Definitely check this out if you haven't already:
www.fxguide.com/featured/art-of-destruction-or-art-of-blowing-crap-up/
Also, Bullet's glue constraints networks can give quite a bit of control over the strength and clustering of different objects. For something like a building collapse you can use multiple Glue Network Constraints in DOPs or, if you're will to tweak some of the off-the-shelf tools like Glue Pieces and Glue Cluster in SOPs, you can create a single glue net with custom strength/clustering for as many different connected objects as you want (walls, supports, roofing, etc). You can further customize this by mixing in painted attributes as well.
All this can allow for some pretty dynamic destruction effects that convey a sense of structure to whatever is being demolished. Just keep in mind that, if you're going for full-on destruction, smoke/debris is going to end up covering most of your scene.