Green Demolition

Using the 3 Rs at 19 Wing/CFB Comox

DCC believes in the 3 R's - reduce, re-use, and recycle. So when Air Force officials decided to recycle a hangar at 19 Wing/CFB Comox, we were a natural fit for the job.

Due to its age and some wear and tear, DND decided it was time to decommission 1 Hangar. Thanks to the green demolition project, the 500-year-old Douglas fir timber, originally used to build the hangar, were given new life as floorboards and decorative trims for housing projects in British Columbia.

To qualify as a green demolition, all material from a building must either be used again to create new structures, recycled into new products, or, if unusable, disposed of in a safe manner.

At 1 Hangar, some of the wood recovered from the hangar - some of the oldest timber in the country - was sold to Vancity Enterprises to be re-used in developments in Vancouver, Victoria and Coquitlam, British Columbia.

DCC was responsible for arranging and managing the competition for the demolition contract, as well as the management of the construction site. With about 400,000 board feet of lumber salvaged, this project became the largest recycling project in B.C. in late 2005.

The hangar - about the size of two football fields - most recently served as the home for CFB Comox's 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron, and was also home to 407 Squadron and its Lancaster aircraft during the 1950s. During World War II, it was part of the British Commonwealth's air training plan to produce aircrew.

Several large timbers were also saved for the 19 Wing Wood Hobby Club, to build a new conference table for the Comox Air Force Museum - helping ensure that a part of 1 Hangar's legacy lives on at the Wing.