Increase Profits with Recycling and Reuse Best Practices

There's a great article on Triple Pundit on how to make money by recycling and reusing construction material. It comes as a result of re-occurring questions that many designers, home owners, architects, developers, builders and many others about what to do with stuff coming out of projects. 

PlanetReuse would like to thank Bill Roth, Founder of Earth 2017, for his time, interest and continued outreach to help raise awareness about building material reuse.

Here is preview of the article and a link for the balance of the piece, including a link to a short video from our discussion with Bill at Sustainable Brands '12 earlier this year:

 

"Construction managers’ success in recycling and re-purposing materials/fixtures can make the difference on whether a construction project comes in on budget in today’s still-depressed construction industry. Two factors are driving this trend. The first is the increasing value real estate buyers and renters place upon green labeled buildings. In California a green labeled home sells for a 9 percent premium. In the commercial building market the increasing numbers of companies focused on operational efficiency has created a strong rental market for USGBC LEED certified buildings. A key feature of LEED certification and other green labeled buildings is the reuse of materials, fixtures and buildings.

Construction recycling/reuse best practices
The other major driver is a growing market in recycled materials and reusable fixtures. The construction industry uses more materials by weight than any other industry in the United States producing 325 million tons of recoverable construction and demolition materials. Approximately 8,000 lbs of waste are thrown into the landfill during the construction of a 2,000 square foot home. That is a lot of construction dollars that will either be lost to landfill tipping fees or gained by successfully selling this material for recycling or reuse."

Here's a link to the rest of Bill's article.  Enjoy!

PlanetReuse Selected as a Top 25 Social Entrepreneur for 2012 by Businessweek

PlanetReuse is honored to be featured as one of America's Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs of 2012 by Bloomberg BusinessWeek.

Competition for the “final five” is stiff (and inspiring!) so please cast your vote for PlanetReuse to help realize a dream where:

• any commercial or residential building owner who needs construction materials, considers used before new; and
• reuse becomes THE obvious and easy alternative to the landfill during deconstruction or renovation.

This is why we are preparing to launch PlanetReuse Marketplace (powered by InvenQuery), a national website that connects building material “haves” and “wants” with their local reuse centers to easily donate and shop for reclaimed materials online.

A special thanks to our friends at the Kansas City, Missouri Habitat for Humanity (HFH) ReStore, the Chicago ReBuilding Exchange, the Wake County HFH ReStore in North Carolina, the Chesapeake HFH ReStore in Baltimore and the Montgomery County HFH ReStore in Gaithersburg, MD for their ongoing collaboration in helping us design and test a technology solution especially for the unique needs of the reuse industry.

Reuse centers like these and the 1,100 more around the U.S., keep valuable materials out of landfills, create local jobs, provide affordable home improvement resources (at roughly 40-60% off the price of new!) and support the missions of other local non-profits.

To learn more about reuse centers please visit the store links provided above.

BMRA announces Poster Session Program at DECON '11

Great program to help continue to grow and deveopment the materials reuse industry. 

The Building Materials Reuse Association (BMRA) is pleased to announce the  Poster Session Program at the DECON '11 Conference.

Architecture, construction management and environmental sustainability students are urged to submit original contributions related to the fields of deconstruction, building materials reuse, and construction and demolition debris (C&D) recycling that can be displayed in an educational poster format. 

Overview:  BMRA consistently seeks to advance research and education in the public interest.  The purpose of the DECON 2011 Poster Session Program is to provide a means of stimulating interest in deconstruction, building materials reuse, and construction and demolition debris (C&D) recycling research, as well as communicating other useful deconstruction information to the profession to include best practices, new program initiatives, etc. 

Please visit the conference website for how it works and complete details.  Please forward widely to any students or instructors with an interest in decon/reuse!

Removing the Roadblocks to Material Reuse - Cascadia Green Building Council's Trim Tab - Winter 2011

The Cascadia Green Building Council's Trim Tab is an amazing resource for provocative articles, interviews and news on the issues, designs, and people that are truly transforming the built environment.


PlanetReuse is proud to contribute to this great publication where we review successes as well as struggles when it come to material reuse in commercial and residential projects.

 
To review and download the complete issue and to sign up for updates, visit their website.

Reuse It: The Movie

Great video on Building Materials Reuse:

Bryce Jacobson of the Metro Portland Sustainability Center is the narrator of this new film, Reuse It: The Movie.

The twelve minute film provides a background on the current waste stream in the state of Oregon, makes a compelling case for the need to reuse building materials, and provides an overview of the resources available to Oregon residents to find and use salvaged building materials.

What a good example to implement throughout the US in every community.

Nice job BRING and everyone involved!


To view the movie, please click here.

USGBC Iowa Chapter Monthly Program: August 18.

Every month members of the Iowa Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council get together for a program in which they can discuss and learn about new green technologies or design strategies. Their July monthly meeting will be held this afternoon with guests from The Weidt Group discussing the benefits of comparative analysis through energy modeling. "Energy modeling" can normally allow the designers and owner, "to evaluate mechanical system options and to maximize daylighting potential in early design stages."

Next month the event will change gears to focus it's attention on the world of reclaimed and salvaged materials. Guest speaker Nathan Benjamin will deliver the August program titled, "Making Reclaimed Material Reuse Easier." If you are in the area and interested in learning more about incorporating reclaimed materials into your next project, or just looking to further your LEED knowledge base, be sure to attend the Iowa USGBC Chapter August program. Find out more about registering for this event here.

USGBC 2010 Federal Summit: "Leadership in Sustainability from Coast to Coast"

From May 18-19, our nation's capital will be putting their greenest foot forward to host the USGBC Federal Summit which boasts the theme, "Leadership in Sustainability from Coast to Coast." The Federal Summit provides the USGBC, government officials, industry leaders and non-profit community experts the opportunity to all learn from one another, discuss policies, and network with other industry-people passionate about the boom in green building. If you are a government employee, there will be a half-day Forum dedicated to government-focused programming as well. Keynote government speakers will include Director of U.S. General Services Administration Office of Federal High Performance Green Buildings Kevin Kampschroer, U.S. Department of Energy Federal Energy Management Program Manager Richard Kidd, Urban Land Institute Senior Research Fellow Tom Murphy, U.S. General Services Administration Commissioner of Public Buildings Bob Peck, Office of Management and Budget Deputy Associate Administrator for Procurement and Senior Budget Analyst Cynthia Vallina.

Among the many educational sessions to attend is #201 titled, "Building Material Reuse, the Purest Form of Recycling - Successful Models and Future Tools." The focus of this session shall be, "how practitioners and clients have addressed challenges and opportunities around reuse, including how they dealt with government infrastructure to accomplish their goals." The practitioners and clients that have been asked to share their experiences include Liz Ogbu of Public Architecture, Ted Huang of Webcor Builders, Darin Headrick from the Greensburg Schools, and Nathan Benjamin of PlanetReuse.

If you wish to attend the USGBC Federal Summit, early-bird discount rates will be available until May 4th for both government and non-government workers. For more information, click here!

37th National Demolition Association Convention: March 21st-23rd.

Next week from March 21-23, the National Demolition Association will be holding their 37th Annual Convention. This convention will take place in Las Vegas, NV in the 100,000 square foot Mirage Convention Center.

"As the largest exhibition of demolition products and services in the world, the NDA’s annual convention draws everyone involved in the demolition process from around the globe."

Being the largest event in the industry, the NDA hopes to push sustainability at this years' conference by means of actively educating membership throughout their sessions. Nathan Benjamin has been asked to speak about Material Reuse, its perceived roadblocks, and ways it makes sense for the environment and for demo companies' bottom line. The panel will be on Tuesday in the late morning education session. If you are in the demolition industry and are interested in attending this fantastic event, click here for more information.

Hopefully we will see you there!

A warship built with steel salvaged from the World Trade Center has arrived in New York City.

Here's a great Material Reuse/Recycling Story (especially when materials are unable to be Reused in their current condition):

The Navy assault ship USS New York, built in Louisiana with tons of steel salvaged from the World Trade Center, passes in front of the Empire State Building as it arrives in New York Harbor Monday, Nov. 2, 2009. The bow of the $1 billion ship, built in Louisiana, contains about 7.5 tons of trade center steel. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

From BBC News: The USS New York sailed up the Hudson River to near Ground Zero, where it fired a 21-gun salute in tribute to those killed in the 2001 attacks. It was watched by relatives of 9/11 victims, along with members of the emergency services and the public. The US Navy is to hold an official commissioning ceremony for the new warship on Saturday. The New York set off on its maiden voyage from Louisiana, where it was built, nearly three weeks ago. The bow of the boat contains 7.5 tonnes of melted steel from the fallen buildings of the World Trade Center.

The ship's crest includes images of the Twin Towers and features the colours of the city departments that first responded to the terrorist attacks in which nearly 3,000 people died.

'A transformation'

People gathered by the waterfront to watch the ship's 21-gun salute honouring those who died in the 11 September attacks. The crew stood to attention along the deck as the guns were fired.

Among those watching was JoAnn Atlas, who lost her firefighter husband in the attacks. "We have to remember. It's a way to honour them," she told the Associated Press news agency. Rosaleen Tallon, whose firefighter brother was among those killed, said she was pleased that the steel from the towers had been reused in the ship. "It's a transformation of it from something really twisted and ugly," she told AP. "I'm proud that our military is using that steel."

About one in seven of the 361 sailors serving on the ship are from New York state, a higher percentage than would normally be the case, a Navy spokeswoman told AP. She said there had been many requests from Navy personnel to serve on the ship.

Salvaged Materials Find a Home in America’s Greenest Building Project - F'09 Newsletter

When one of America’s greenest projects opened its doors this summer, the world learned that many of those doors were salvaged. The Omega Center for Sustainable Living (OCSL) in Rhinebeck, New York debuted on July 16 as one of the world’s best showcases for reclaimed building materials. PlanetReuse was privileged to coordinate much of the salvaged building material used in the project.

The OCSL, an environmental education center and wastewater treatment facility, is expected to be certified as the world’s first Living Building Challenge project, the highest measurable standard for sustainable design and construction. The award-winning building was designed by BNIM Architects, with John Todd Ecological Design.

“So much building material heads for landfills, when instead it can find new life in new building projects,” said PlanetReuse founder Nathan Benjamin. “As the world’s greenest building, the Omega Center is a perfect showcase for salvaged materials, but it also demonstrates how easily any building can take advantage of material reuse.”
Using reclaimed materials is one of the purest ways to build green, and an important consideration for Living Building certification. To discover effective ways to incorporate these materials into the OCSL, BNIM sought out PlanetReuse, whose focus is linking reclaimed materials with the design community.

With the design team, PlanetReuse identified key areas for the use of reclaimed materials. They worked with six demolition and reclamation contractors (three not-for-profits and three for profit) to procure and test the materials, sourcing close to the project to reduce fuel consumption. The company provided documentation on every step to support the certification process. The architect and contractor valued PlanetReuse’s insight, to that point that both wished the company had been involved even earlier in the process to assist with schedule and incorporate more materials.

Reclaimed materials within the Omega Center include dimensional lumber, plywood, interior doors, beech wood paneling and toilet partitions, among many others. The materials came from warehouses, schools, office buildings and other projects within the source radius. Reclaimed materials typically offer 15 to 20 percent savings over new and their use earns significant points towards LEED accreditation.

Most significantly, reuse keeps tons of building materials out of landfills.

More than Just Wood: The Many Faces of Reclaimed Building Materials - F'09 Newsletter

Mention reclaimed materials and the image pops: salvaged wood beautifully repurposed as paneling or flooring. While reclaimed wood is indeed one of the most popular reused materials, the range of materials sought and available extends far beyond that.

“Reclaimed wood is a classic, and it’s an idea most people are familiar with,” said PlanetReuse operations manager Tim Bensman. “But we’re seeing a growing market for steel, doors, access flooring, granite and marble. Steel, especially, offers huge potential for reuse, and along with that a huge potential for cost savings as well as a greater ability to achieve additional LEED material reuse credits.” The LEED MR system awards credit for reuse of a variety of reclaimed materials. PlanetReuse works with the design team early enough in the process to allow a huge list of options for consideration.

Ryerson University in Toronto has been studying steel reuse for a number of years, surveying designers, demolition contractors, salvage yards and steel fabricators to better understand the steel lifecycle. A 2006 report determined that construction steel reuse resulted in the reduction of between 3,000 and 4,000 tons of carbon dioxide each year, a number that could grow dramatically with increased awareness.

Steel recycling has always been popular, especially in Europe. The UK-based Steel Construction Institute estimates recycling rates at 85 percent or higher. But reuse of steel components—which as the purest form of recycling provides the highest benefit to the environment—demands a bit more quality control.

To create those standards, PlanetReuse is working with prominent structural engineers around the country to establish fundamental testing principles. The company is actively sourcing reclaimed steel from deconstruction contractors, delivering a message of profitability for quality steel components.

They’re also talking to design principals around the globe, both to in regards to available inventory and insight on how to incorporate reclaimed materials. In recent years, architects designing shorter-term buildings (like venues for the 2012 Olympics in London) have suggested demountable venues that can be partially or completely removed and reused elsewhere.

“We’ve really just scratched the surface when it comes to the diversity of reclaimed materials,” said Bensman. “The easier the process becomes the more you’ll see materials of all types available for incorporation into new building projects. Whether that’s tons of steel, a dozen doors or a small slab of granite, the key is communication between those who need it and those who have it.”

Going to GreenBuild? Come see PlanetReuse on the panel in Session BL08 - Mining the Urban Environment: Navigating the Reuse Opportunities

Come see us in Session BL08. The panel and the topic have changed from what may have read when you registered. The changes will be noted in the insert in the Agenda/Schedule you receive when you check in, but the following is the new topic and modified panel:
Topic: Mining the Urban Environment: Navigating the Reuse Opportunities
Date/Time: Wednesday, November 11, 2-3:30pm.
Moderator: Amanda Sturgeon - Senior Associate, Perkins+Will
Speakers: Nathan Benjamin - Principal + Founder, PlanetReuse
Steve Baer - Sr. Consultant - Five Winds International and PE Americas
Come enjoy a great conversation in Material Reuse!

PlanetReuse mentioned on Design Evolution w/ Naomi Pearson

Special thanks go out to Anthony Brower with Gensler for his recent PR reference this weekend. Check out the podcast (PR is mentioned around 40:10).

"PlanetReuse helps me on two levels, assisting in diverting materials from landfills and finding homes for reclaimed materials...they do a great job."
Thanks Anthony!

Architecture: Zero energy buildings, and sustainable strategies for building materials
Biologically sensitive development, integrated wind turbines, algae based biofuels, biomemedic design, healthier indoor environments, and recycled materials are a few examples of what we'll be covering. Chris Garvin serves as a project lead for many of Terrapin Bright Green’s consulting engagements while also managing projects for Cook+Fox Architects. Chris's interests include high-performance design at both the building and community scale, zero energy communities, biomimicry, and water conservation.

Anthony Brower develops and manages project-specific, practical, and appropriate strategies for green building design. Anthony is also an educator for internal Gensler sustainable design and LEED training sessions, and works extensively with the USGBC LEED Green Building Rating System for multiple projects nationally and internationally. Special Guest Host Pamela Epelbaum Paul.

http://modavox.com/voiceamericacms/WebModules/HostModaview.aspx?ChannelId=17&HostId=622&Flag=1

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!

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...

LEED- Some are missing the point by passing on credits

“We usually cannot use enough reclaimed material to meet the LEED MR3.1 credit 5% level not to mention the 10% in 3.2, so we don’t usually reuse materials on projects. We go for other credits to reach the LEED certification level our Owner wants, but usually pass over the reuse credits. It’s not worth the time and hassle.” These are quotes from a conversation I had last week with a LEED consultant and it frustrates me. The USGBC’s assembly of a rating system in LEED to raise the bar is outstanding, but it bothers me that it is too often-times simply a checklist and not a design framework/mindset.

My question on whether or not you hit the 5% level is - why does the percentage and whether you get a credit matter?? If you reach 4.5%, haven’t you accomplished something for your Owner, even though you “missed getting that credit”? The environmental impact of landfill diversion, not to mention cost savings in reusing materials (especially with projects on the chopping blocks due to budget cut-backs) should drive you to this decision to reuse materials, but so should your drive to lead with sustainable design. It is good for the environment and good for the Owner's budget - regardless of the points achieved.

LEED provides a great framework to assure that design teams have thought about each possible sustainable component, but we all need to understand and push beyond the “cheapest point checklist” and “if we won't get the point, we won’t try”. A lot of firms that have been doing it for years understand this. With the Living Building Challenge raising the bar even higher and industry shifts to change some of the mindsets of the rating systems of sustainability, these will be welcomed changes.

Nathan

NB in NYC

Nathan Benjamin our COO is in New York City today and tomorrow. He's meeting with designers and working on a couple of projects we are working on up there, but if you're out and about shoot him an email - nbenjamin@planetreuse.com

Got some great projects coming in the door to wrap up 2008...stay tuned but 2009 is looking good and we're excited about those who have started using PlanetReuse and the new people we've met along the way.

Thanks for joining the reMovement

PlanetReuse at Great Lakes Reuse Conference & Greenbuid

What a great week!

The Great Lakes Reuse Conference in Buffalo, NY featured many great speakers and discussions on deconstruction. The perfect size for these discussions, one-on-one dialogs with others on how to best address the ever-increasing vacant building stock in the Northeast and all over the country, was inspiring. There are so many great people and outstanding organizations, all with common goals. BuffaloReuse did an outstanding job of pulling the conference together- they even got us our first snow for the year! They have great leadership in Michael and his team – one that is helping in so many ways with deconstruction and in the community. BMRA as always was a great foundation for bringing so many leaders in this field together.

Greenbuild 2008 in Boston more than lived up to the hype that has echoed through the design and construction communities since last year’s conference! It was cold outside but the energy inside had things heated up. Common themes were heard throughout the week all related to the economy where it is, the new administration coming in DC, with the “green movement” growing at an exponential rate and an increasing need to educate our youth to continue to push for change. Rick Fedrizzi summarized things well in the opening address "Revolution is a powerful word," he said, and it can be measured in many ways, "but what counts the most is that we are changing people's minds about what matters." He said we have gone beyond the revolution of ideas and achieved a revolution of values. Congratulating Americans on the election outcome, keynote speaker Archbishop Desmond Tutu said, "you have helped to usher in a new era....you are one of the craziest countries I know.... an incredible nation, incredible people... he's an incredible guy! I'm not jealous, no!"

We are in a unique time that we can all work together to help. Looking at building certification is a good start, but we also need to look beyond by thinking outside of the LEED scorecard and follow-up by verifying that buildings are performing as designed. It was great to meet with so many like-minded vendors and architects throughout the event; we look forward to helping you grow your business. Please let us know how we can help you on your next project, and we look forward to seeing you over the next year and at our booth in Phoenix at Greenbuild 2009!

Thank you to all of the new friends of PlanetReuse I met, and if I missed you this week, thanks for visiting our website and please let us know how we can help you out.

Thanks for joining the removement!
Nathan

Images from EPA Waste Wise Award Ceremony

Recently PlanetReuse recieved an award from the EPA in Washington, DC! Here are the pictures from the event (little dark hoping for better ones to come.)

CEO Brad Hardin recieving the award


The event was great as a number of industry manufacturers and businesses have committed themselves to sustainable manufacturing and managing the waste from their processes. Of course, PlanetReuse was recieving an Innovation award for sustainably using reclaimed materials!





Photo:

Roderick Bates -Kieran Timberlake, Michael Mariano-Schemata, Pam Swingle-EPA, Brad Hardin-PlanetReuse, Benno van Noort-Van Noort Designs LLC