We’re working towards a world without waste.
Our Mission
Our mission is to empower communities to turn construction and demolition waste into local resources.
About Us
Build Reuse is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit established in 1994 that serves as the premier national organization encouraging the recovery, reuse, and recycling of building materials in the United States. We are also committed to developing social investment and workforce development programs in the deconstruction industry. Our vision is to transform our communities by creating a building industry in which used and excess materials become an asset and waste is no longer acceptable.
View our current board, learn about our workgroups and committees, and explore ways to get involved.
Our Core Principles
The members and supporters of Build Reuse believe:
The present linear economic model relying on consumption of “new” products and materials is unsustainable.
The reuse of building materials needs to be recognized as a key component of sustainability goals. A circular economy is a critical component to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 in the building industry.
Reuse recognizes and prioritizes existing community value. Reinvesting the inherent wealth of existing materials back into the community can create employment and economic opportunities, address urban blight, and contribute to achieving affordable housing goals.
Reuse is the most impactful when implemented locally. Shifting to an economy with just and ethical supply chains centered on reuse and repurposing creates local jobs, builds small businesses, and empowers disenfranchised members of our communities.
About our Name
Our organization was first founded in 1994 by a small group of dedicated individuals who came together in Winnipeg, Manitoba to create the Used Building Materials Association. From the beginning, it has been the dedication of individual volunteers and members who have supported the organization and helped it grow. The names and faces of the volunteers have changed over the years, ranging from students who gave their afternoons to board members who dedicated years of their expertise to secure our incorporation and non-profit status. We renamed the organization Building Materials Reuse Association (BMRA) in the process.
We celebrated our 25th birthday in 2019, which prompted us to dig deeply into not just how our organization functions, but why it functions. Those conversations led us to the realization that our language as an organization - our very name - needed to better reflect our growth and impact as a community. From there, Build Reuse was born.
Support our Mission
Over the next forty years, our total building stock is estimated to double, while nearly a third of our present building stock will come down.
Imagine for a moment: a third of the buildings in your neighborhood, town, or city are demolished and the materials landfilled. At the same time, our forests and other resources continue to be mined for new materials. How we utilize the existing resources in our communities is an essential consideration in building a more sustainable future.
Meanwhile, many local communities lack economic opportunities, face under-employment of marginalized populations, and are dealing with disinvestment in local building stock. Build Reuse is about giving communities the tools to reinvest those materials in ways that create jobs in deconstruction and reuse centers, create economic opportunity for small local businesses, and save resources.
We believe that, dollar for dollar, an investment in reuse is one of the wisest investments a community can make.
Reuse is local. It builds economies, it builds lives, it builds community. We have seen it again and again throughout the country, but not nearly enough. It needs to become the standard practice it once was to make the difference we need. Once again, imagine for a moment that a third of buildings in your community are removed.
What if, instead of demolishing these structures and sending materials to a landfill, that the material went to local reuse centers and was reinvested right back into your community?
What if, as a result, this method of material reinvestment generated new local jobs?
What if a portion of the materials were salvaged for reuse in existing structures of the same age, addressing deferred maintenance issues and repairing existing affordable housing in the process?
What if small businesses popped up throughout the reinvestment process, turning these materials into furniture, art, and other necessities?
What if a transformative technology and innovation sector flourished, focused on creating new building products utilizing existing materials - instead of continuing to mine our forests and earth for virgin materials - helping to break the take-make-waste cycle in the building industry?
This happens on a small scale in many communities today. Our goal is to make it happen everywhere.
Please help if you can. Be a part of building reuse!