SALVAGE, SUSTAINABLY and the CIRCULAR ECONOMY
In July 2016, Portland City Council adopted an ordinance, including code language, which requires projects seeking a demolition permit of a house or duplex to fully deconstruct that structure if it was built in 1916 or earlier (the code was updated in January of 2020 to include houses built prior to 1940) or is a designated historic resource. Portland became the first city in the country to ensure that valuable materials from our demolished houses and duplexes are salvaged for reuse instead of crushed and landfilled.
Did you know that the deconstruction of a typical 2,000 sq. foot wood frame home can yield 6,000 board feet of reusable lumber? That is the equivalent to 33 mature trees or the yearly output of 10 acres of planted pine. If demolished, that same home would produce about 10,000 cubic feet of debris instead.
When you use reclaimed lumber, you help curb deforestation by decreasing the demand for wood that is newly sourced. If salvaged responsibly, reclaimed wood is a renewable resource that reduces landfill waste as well as the harmful effects of natural resource extraction, transportation, and energy consumption for new building materials.
Reduces the need for more toxic landfills
Keeps material local, reducing additional adverse harvesting, mining and transportation effects.
Conserves finite, old-growth forest resources.
Creates jobs