As Green as It Gets
The ReBuilding Center offers reusable building materials and deconstruction services
By Rita Haberman
Green building. It's the latest buzz in the construction industry, and it plays a key role in the drive toward sustainability. Like many homeowners, you may be interested in greening your next home project but you aren't sure where to begin. Start with your choice of materials. It's an essential step in the green direction. Think reuse, save money and look no further. The ReBuilding Center carries the region's largest inventory of quality, used building materials, and it's right in your backyard.
 Imagine shopping for building materials at a friendly store where the prices are always 50 percent to 90 percent off. The ReBuilding Center is just that. As a nonprofit organization, it works much like a thrift store. Homeowners, contractors, clients of DeConstruction Services and others donate their unwanted but reusable or surplus building and remodeling materials. In return, they receive a tax-deductible receipt. The ReBuilding Center then makes the items available to the public.
At the ReBuilding Center's 60,000-square-foot retail store you'll find an extensive and ever-changing inventory of lumber, siding, doors, windows, cabinet sets, hardwood flooring, ceramic tile, sinks, toilets, tubs, lighting, hardware, and much more. The vast stock includes materials of all styles - vintage, hard-to-find and modern.
Last year alone, The ReBuilding Center diverted from landfills more than 4.5 million pounds of reusable building materials - resources that used to be considered construction and demolition waste. That's equivalent to receiving two to three 20-foot flatbed truckloads of donated materials each day, seven days a week. As quickly as materials come in, they leave in the hands of a steady stream of customers - homeowners, do-it-yourselfers, contractors, remodelers, artists, and enthusiasts.
Inventory changes daily, even hourly, so it may take a number of visits to find many of the materials on your project list. But if you know exactly what you need, have a little time and enjoy sifting through old house parts, you'll love this place.
The ReBuilding Center is located at 3625 N. Mississippi Ave. (between Fremont and Beech) in Portland. Monday to Saturday 9 to 6, Sunday 10 to 5. For more information, call 503-331-1877 or go to
www.rebuildingcenter.org.
DeConstruction:
An affordable, green alternative to conventional demolition
Most home renovation projects begin with demolition, but to green your project and your wallet, deconstruction is worth a look. Deconstruction is the selective dismantling or removal of material from buildings to maximize reuse of the materials. The ReBuilding Center offers DeConstruction Services - a complete salvage and removal service - for contractors, private homeowners, and others. Typically, clients donate the reclaimed materials to The ReBuilding Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and receive a tax-deductible receipt for the value of the materials. At tax tim e, the value of the deduction typically offsets the initial deconstruction costs. For more information, a free consultation or a free bid, call 503-331-9875. Licensed, bonded and insured: OR CCB#145799, WA#602-141-428.
ReFind Furniture
The ReBuilding Center offers a line of functional home furnishings made from donated castoff building materials with little or no potential for reuse. In a brightly lit workshop in the northwest corner of The ReBuilding Center, creative craftspeople design and build the ReFind line and one-of-a-kind pieces. ReFind accentuates the unique features of the reclaimed materials - textures, grains, knots, holes, gouges, and other unique characteristics. In essence, ReFind celebrates the history of the materials and revitalizes them for enjoyment and utility well into the future. The ReFind Furniture showroom is located in The ReBuilding Center at 3625 N. Mississippi Ave. in N. Portland. For more information, call 503-331-1877. |
