RECYCLED & ALTERNATE MATERIALS

Keep what's there, reuse what you can, and buy new last. This rule applies to every material, so it lives on the design page instead of a product page.

Green Materials compares products you're going to buy. This page is about the decision that comes before that list: what doesn't need to be bought at all. That decision covers the structure already standing, a beam from a barn coming down, or trim made from offcuts. The order is always the same. Keep it, reuse it, then use recycled content, then bio-based, and buy new last. Each step down costs more material and more carbon. Our Santa Cruz ADU was built around a recycled fir beam, with finger-jointed poplar trim and eucalyptus and bamboo floors.

US construction & demolition debris

600 MILLION TONS in 2018

That's the EPA's estimate. It is more than twice the weight of all the household and business trash the country throws away.

Share of that debris from demolition

OVER 90%

New construction makes less than a tenth of it. The biggest saving comes from not tearing down, not from tidier job-site scraps.

Hempcrete

ABOUT R-2.2 PER INCH

Hempcrete is a non-structural, bio-based wall fill. That's roughly two-thirds of a fiberglass batt per inch, so walls run about a foot thick. It's now in an appendix of the national residential code.

Why it's a design decision

Salvage is found, not ordered. It has to be in the drawings before the material list exists, or it never makes it in.

THE GREENEST BUILDING IS ALREADY STANDING

Demolition makes nearly all construction waste. A sound foundation, frame or roof kept in place does more than any recycled product can. On a remodel, the first question is what stays.

REUSE SETS THE DIMENSIONS

A reclaimed beam comes in the length and depth it comes in, so the span is drawn around it, not the other way round. That only works if the piece is found during design, not during framing.A reclaimed beam comes in the length and depth it comes in, so the span is drawn around it, not the other way round. That only works if the piece is found during design, not during framing.

BUILD FOR THE NEXT TEAR-DOWN

Screws instead of glue where it doesn't matter structurally. Standard sizes. Materials that come apart cleanly. Whatever we build now becomes someone's salvage later, and that's decided by how it's put together.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is reclaimed lumber safe to build with?

Often it's better than new. Old-growth timber tends to be denser and more stable. For structural use it has to be graded first, and checked for hidden nails, rot and insect damage. Painted wood from before 1978 is tested for lead before anyone cuts it indoors.

Graded before it carries a load

Doesn't salvage cost more?

Sometimes. Salvage trades material cost for labor: finding it, de-nailing it, milling it. Recycled-content commodity products like cellulose insulation are usually priced close to the new alternative. We price the reused option next to the new one and let you choose with the numbers in front of you.

Priced side by side, never assumed

Should we build with hemp?

If carbon is the point of the project, it's worth a serious look. Hempcrete isn't structural, so it fills around a wood frame. Its code appendix is national, but each state decides whether to adopt it. Minnesota had a proposal to adopt it in 2025. We check where your jurisdiction stands before it goes on a drawing.

See Timber Framing & High R-Value Assemblies

What the package covers

WE LOOK FOR

What on the site can stay: foundation, frame, roof, finishes
Salvage sources for beams, flooring, doors and fixtures
Recycled content in commodity layers: insulation, sheathing, drywall
Bio-based options where code and crews allow

WE CHECK

Structural grading of any reclaimed member
Lead paint on anything painted before 1978
Recycled-content claims by certificate, not by brochure
Local code acceptance before an alternative goes on the drawings

WHAT WE WON'T DO

Reuse something that weakens the envelope, like old single-pane windows
Call a product recycled because one ingredient is
Specify a material no local crew or inspector knows, without saying so
Send reusable material to the dumpster on our own jobs

The material you don't buy is the greenest one on the list.

Send us the project, whether it's a remodel, an addition or a new build. We'll come back with what can stay, what can be reused and where recycled or bio-based materials make sense, priced next to the new ones.