Bridgeport house exemplifies new "deconstruction" trend 

By Sarah Severson 

Bridgeport husband and wife Tim Harris and Alanna O’Connor bought the two-flat on Quinn St. where Harris grew up with the idea of converting it to a single-family house. When they realized their plan would not work with the current structure, they became part of a new Chicago trend in which old houses are "deconstructed" instead of torn down.

Harris and O’Connor turned to Reuse People of America, a non-profit organization that takes an existing building apart piece by piece and then reuses or recycles the materials. The couple learned of Reuse People through Urban Habitat Chicago, a major deconstruction advocate.

            “There are so many homes that are simply plowed under because they’re not large enough or are too old and structurally unsound,” Harris said. “Reuse People of America is all about the sustainability and reuse of old materials that are perfectly sound.”

            Besides deconstructing their house, the couple wanted to make it as “green” as possible. They met with designer Mario Aranda of Cielo Vivo, Inc. to create a plan and then worked with an architect to ensure compliance with building codes and chose a builder, John Warken of Icon Management, dedicated to the idea of green housing.

Harris and O’Connor went even farther by working with the City’s Chicago Green Homes Project and green permit program. The permit program assessed their house’s green technology plans and reduced their permit fees as a reward for installing energy efficient technologies.

            While it would have taken just two days for a bulldozer to knock down the house, deconstruction took about four weeks with a crew of six people. Workers will recycle the old piping, recycle or reuse the old fixtures, and mill some of the wood for trim and flooring in the new house. Harris and O’Connor donated the cabinets to non-profit groups. 

Environmentally friendly

            Environmentally friendly features in their new house will include a geothermal heating and cooling system linked to the hot water heater. A wall of windows on the south side will be positioned so that, in the summer, the hot air that rises will be sucked out of the second floor windows.

            “It’s a simple idea, but people don’t always consider this option,” said Harris. “Homes 100 years ago used to be built this way.”

            In the winter, when the sun is lower in the sky and stays closer to the southern horizon, the windows will expose the center of the house to more heat during the day in a process called passive heating and cooling. An open area above both the first and second floor will carry sunshine into the center of the house, saving electricity by not requiring as many lights to be turned on during the day.

            The house also will benefit from high expansion, soy-based spray insulation after the plumbing and electrical work is complete.

            “This insulation is amazing stuff,” Harris noted. “My brother has an old bungalow that had very little insulation, so he found a contractor [who] put low-expansion foam into his existing home. My brother is already seeing the benefits—his heating and cooling bills have dropped 40%.”

            Bathrooms with double flush toilets will provide the option to use low or high flow when flushing. Paint throughout the house will be non-toxic, with low or no volatile organic compounds, and low-wattage light fixtures and ceiling fans and the windows will receive a special coating that reflects ultraviolet rays out of the house.

In the garage, the exhaust fan will run on solar power. Outside, rain barrels will capture water to sustain plantings, and the couple plans to commission a landscape designer to create a yard with prairie grasses and flowers native to the Midwest.

            At 2,000 square feet, the new house represents a major improvement over the two-flat, with its two 850-square-foot apartments. The couple had lived in one of those units before renting a house across the street, and Harris said his wife will be happy to have three bathrooms after living with one very small bathroom. They also look forward to having more space for their six-year-old daughter and five-month-old son to play.

            “My daughter Frances understands our home will be different from most people's—it’s hilarious to hear her explain to people how we’re going to have this green home that won’t cost as much money to have air conditioning in the summer,” Harris said. “She’s excited about picking the color to paint her bedroom.”

            The design process began two years ago, and the couple spent about ten months evaluating the structure, layouts, and design for their new house. Workers have deconstructed the two-flat; as soon as the weather improves, they will start building and should finish the project by September or October.  

Green permits increasing

            Bill McAffrey, spokesperson for the City’s Department of Buildings, said the City issued 19 green permits in 2005, but this number jumped to 142 in 2007. He expects the department to issue 150 green permits in 2008. The green permit program issues points for environmentally friendly features and subsidizes the added cost by waiving or reducing permit fees.

            “The program is growing as more homeowners understand the benefits of green technologies,” McAffrey said.

            Based in Oakland, CA., Reuse People of America has expanded to the Midwest and completed five deconstructions in the Chicago area so far. Reuse People is working with the City to provide local job training and create crews for city-owned projects to introduce youth and others to the construction trade.

            “If you take a house down, you learn how it was built,” said Ken Ortiz, regional manager. “We can teach them skills that get them into the next step in the trade.”  

Valuable tax deduction

            In an added perk to deconstructing a house, the organization provides a receipt for all house materials and works with an independent appraiser who assigns a value to the materials donated for reuse. This value becomes a tax deduction because the organization is a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation.

            “In many cases, the actual amount of the value of the tax donation more than covers the additional cost of the deconstruction,” Ortiz said.

            Harris said his and O’Connor’s deconstruction likely will yield a $10,000 to $15,000 tax deduction.

The Harris-O’Connor house was the first to be deconstructed in the 11th Ward, but Alderman James Balcer hopes this is just the beginning for houses in his area.

            “I think deconstruction is something the nation should look towards,” Balcer said. “I think it’s very innovative, and as word gets out more people will take this route when rebuilding their homes.”