Don’t bin our heritage!
One of the features to consider when working towards sustainability is to find new uses for old buildings and their component parts - reuse rather than throw away.
Rapid development is meaning that many historic buildings are being gutted, destroying the fabric of the building as well as removing period features.
At present, new building and landscaping projects contain less than one per cent reclaimed materials. Using salvaged material can not only give a pleasing effect on historic buildings, but it reduces the amount of reclaimable material sent to landfill sites each year and prevents the unnecessary production of new materials. For example, the re-use of a sash window where appropriate avoids the need to fell tropical hardwood or produce uPVC for new windows.
Ten per cent of the national energy consumption is used in the production and transport of construction products and materials, this figure can be cut if more building materials are reused and recycled.
From a building conservation view the use of sympathetic reclaimed materials in historic buildings is preferable in appearance and spirit to the use of new materials.
It's usually possible to reuse more than half of old pantiles, while old slates are virtually always re-useable. Reclaimed slates are preferable to reproductions, which tend to be too perfect and shiny and larger than traditional slates.
Re-using reclaimed materials can help preserve or enhance the unique character of an area.
In response both to this desire to recycle and reuse, as well as changing fashions, the market in salvaged goods has increased rapidly and there are now many sites where salvaged materials can be bought and sold.
Salvo
The most comprehensive listing of such sites in the UK, including Nottinghamshire and the East Midlands, is from SALVO. This is a partnership run by Thornton Kay and Hazel Matravers, started in 1991, with the intention of providing information about where to buy antique and reclaimed materials for buildings and gardens.
Salvo aims to help save more than the estimated 150, 000 tons of reclaimable materials destroyed every day in Europe.
SalvoWeb provides an excellent virtual salvage site, providing lists of dealers with their own web pages, items for sale, auctions, demolitions, reference pages and the chance to browse a list of local contractors.
Enter the SALVO online directory and search for contacts within Nottinghamshire or other counties.
Salvo can also be contacted at:
SALVO
Ford Village
Berwick-upon-Tweed
Northumberland
TD15 2QG
Tel: +44 (0)1890 820333
Fax: +44 (0)1890 820499.
A Salvo Code was produced in 1995 for dealers who wished to make a positive stand about good practice in stock purchasing, it aims to help avoid the purchasing of stolen items and items removed from listed buildings without consent.
Warning
Inclusion of a business in the SALVO listings is not an endorsement by Nottinghamshire County Council or SALVO of that business. Salvo has a Code of Conduct can that be consulted for guidance.
