Interesting Article about Entrepreneurs

This is an interesting article about how entrepreneurs and innovative companies just might hold the key to invigorating the economy. Interesting take on the economic "recession"/mindset.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123544318435655825.html

Steel Reuse - the best choice for any economy

“Buy American” or no “Buy American” clause, fabricating new steel is not the sustainable approach we should take when we build our new buildings and infrastructure. Stimulus package or no stimulus package, the embodied energy it takes to recycle and re-fabricate steel for buildings is staggering.

This 60 Minutes segment is great in its entirety (and touches on great points regarding free trade and how the clause will affect the American economy), but I wanted to key in on minutes 2:20-3:37. http://www.tv.com/video/Yb4r3ifCJsCU2G5hOGw3HJhWqH_u8dGD/101/22529/buy-american?o=cbs&category=episode_clip&tag=showspace;video;3

The video shows the amount of energy that is necessary to create new steel from scrap steel. Recycling is often times seen as great for the environment and “saving the world”. Seeing this process (and the “fireworks” needed to create new steel) is amazing and may change your mind! Comments like “jolt from electrodes…you will see fireworks in a minute…” are heard through the footage showing the massive amount of energy injected into the process to create the steel.

Reuse (no, not recycling) of structural steel is the best way to reduce the carbon footprint of buildings and is a way to create green color jobs doing deconstruction in lieu of demolition to allow steel to be reused.

Other blogs are doing a great job of noting the salary of the CEO and other great issues business classes will study for years to come. I believe it is equally, if not more important, to think about the sustainable ideals we should follow as we construct buildings for generations to come, regardless of what country we live in.

Another steel vid showing the amount of energy it takes to refabricate it.

DECON '09 - Chicago April 28-30

The Building Materials Reuse Association (BMRA) is thrilled to announce the 2009 International Conference on Deconstruction, Building Materials Reuse, and Construction and Demolition Materials Recycling.

DECON '09 will be held on Tuesday, April 28th through Thursday, April 30th, 2009, on the Campus of the University of Illinois-Chicago Chicago, Illinois.

Join PlanetReuse and many other great companies, firms and organizations at this year's conference!

Did we mention it is in Chicago?? - The City of Broad Shoulders. The City that Works. From City Hall's green roof to sustainable urbanization of parks. From the Center for Green Technology to the Green Homes Program. From public policy to private development. Chicago is rapidly becoming the nation's "most environmentally friendly city." What better place to showcase the state of knowledge in building deconstruction, materials reuse, & recycling.

For more information and to register: http://www.bmra.org/events/conference

See you there!

The STAGE before and after...

Here are some great pics of the stage before and during its deconstruction. Enjoy!

PlanetReuse featured in KC Star Business Weekly article.

In the Kansas City Star Business Weekly section today, PlanetReuse along with BNIM Architects were mentioned for the reuse of the Inaugural Address stage in their upcoming Omega Institute project. For the entire article, continue reading and be sure join the PlanetReuse Facebook Group so you can check out pictures of the project as work progresses!

"Two KC Businesses Have A Post-Inauguration Link

An Innovative Kansas City firm is helping assure the inaugural platform used by President Barack Obama for his brief swearing-in ceremony lives on in upstate New York.

PlanetReuse LLC, a one-year-old firm based in the Crossroads Arts District, is brokering a deal in which lumber salvaged from the inaugural platform will be used in building a waste-water treatment and classroom facility for the Omega Institute. The holistic healing center occupies 200 acres in the scenic Hudson Valley near Rhinebeck, NY.

And in another local connection, the new Omega facility was designed by BNIM Architects. The goal is to make it the most environmentally friendly project build in the U.S.

If all goes according to plan, the 6,200-square-foot structure will be the first to receive the Living Building designation from the Cascadia Green Building Council. It's a chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council that runs the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program known for its platinum, gold and silver rankings.

"We're a guinea pig for the nation," said BNIM architect Laura Lesniewski. "A key piece is the materials. That's where PlanetReuse comes in."

An important element contributing to the LEED status of a building is the amount of reclaimed materials included in its construction. PlanetReuse has found a niche in linking architects with "deconstruction" firms that carefully dismantle structures to save building materials.

"We take the guessing out of the game," said Nathan Benjamin, co-founder of PlanetReuse. "Deconstructors like it because they don't have to mess with architects. Architects like it because they don't have to drive around the country to find materials."

Benjamin, a former construction industry professional, teamed with Brad Hardin, a former architect, to start the company in March 2008. At first, the pair tried a business model selling reclaimed materials on the Internet. When that proved cumbersome, they decided to instead be a broker, linking architects with salvagers, and certifying the materials.

"We're connecting dots not otherwise connected," Benjamin said.

"When BNIM got the commission for the Omega project, it reached out to PlanetReuse. As part of the energy-efficiency equation, reclaimed materials for a green project should come from a 500-mile radius. That is how Benjamin found the non-profit group in Washington, D.C., that was slated to receive the inaugural platform lumber -- it's still being dismantled.

"The stage was built very well," Benjamin said. "Obviously, somebody important was on it."

The 10,000-square-foot, 40-foot-tall platform was built from entirely new lumber and was obviously used only once. It's yielding 24 dumpster loads of reclaimable material.

Lesniewski said the fact her project's lumber component comes from such a historic structure is a "cool factor, an add-on" to the overall environmental quality of the $1.65 million building.

Benjamin said: "This stage was only used a few minutes. This will be part of a building that will last many years."

--Written by Kevin Collison

Obama Inauguration Stage Decon Article

Great article today in the Kansas City Star about the Obama inauguration stage which we are working with a non-profit to find homes for! Thanks to Laura Lesniewski for her quotes which called us "A key piece to reclaimed materials."!

It's great to see awareness about the benefits of material reuse be brought into the limelight and couldn't happen on a cooler project. We will be sure to keep everyone posted as progress for both BNIM's Omega Institue project and the other homes we find for the materials.

Perkins and Will

A big thanks to Kim and Perkins and Will for meeting with us today! We are very excited to offer our services and be a part of the Perkins and Will sustainable toolkit.

Truly a progressive firm who is doing cutting edge work all over the world and we look forward to helping any way we can...