Building Green: Salvaging and Re-Using Building Materials

Aluminum cans, tires, warehouses, books, newspapers, houses, old cars and barns all have two things in common – they can be such an eyesore when they are discarded and they can all be recycled to make them more useful again.

Recycled building materials are becoming more and more common, not only because of the dwindle in the raw materials for building materials but also because more people are learning and appreciating the benefits of recycling building materials.  Salvaged materials are being sold at cheaper prices and governments all around the world are encouraging the recycle by offering tax incentives that encourage developers to go for recycled and environmental friendly building materials.  Most of these materials are not necessarily salvaged from other buildings but from different places including homes, industries and urban dumps.

Deconstruction and recycling

One of the best sources of recyclable building materials is from buildings that are to be ‘deconstructed’.  During deconstruction, unlike in demolition, the materials such as building stones, iron sheets, wood and concrete is surveyed and gradually removed from the old building and their integrity or shape preserved.  The care that is exercised during construction is applied during deconstruction.

The main reason why deconstruction has been slow to adoption is because constructors and developers have been uncertain of its cost and time effectiveness.  This practice is however becoming more and more attractive as they take into account the many benefits of recycling building materials including resale value, environmental benefits such as reduction of solid waste and recovering of vintage and priceless building materials.

Finding salvageable building materials

When looking for salvageable building materials, the most important consideration is the type of material required and the type of house or building to be built.  In most urban centers, there are places where one can find different types of salvageable building materials ranging from scrap metal to building stone.  Some NGOs make it their mission to provide the information developers and contractors need to find the right building materials and for locals to make money recycling the salvageable building materials.

The most dependable way to find the best recycled building materials is to look for it and get it physically in your area.  The best option is to search the dumps and contact construction companies for information and direction on buildings that are to be demolished and offer to deconstruct them.

Top 5 Recycled Materials to use in Buildings

a) Ships and Boats

If you live in a coastal city or in a place where water transport is common, then there is a chance that there are decommissioned ships and boats that are no longer used in the waters.  These ships can be brought on land and converted into a house or building – without much modification.  When done right, a salvaged and recycled ship or boat can be a beautiful building.

Barns may look un-homely, but when properly furnished and materials recycled, they can be transformed into beautiful buildings.  As cities expand, the number of farms are on the decline, hence the reason there are many barns, silos and grain bins that have been rendered useless.  If there is one in your area, you can easily deconstruct it or alternatively just furnish it and turn it into a building.

The best thing about shipping containers is that they are strong, sturdy and are found in great abundance almost anywhere in the world.  These containers are ideal building materials for homes, shops and other structures.  If there are shipping containers sitting abandoned in a shipyard near you, consider acquiring them and re-using them in building.

 d) Stone

The most popular and the one of the oldest building materials in history is the stone.  As hard as it is, stone is recyclable.  From scraps of slate off old buildings to stone blocks used in floors, all these can be collected and in different ways used to construct new buildings.  Other stones that can be recycled are baked bricks and concrete.

 e) Reclaimed wood

By far, wood is the most reusable building material on this list.  Demolished structures and old buildings have got to have wood, and as long as it is not rotten, it will find use in something else.  The price of wood is sky rocketing and you have absolutely no reason to invest more in buying wood when you can spend less in recycling.