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Tag: Sustainability

Construction Waste Not, Want Not

Posted on by Solo Team

Philly is certainly experiencing a construction boom, but with all those new properties and rehabs comes construction waste—and lots of it. One company and a rotating cast of artists are working to turn constructing “waste” into something much more.

 

Neighborhoods in every corner of the city are seeing new housing stock go up, and countless existing homes being rehabbed. From East Kensington to North Philadelphia to South Philly, new development projects can be spotted almost weekly. The resulting construction waste going to landfills is a downside to this real estate boom—or at least it was until Revolution Recovery and Recycled Artist in Residency (RAIR) came along.

 

Revolution Recovery, tucked away in Northeast Philadelphia, makes it exceptionally easy to not only get rid of construction materials, but to recycle them—leaving no excuse for disposing of such materials improperly. Serving everyone from the individual rehabber to larger-scale construction sites, Revolution Recovery recycles the gamut of typical builder materials: wood, drywall, metal, rubble, plastics, carpet, and more.

 

Where do the artists come in? Artists, and sculptors in particular, use some of the same materials that turn up at Revolution Recovery: Tyvek, glass, drywall, wood, etc. They had already been showing up at the recycling center in search of these materials, when local artist Billy Dufala told owners Avi Golen and Jon Wybar about a formal program for artists at San Francisco waste-management company, Recology.

 

“Flying Sails,” (left) by RAIR resident Laura Ruth, and a Christmas card (right) designed by RAIR co-founder Billy Dufala

 

Golen and Wybar were sold on the idea, and Recycled Artist in Residency (RAIR) was born. Applications are accepted for standard residencies, 3 months maximum, or “Biggie Shorties,” large-scale projects conducted in a short time frame—36 hours, to be exact. Those 36 hours fall during the time the dump isn’t in use over the weekend, and must be photographed and demolished before Monday morning, when it rejoins the recycling stream.

 

Imagine if all construction waste in Philadelphia was disposed of responsibly! Not only would it benefit the environment, but now the arts as well. A financial incentive from the City to promote the recycling of construction waste could go a long way in achieving this goal.

 

RAIR is accepting 2015 applicants until December 7th, details here.

 

Opening image courtesy of Gridphilly.com, “Flying Sails” and Christmas card image courtesy of Philly.com.

Deborah Solo Talks Green Roofs with City Paper

Posted on by Solo Team

Just in time for Earth Day, the Philadelphia City Paper spoke with Deborah Solo about the new green roof she’s installing above our offices. When complete, this unique project will bring big benefits both to our building and surrounding area.

 

Of course, an environmentally-conscious lifestyle is one of the things we love about living in urban Philadelphia. It’s also a vital part of what we do at Solo Real Estate: by helping to connect our clients with green, healthy communities, we’re planting the seeds for a more sustainable future. Building a green roof above our offices is then a small but exciting part of that commitment.

 

To read the City Paper article, click here.

Bike Share Program Coming to Philadelphia

Posted on by Solo Team

Philly.com has reported that the City will launch its first ever bicycle sharing program some time in 2014. With similar popular programs in cities like Paris, Montreal and Berlin, Philadelphians and visitors alike will soon join other global urbanites who all have the chance explore their city via rented bicycle.

 

Final program details have yet to be flushed out, but Philly.com author Katie Monroe affirms that Philadelphia will soon bring a pay-as-you-go style bikeshare with over 100 “docking locations” across the city where bicycles can be rented and parked. The new system will likely allow users to rent the bicycles for short periods of time (30 to 45 minutes), which is meant to encourage using the bikeshare program for transit rather than leisure.

 

Of course, bicycles are nothing new on the streets of Philadelphia. In a city laid out during the time of the horse and buggy and with few practical public transportation options, bicycles are a popular means of getting around the city. Indeed, just like the citizens of famously-bike friendly Amsterdam and Copenhagen use their cities’ pre-automobile scale to their advantage, so too do thousands of Philadelphia’s cyclists.

 

Packed bike racks demonstrate cycling’s popularity in Philadelphia.

 

For Philadelphia to realize its full potential as a great bicycling city though, let alone one with a successful bike sharing system, City Hall will need to step up and manage bicycling systems just as it does cars, pedestrians, trains and other forms of transit. In her fascinating article on the subject published last month, Philly.com architectural critic Inga Saffron notes that Mayor Nutter is well aware of this need, having already pledged “$3 million toward the (bikeshare program)…which would (ultimately) cost $8 million to $11 million to launch.” Saffron also reports that the city is taking active steps to decide the different spots throughout the city where this new fleet of  bicycles will be placed in Philadelphia’s already tight and congested streets.

 

Environmentally-friendly and budget conscious, we believe that bicycling is going to play a key role in Philadelphia’s future, and bikeshare program would be a critical component in that success. After all, if bikeshare programs can succeed on the hectic streets of New York City and unruly roundabouts of Washington, D.C., so too can they thrive in here Philadelphia!