To deconstruct a dwelling involves carefully dismantling an entire building to salvage as many materials as possible. These include removing specific high-value components, such as timber, windows, doors, flooring, fixtures, and structural elements for reuse or repurposing. Unlike traditional demolition, which prioritises speed, deconstruction focuses on salvaging valuable materials to reduce waste and lower the demand for new raw resources, thereby minimising environmental impact. Housing deconstruction and selective deconstruction approaches differ in scope, level of disassembly, and goals. Reclaimed timber, if structurally sound, can be repurposed for new construction projects.

I think this is my new favorite definition of deconstruction! This paper has a ton of good information and links to other studies, I'm going to have to rework my notes on deconstruction to include them.

Reading his complaint I was thinking, combustion engines will still be around, after all I see people driving steam powered antique autos almost every summer. But that doesn't mean we should stay dependent on old, damaging tech for basic tasks

I try to maintain a balance. I try to accept that a lot of the problems in the world are beyond my reach, to keep informed and to help in the small ways I can, and to draw motivation from it, but without throwing myself into despair. It's hard and I'll admit I err on the side of ignorance these days.

Mostly I focus on solarpunk fiction projects (I think we need to be able to imagine better futures and that fiction gives us roadmaps and chances to explore these possibilities safely), project research, and ways to help at the level where I can effect things.

I help fix things for people so they don't have to buy new, I help organize and give stuff away at my local swap shop and on the free groups online, I try to help with local land conservation. And I take the small victories where I can get them. If I fix something or find some ewaste electronics for a neighbor and save them spending $60 on Amazon, the world isn't changed but Amazon didn't get that money and maybe my neighbor won't reach for it as their first choice next time. If we conserve a hundred acres of forest it's not stopping any of the big impending climate disasters, but some habitat is preserved, and perhaps some of the routes animals follow as they roam won't get as fragmented as they would otherwise. And I imagine better worlds and try to show them to others.

Yeah I started reading up on it more once I got thinking about it. Looks like AC was easier in the past, which is probably why we're standardized on it for local grids

Am I missing something? Isn't this why we use AC power over long distances?

Yeah cars will sometimes deliver personal injury right through the front wall of your house.

This is a really cool use of white rot fungus! I hadn't read about this particular one being used for mycoremediation before but it makes sense - others (like oyster mushrooms) are capable of breaking down all sorts of long-chain polymers. It turns out the toolkits they've developed for breaking down stuff like tree lignin are versatile enough for lots of other stuff like dioxins. OSB (made from wood and glue) probably offers an interesting mix of materials for it to work through.

Edit: I added this to the writing community's worldbuilding wiki page on solarpunk building materials.

Thank you!