While some architects, owners and contractors might express hesitation about the structural integrity of reclaimed materials, Bennink explains that it’s just a matter of downgrading.
“For example, a deconstructed bridge girder would never get certified to be reused over an interstate highway, but what about someone’s driveway?” he says. “If you’re building with lumber and the inspector says you can’t utilize used 2 by 6s, you often can use 2 by 8s. When it comes to energy, embodied carbon and resource conservation, we’re OK with things being downgraded a little if it means they are being saved and reused.”
Trends in reclamation and reuse are driven as much by supply—what buildings are being deconstructed locally and what can be salvaged from them—as by tastes and design. However, as it has with most things, the pandemic has changed the landscape of reuse.
“Since COVID started, we’ve seen increased demand in the reuse industry,” Bennink says. “It has shifted much more toward residential. People are stuck at home and want to do home renovation projects but income may be unstable. If they can find affordable alternatives and get their projects done for less money, they’ll do that. Restaurants had been a big part of our demand in the past, but unsurprisingly they haven’t been buying much lately. We predict a big boom in that sector next year.”
As technology continues to expand, with automation making salvage more efficient and effective, big data is also helping to expand awareness and availability of reclaimed materials.
“I have dreamed for years about integrating technology so you can come into a reuse center, scan a code on any of our materials and learn where it came from and what its history is,” Goodman says. “There are companies like Rheaply that are making it easier for consumers to access information about reclaimed materials. This is the big frontier: How do we make it easier for everyone to access information about salvaged materials and help them see these materials as having value instead of seeing them as trash?”
“When there are multiple benefits happening simultaneously, that’s where you get a glimpse of real sustainability,” Bennink says. “We have seen win-win-win situations where materials were saved, the environment benefitted and jobs were created. It’s a good feeling.”
PHOTOS: Billy Hustace unless otherwise noted