With Earth Day fast approaching, local businesses are working hard to create environmentally focused events that showcase local initiatives promoting the responsible use of resources. Demo 2 Design, in collaboration with Santa Barbara City College’s Construction Academy, will present its Custom Casita — a permit-exempt structure built from reclaimed doors, windows and lumber — as part of this weekend’s Earth Day festivities.
The Demo 2 Design presentation centers on the Custom Casita, starting at 2 p.m. Saturday at Demo 2 Design, 728 Union Ave.
Demo 2 Design is an architectural reuse warehouse and showroom specializing in reclaimed materials saved from the demolition of residential and commercial structures, repurposing the materials, and offering them for sale for new projects. The green, environmentally responsible business saves homeowners money by removing waste materials from remodels, expedites the permitting process by complying with waste-management plans, captures demolition materials and diverts them from landfills, reuses structural lumber creatively in new construction designs, reduces the need to extract resources from the earth, and promotes education on efficient resource management and many other green topics.
The company performs site visits with contractors or homeowners before demolition to identify reusable materials that can be diverted from landfills. Once contractors deconstruct and set aside these materials, they are transported to the Demo 2 Design warehouse and showroom, stored, in some cases repurposed into a more usable form, and eventually resold for new projects.
Carol Ashley established Demo 2 Design in 2001 as an architectural reuse business and as an alternative to the wasteful disposal of construction materials entering landfills. Her commitment to promoting environmental awareness spans 30 years, and ranges from public education and municipal government legislation, to nonprofit retail and public-private business partnerships. Her friendship with MarBorg Industries, Santa Barbara’s leading recycling and waste hauler, offers a reuse alternative to traditional disposal that benefits the community.
For 10 years, Ashley has served on the board of directors for The Sustainability Project, a nonprofit organization advocating green building principles. She has also collaborated with the Santa Barbara Contractors Association and the California Resource Recovery Association. Her years of environmental employment with Ventura and San Diego counties and Santa Barbara’s Art From Scrap cultivated an extensive network of professionals that continues to nurture the growth of her business.
In addition to providing reused materials, including salvaged and vintage lumber, Demo 2 Design offers creative custom design options incorporating these materials. Its talented, experienced team works collaboratively with clients to develop functional art and spaces like the Custom Casita. Demo 2 Design offers a unique, clean and well-organized collection of reclaimed and vintage materials “from the mundane to the magical.”
The Demo 2 Design Earth Day Celebration brings together the vision of the Demo 2 Design staff and SBCC’s Construction Academy director Patrick Foster, academy students and faculty, with support from community partners, including MarBorg, Channel City Lumber, Hayward Lumber, UC Santa Barbara interns and Demo 2 Design’s loyal customers.
The Custom Casita offers a structure uniquely designed to customer specifications and built with high-quality materials diverted from remodel and demolition sites. Its options include a tea house, workshop, guest room, greenhouse, garden shed or storage unit, among many other uses. These permit-exempt structures comply with city and county guidelines up to 120 square feet (not electrified or plumbed), and are perfect for a wide array of applications that fit perfectly with the space limitations many property owners face. Each Custom Casita comes as a pre-constructed kit that can be assembled on-site by Demo 2 Design.
Click here for more information on the Custom Casita, or contact Ashley at 805.886.6865 or stop by Demo 2 Design’s Earth Day presentation. Demo 2 Design is located at 728 Union Ave. near McDonald’s on Milpas Street and Santa Barbara Stone.
— Craig Allen, CFA, CFP, CIMA, is president of Montecito Private Asset Management LLC and founder of Dump Your Debt. He has been managing assets for foundations, corporations and high-net worth individuals for more than 20 years and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA charter holder), a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and holds the Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA) certification. He blogs at Finance With Craig Allen and can be contacted at craig@craigdallen.com or 805.898.1400. Click here to read previous columns or follow him on Twitter: @MPAMCraig. The opinions expressed are his own.
