Abandoned Buildings, Recycled Houses & Ghost Towns

April 18, 2023

What’s inside that boarded up house? Should you explore an abandoned mall? A vacant factory? And how much of an old house ends up in a landfill? The founder of Domicology, Dr. Rex LaMore of Michigan State University’s Center for Community and Economic Development, is an expert on these things and answers any possible question you might have, from ghost towns to hidden house notes, arson, recycling wood, stealing metal and how to leave a better housing situation for future generations. Also: whale poltergeists.

What is Domicology? 

Domicology is the study of the economic, social, and environmental characteristics relating to the life cycle of the built environment.

Domicologists

1. Recognize that manmade structures have a life cycle
2. Examine the life cycle continuum of the built environment and plan, design, construct, and deconstruct in order to maximize the reuse of materials and minimize the negative impacts of a structure's end-of-useful life
3. Identify innovative tools, models, policies, practices, and programs that can sustainably address a structural life cycle
4. Conduct research on the technical, economic, and policy challenges present in a structure's life cycle and seek to reduce the negative social, economic, and environmental impacts associated with structural abandonment

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More about Ologies with Alie Ward: 

Volcanoes. Trees. Drunk butterflies. Mars missions. Slug sex. Death. Beauty standards. Anxiety busters. Beer science. Bee drama. Take away a pocket full of science knowledge and charming, bizarre stories about what fuels these professional -ologists' obsessions. Humorist and science correspondent Alie Ward asks smart people stupid questions and the answers might change your life.

Author: Alex Gillespie, '17