By : Nathalie Rivard.

At Cedar Bay, on the shores of Brome Lake, two buildings from the site known as La Cèdrière are currently being demolished. But here, the excavator is not simply sending everything to landfill. Désourdy of Bromont is employing an ecological demolition approach based on source sorting, known as Écotri, which aims to recover, reuse, and recycle as many materials as possible.

A Different Approach

Unlike traditional demolition, where debris is loaded into containers and sent to landfill sites, the work here is carried out much more methodically. Teams first analyze what the house contains to identify materials that can be recovered.

“We first evaluate the materials on site. In this project, there were still pieces of furniture and appliances that could be recovered and sent to our reuse section,” explains Sophie Gélinas of Désourdy.

The deconstruction is then carried out step by step to separate the different materials. The materials are not always reused as they are; they are often transformed so they can serve a new purpose. Concrete, for example, is crushed on site so it can be reused as fill material, notably to create the property’s driveway. Other materials are sorted and then sent to Désourdy’s Écotri centre, in Bromont, where they can be recycled or repurposed.

“Instead of arriving with containers and an excavator and sending everything to landfill, we dismantle the materials one by one so they can be sorted and given a second life,” she adds.

In a region like Lac-Brome, where newer residences are replacing many still-habitable lakeside properties, this type of project could open the door to a more environmentally responsible approach to demolition across the municipality.

Ecological Demolition on Television

Ecological demolition is also gaining visibility thanks to the series Karine and the Yellow House, starring Karine Vanasse, a resident of Lac-Brome. In the show, the actress renovates a house in the region with the help of architect Maxime Vandal and designer Richard Ouellette, and their design and construction firm Les Ensembliers. The duo are also the owners of Humminghill Farm in Bolton-Ouest.

Can you guess what percentage of the materials from this house were recycled?

Watch the series to find out. Season 2 will premiere on Crave starting April 8.