Steps Towards Sustainable Community, Winter 2005

Pacific Builders

Started in 1979 by Nick and Tony Lucchesi, Pacific Builders (PB) is an Arcata-based general contractor that builds, rehabilitates, and deconstructs homes and commercial structures. PB received Waste Reduction Awards Program (WRAP) recognition in 2003 and 2004 from the CIWMB. The company diverted nearly 86 percent of its 391 tons of construction waste from the landfill between May 2003 and May 2004.

Through the years, the company has sought to utilize its construction waste through reuse or recycling. Form lumber is reused many times. Other reusable wood goes to the Arcata Community Recycle Center or Habitat for Humanity in Eureka. Non-reusable scrap wood goes to Grindables Recycling (Insert, page 5) to be turned into mulch or firewood. Drywall and hardi-plank are ground by Grindables and reused on-site. Scrap metal has gone to Arcata Scrap and Salvage and Eel River Disposal. Window glass, asphalt, concrete, mixed loads, and broken porcelain and tiles go to Kernan Construction. Plastic sheeting goes to the Eureka Recycling Center. Leftover tiles go to Habitat.

Project Management Assistant Marianne Bithell has been working for PB for three years. Bithell explains she has “a background in recycling and “a commitment to environmental consciousness.”

Bithell noted that Arcata has a construction and demolition (C & D) ordinance which requires the reuse and recycling of these materials. “But it is sometimes hard to get people on the job to track and sort. Compliance and contamination are still issues. ‘Don’t put the garbage in the drywall pile.’”

"We also make recommendations about green building," notes Bithell. Many of our clients are already considering alternatives such as solar water heating, photovoltaic systems, radiant heat in foundations, structurally insulated panels, skylights, or solar tubes to let in natural light, recycled carpeting, low-emission paint or recycled paint, natural landscaping, and on-site recycling using ground-up drywall, wood, or hardi-plank siding for landscaping and underlayment. We do recommend metal buildings packages, which I believe are great because wood is subject to rot in Arcata’s damp climate. Ninety-nine percent of metal is recycled and you don’t need to cut down more trees."

In Fall 2004, PB sent Bithell to a conference on deconstruction. "I learned about all these new possibilities for recycling and reuse and I really saw the world in a different view," she explains. "I came back and started looking at how we could improve what we are doing to actually get to zero waste."

Contact information:
Marianne Bithell
Pacific Builders
880 L Street
Arcata, CA 95521
(707) 822-7720
pacbmarianne@pacbell.net

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Last updated: August 01, 2008