Palo Alto Bans Demolition

A new ordinance in Palo Alto, CA has banned demolition, and will now only allow deconstruction, deconstruction, the careful disassembly of building components to maximize reuse and recycling, will be required. Unlike other ordinances, this ban applies to both residential and commercial buildings, and requires conducting a survey designating the materials to be salvaged for reuse, deconstruct the structure, and source separate materials for reuse and recycling.

The goal of the new ordinance, which went into effect July 2020, is to recover valuable building material by requiring projects that would have previously been allowed to demolish a structure to deconstruct it. Despite Palo Alto’s already high recycling rate for construction projects, approximately 44% of what Palo Alto sends to the landfill comes from construction and demolition projects. The new requirements will prevent tons of valuable material from demolished homes from being landfilled, conserving natural resources, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and encouraging Zero Waste.

For now the new deconstruction and source separation requirements are limited to residential and commercial projects where structures are being completely removed, but the city aims to expand the scope, for example to partial demolition or major renovations.

Explore the city’s sample Salvage Survey Documentation and the explanatory flyer.