Higher Ed: Binghamton University – Over 1,000 Pieces of Residential Furniture Captured for Reuse

“Connecting our state-contract moving vendor with IRN was one of the most fulfilling things I’ve done as a Residential Operations professional. The knowledge that our furniture was going to help people instead of rot in a landfill gives me peace of mind and saved us precious budget dollars on tipping fees.”

James “JJ” Brice, Associate Director of Operations & Crisis, Binghamton University

Situation:  In advance of renovation, Binghamton University retained Dimon and Bacorn Movers and IRN to remove and arrange the reuse of some 250 sets of dormitory furniture.

Material Composition & Quantity:  1,014 pieces total, including ~250 each of desks (with bookshelf) and wardrobes, 275 chairs, 35 beds, 25 dressers, 125 lamps, plus study carrels, night-stands, coffee tables, and work tables.

Setting: Suburban campus in Binghamton, NY, about 180 miles northwest of New York City.

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Overview

Seneca Hall residential furnishings staged for shipment

Binghamton University is undertaking a complete renovation of its Seneca Residence Hall, one of a cluster of dormitories in an isolated wooded setting near the edge of campus.  Residential Life Associate Director J.J. Brice was determined that the still serviceable furnishings in the dorm should not be disposed of, and worked through the SUNY purchasing system to engage Dimon and Bacorn Inc. (D&B) to remove and IRN to arrange the reuse of over 1,000 pieces of student and common-area furnishings.

Seneca Hall has five stories, with a single, small, slow elevator.  Stories 2/3 and 4/5 are joined by common mezzanines, so that every piece of furniture had to be carried up or down one-half floor to reach the elevator.  Truck access is difficult.

D&B and IRN completed the project in five days, filling one 53-foot trailer on each of four days, and two trailers on one day.  All were shipped to Native American schools in South Dakota and New Mexico.  Remaining items not requested by the schools were provided to Habitat for Humanity to support their charitable mission.

Challenges

Getting trailers through the woods and up the driveway to Seneca Hall. Not an easy challenge.

Tractor-Trailer Access.  Reaching Seneca Hall entailed backing trailers in a sharp turn from a small parking lot, and then up a twisting, tree-lined driveway.  IRN blocked parking spaces in the lot to provide turning radius, and Dimon and Bacorn’s crew helped guide each driver to the building.   In two cases, D&B drivers climbed into the cab (with the driver’s OK) and brought the trailers in themselves.

Carries and Staging.  The single elevator was a choke point.  Rather than force the pace of work, IRN and D&B staged enough inventory to fill one trailer, filled a trailer each morning, and then staged inventory again for the next day.  Working down from the top floor, as the project proceeded D&B’s crew was able to get ahead of this schedule, allowing them to fill two trailers on the final day.

Truck Scheduling.  Binghamton is far from major trucking lanes.  Assuring that trailers arrived on schedule required frequent communication and diligent, effective cooperation from logistics provider C.H. Robinson.

Composition

Destinations

Closing off a trailer. Most of the Seneca Hall furnishings went to Native American schools in AZ and NM.

One truckload including 48 sets of furnishings was provided to the Shiprock Associated (Tribal) Schools in Shiprock, NM.  Five trailers with the balance of residential furnishings (~200 sets) were shipped to the Flandreau Indian Boarding School in South Dakota.  The remaining furnishings, some 210 pieces, were provided to Habitat for Humanity for sale to support of Habitat’s charitable mission of building homes for lower-income citizens.

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