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Deconstruct or Demolish: Building and Unbuilding with the Environment in Mind with Brandie Townsend, Senior Consultant at Gershman, Brickner & Bratton, Inc.
Brandie Townsend grew up on a dairy farm in western New York and knew the importance of environmental sustainability from a young age. She attended the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) and received a master's degree in architecture. Fueled by a desire to build and create, it led her into various industries, but all of those industries included her original passion for sustainability. Her experience includes hospitality (InterContinental Hotels Group, Marriott, and Rubicon Global), government (City of Atlanta), consulting, and starting recycling and waste removal businesses. Through her studies at SCAD, she learned the basics of building, but over time she has learned about the importance of green building – constructing and deconstructing buildings with the environment in mind.
The Construction and Demolition (C&D) industry has been at a crossroads in terms of unbuilding. Buildings are dismantled for a number of reasons - it could be for safety, space, rebuilding, etc. It isn't the reason for unbuilding that puts the C&D industry at a crossroads - however, it's the process of demolition versus deconstruction. Demolition takes the form of complete destruction, an example being dynamite used to implode buildings. In contrast, deconstruction looks at all of the internal elements of the building to find new uses. With the C&D industry being the most significant contributor to greenhouse gases, deconstruction becomes even more critical.
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By Preston Poag Jr.Brandie Townsend grew up on a dairy farm in western New York and knew the importance of environmental sustainability from a young age. She attended the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) and received a master's degree in architecture. Fueled by a desire to build and create, it led her into various industries, but all of those industries included her original passion for sustainability. Her experience includes hospitality (InterContinental Hotels Group, Marriott, and Rubicon Global), government (City of Atlanta), consulting, and starting recycling and waste removal businesses. Through her studies at SCAD, she learned the basics of building, but over time she has learned about the importance of green building – constructing and deconstructing buildings with the environment in mind.
The Construction and Demolition (C&D) industry has been at a crossroads in terms of unbuilding. Buildings are dismantled for a number of reasons - it could be for safety, space, rebuilding, etc. It isn't the reason for unbuilding that puts the C&D industry at a crossroads - however, it's the process of demolition versus deconstruction. Demolition takes the form of complete destruction, an example being dynamite used to implode buildings. In contrast, deconstruction looks at all of the internal elements of the building to find new uses. With the C&D industry being the most significant contributor to greenhouse gases, deconstruction becomes even more critical.