Sustainable deconstruction

The steel, stone and concrete recently removed from the UMass Chan Medical School Worcester campus during deconstruction and excavation for a new research and education building will soon find its way into new building projects across the region. 

The Worcester campus is compact and must maximize land use to accommodate institutional growth. As a result, the new building will sit in the core of the campus, adjacent to other major research facilities. To prepare the site for construction of the new nine-story building, a large portion of the First Road garage had to be deconstructed. Then, a 35-foot deep hole was excavated for the building’s foundation. Throughout the deconstruction and excavation phases, reuse and recycling of materials was a priority.

A total of 165 tons of steel and 8,280 tons of concrete were reclaimed during the garage deconstruction and will be processed for use as new building materials. That equates to 99 percent of all the material (by weight) removed.

During the excavation phase, approximately 52,000 tons of bedrock was removed and hauled off site in 1,575 tractor trailer loads. The rock will be crushed and reused as gravel in a variety of infrastructure and building projects at other locations.

For more information on the building project visit: https://umassmed.edu/nerb