Advancing the Science of Domicology
By: Joshua Weidenaar, MSU CCED, Research Assistant, weidena1@msu.edu
As the sting of winter closes in on the mitten, students at Michigan State University prepare for the forthcoming Spring Semester. This spring, the Urban Planning and Construction Management programs will offer a second round of the special topics course on Domicology. Cutting edge research has been compiled by Dr. LaMore and Dr. Berghorn once more for the course, where students will be thoroughly immersed in the problems and opportunities that structural abandonment creates. Last spring, students in the course submitted research papers advancing the study of Domicology and a research primer was disseminated, containing select pieces. This year students will be given a similar opportunity to further this area of study.
Furthering the study of Domicology doesn't stop there. Research assistants at CCED are preparing to make a market delineation of the structural materials reuse and recycling market. We - CCED - define the Structural materials reuse and recycling industry (SMRRI) as:
An industry that specifically deals with material derivatives of demolition and deconstruction, and their process of being reused, recycled, and/or repurposed to achieve sustainable waste management. Thus any business that participates in the construction material reuse supply chain, from the point of origin to its eventual final position, is a part of this industry.
This supply chain analysis will be one of the first of its kind. It is of vital importance to leaders within Michigan to know the available market and the existing demolition alternatives. This data will also serve as a building block for analyzing what can be done to bolster these industry and strengthen this market in the future. Coordinated efforts by industry professionals and CCED will help create a comprehensive market profile of Michigan business involved in Domicological practices. This data will serve as a foundational understanding of where Michigan currently stands in the SMRRI, and serve as a reference for empirical analysis to measure the success of future efforts.
Look for this report in the upcoming year as we move forward towards developing our market profile and analysis of the Structural Materials Reuse and Recycling Industry.