a significant part of the waste stream for new construction, and is tying to find markets for C&D materials. The financial outcome is now clear. Consigli Construction Co. judges waste reduction efforts as cost neutral. Haulage costs are reduced and there is a savings in tip fees at the landfills. Tipping costs per ton are increasing steadily. Additional labor costs have not been estimated, but workers at Consigli are making separation a matter of course so this should not be a major factor. Many projects already show positive savings through reduced disposal fees and better haul rates, and have reached the 75% waste reduction criterion for 2 LEED points. Currently, Massachusetts produces about 1 million tons of construction and demolition landfill deposits. Approximately one third is shipped to out-of-state landfills. (Pennsylvania is the #1 importer of C&D waster; Ohio has a major waste import business that fills abandoned coalmines.) However, there will be increasing disincentives and penalties for hauling to out-of-state landfills. 2. Massachusetts State Historic Tax Credit: Albert Rex announced that the State Senate voted to incorporate a version of House Bill 2801, for a State Historic Tax Credit, in its recently voted Economic Stimulus Package. Conceived as a five-year pilot program, it was signed into law by Governor Romney on November 26, 2003 as Chapter 141 Section 22 of Mass General Law. It provides for a tax credit of 20% of the cost of a substantial rehabilitation of an historic building that is used for an income-producing purpose. Lobbyist Paul Pezalla was instrumental in bringing this long effort to fruition by helping to get it through the Senate Ways and Means Committee. Massachusetts is not a pioneer in this effort. Twenty-four states now have or are developing such a rehabilitation tax credit as part of their "smart growth" efforts. The Mass Historical Commission (MHC) will administer the program; it must certify properties as historic. 25% of the annual $10 million cap must go towards affordable housing projects. This very low cap is less than 20% of what had been proposed, but even this small amount is likely to generate $50 million of new investment. PreservationMass and Boston Preservation Alliance (BPA) are working with MHC to apportion the allocation to encourage a wide range of project types. BPA has produced a preservation agenda for 2004 that will help to guide this effort. The residential portion of the tax credit can apply to condominium developments and it would be possible to pass the credit along to individual purchasers rather than corporations. There are efforts underway to simplify the transfer of credits. 3. Boston Preservation Alliance - Old House Fair: There will be no Old House Fair this year. Rising rents and other costs have not been matched by increased revenues. BPA is now working on a homeowners' sourcebook for historic products and preservation services. This publication should be available during 2004. 4. APT Northeast: The Association of Preservation Technology Northeast will meet in Boston this year. Hold the date: January 31, 2004. 5. Mortar Topics from the Conservation Forum: Ivan Myjer asked if the committee would be interested in another intensive session on historic masonry and mortar. After an enthusiastic response, he proposed a session focused on aggregates for the coming spring. 6. Restoration & Renovation Conference: The Restoration & Renovation Conference will be in Boston April. 21-24, 2004: http://www.restorationandrenovation.com/index.shtml
featuring Committee Members' Current Projects 8: 00 a.m., Thursday, January 8, 2004 The Architects' Building, 52 Broad Street, 5th floor, Boston
Henry Moss AIA, Matthew Bronski, and Sara Wermiel, co-leaders and scribes
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