Renovation Miele

Habitat for Humanity Greater Vancouver was thrilled to partner with Miele Canada in the deconstruction of their Yaletown showroom as part of their expansion/renovation plans. In support of the City of Vancouver’s Greenest City Action Plan and their goal to reduce solid waste by 50% of 2008 levels HFHGV has been actively seeking out opportunities to educate and train volunteers and staff on Deconstruction practises. The Miele deconstruction allowed us to focus on one of the cities four highest priority action items under their “Zero Waste” component. “This action focuses on policies to prevent wood and other materials from being sent to the landfill or incinerator through a process that takes apart buildings and salvages materials, rather than a traditional demolition method.”

This also provided our team of international students, ReStore Managers, tradesman from a local construction company, volunteers, and our Deconstruction Team Leader with education on the ins and outs of the deconstruction and reuse industry. It provided valuable experience and education helping us create experts to support and contribute to the Green Jobs Initiative.  Our primary focus for this project was education and materials recovery.

“What is A Green Job? This plan borrows from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) definition, which describes green jobs as those that “contribute substantially to preserving or restoring environmental quality… reduce energy, materials and water consumption… decarbonize the economy and minimize or altogether avoid generation of all forms of waste and pollution.” Job sectors range from clean technology and green buildings to education and materials recovery. Green jobs also include jobs in traditional sectors with businesses that have significantly greener processes or operations than industry standards. The GCAP has added local food to the UNEP definition, as growing an urban food system is central to the Greenest City vision for a sustainable economy. Local food is defined here as all food and beverage (including wine) produced and consumed within British Columbia.”

Habitat for Humanity Greater Vancouver has the unique opportunity of not only having a strong volunteer base but also a network of retail locations that sell reclaimed building supplies. Thus allowing us to effectively remove and resell the components reclaimed from the deconstruction. We successfully diverted 8 kitchens, tables, stools and cabinetry from landfill. Funds raised from the sale of these goods will help build decent, affordable homes for hardworking families in our community who would not otherwise be able to own a home.

We would like to thank the amazing team at Miele:

Kelly Lam VP Marketing

Selby Kostuik Designer

Scott McIvor Project Manager

Lossen Zimmerman Centre Supervisor