In the face of an ongoing housing crisis and environmental concerns in B.C., a Vancouver company is pushing for solutions to save homes from the wrecking ball.

Renewal Development specializes in relocating and modernizing houses that were otherwise destined for demolition. When relocation isn乌鸦传媒檛 feasible, the company salvages building materials to minimize waste.

The firm has partnered with Light House, another Vancouver company that works to create healthy buildings and communities, to call on municipalities to create bylaws that reduce construction and demolition waste and support affordable housing.

A Wasteful Process

Renewal Development CEO Glyn Lewis describes what he is seeing in many urban areas of the province as a 乌鸦传媒渄emolition epidemic.乌鸦传媒� The two companies co-authored a report outlining what they found.

乌鸦传媒淲e wanted to understand demolition trends and understand where this was going,乌鸦传媒� he said, pointing to Canada乌鸦传媒檚 rapidly growing population and the . 乌鸦传媒淵ounger Canadians are looking for homes乌鸦传媒攖here乌鸦传媒檚 not enough housing. Urban landscapes are changing due to densification. You see what used to be single-family neighbourhoods now mid-rises, condominiums, or even towers.乌鸦传媒�

Lewis supports density as a way to provide more and lower-cost housing, but he argues that the process of achieving that density is 乌鸦传媒渦nbelievably wasteful.乌鸦传媒�

乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 wasteful from a material perspective, an embodied carbon perspective, and from a housing perspective.乌鸦传媒�

The report revealed that between 2012 and 2019, Kelowna lost 1,330 single-family homes to redevelopment. Vancouver saw 3,000 demolitions last year, with another 1,000 homes bulldozed on Vancouver Island. Lewis believes the numbers will only rise.

乌鸦传媒淎s the province and municipalities blanket zone more single-family homes for higher density, it乌鸦传媒檚 going to get worse."

He expects Kelowna will see a 35 per cent increase in demolitions over the next 10 years.

Shifting the Industry

The recommends that municipalities consider several policy changes, including:

• Establishing a pre-demolition assessment for pre-1970 single-family homes to determine whether relocation or deconstruction is viable;
• Imposing a refundable deposit where relocation or deconstruction is feasible;
• Creating a green removal permit, allows homes to be relocated or deconstructed before developers receive a building permit.

According to Lewis, municipalities must push developers and builders to explore viable alternatives before tearing down homes.

乌鸦传媒淏e it relocation or deconstruction. That would be a game-changer.乌鸦传媒�

He added that builders and developers also need to change their way of thinking.

乌鸦传媒淟ike smoking on airplanes in the 70s and 80s, just because we乌鸦传媒檝e been doing it this way for decades doesn乌鸦传媒檛 mean it乌鸦传媒檚 the right thing to do.乌鸦传媒� 

An Alternative

Lewis points out that there is a better way. In 2024, Renewal Development relocated 27 homes in the Lower Mainland, some of which were sent to First Nations communities in need of housing. Lewis believes they can scale up to moving 200乌鸦传媒�300 homes a year.

乌鸦传媒淲e find a mid-century home in good condition slated for demolition every week,乌鸦传媒� he says. 乌鸦传媒淲e even find homes built in the last 5 to 10 years every few weeks. They乌鸦传媒檙e out there. We know if we can find them, we can provide a better solution to bulldozing them and sending good material to the landfill.乌鸦传媒�

He estimates that 60 to 80 percent of single-family homes slated for demolition in B.C. could instead be repurposed or deconstructed.

乌鸦传媒淭here乌鸦传媒檚 a push in this conversation for higher responsibility on developers and builders to, at the very least, sort the materials and send them to recycling instead of binning everything together and sending it to the landfill.乌鸦传媒�

Municipal Support & Challenges

Kelowna乌鸦传媒檚 Director of Planning and Development Services, Ryan Smith, says the city supports home relocation and recycling.

乌鸦传媒淚f a new company wants to come here and relocate homes乌鸦传媒攖hat乌鸦传媒檚 fantastic,乌鸦传媒� Smith says. 乌鸦传媒淎s a result of media reports, a couple of property owners about to demolish homes reached out and said, 乌鸦传媒業f anybody wants to take our home, they can have it.乌鸦传媒櫸谘淮�媒�

However, Smith acknowledges that construction timelines can pose barriers.

乌鸦传媒淒elaying the demolition of one or two homes because they乌鸦传媒檙e having trouble finding a spot--that delays the construction of 150 new rental homes, that doesn乌鸦传媒檛 make sense in our mind.乌鸦传媒�

Smith noted that construction waste from demolitions in Kelowna is sent to the Glenmore Landfill but is divided up and some of it is recycled, including concrete. 

According to a , as part of the 2025 Financial Plan, demolition and construction waste contributes 35-42 per cent of materials sent to the Glenmore landfill. "(The) goal is to minimize disposal of waste," the report states.

A Path Forward

Gil Yaron, managing director of circular innovation at Light House, said the impact of demolition waste on municipal landfills is significant.

乌鸦传媒淭he waste coming out of demolition exceeds the amount of solid waste that we generate in our residential daily use,乌鸦传媒� Yaron said. 乌鸦传媒淚t makes up between 30 and 40 percent of our landfills.乌鸦传媒�

Approximately 2.6 million tonnes of municipal solid waste was disposed of in B.C. in 2022, This included waste from construction, renovation, and demolition activities.

Yaron added that some municipalities are already taking action. Victoria has a bylaw requiring homes built before 1960 to be deconstructed, not demolished. Developers must also pay a $19,500 deposit, which is refunded once salvaged materials are documented. Cities such as Burnaby and North Vancouver have similar policies, and across the U.S., many cities have adopted demolition waste reduction measures.

Yaron believes other B.C. municipalities need to follow suit.

乌鸦传媒淭here乌鸦传媒檚 a strong business case for salvaging and reusing materials. Keeping things local makes more sense than ever.乌鸦传媒�

Lewis agrees.

乌鸦传媒淲here I think this conversation leads is what are the responsible alternatives to demolition? There are industry solutions out there.乌鸦传媒�