Newport's Deconstruction and ReUse Network helps salvage remodel materials

Remodeling? Maybe that wood flooring or old door could find another home.

The Deconstruction and ReUse Network is a Newport Beach-based nonprofit that helps businesses and homeowners in the middle of a remodel to salvage materials that could be used again.

In a room with flooring from a remodeled Google facility in Santa Clara and a conference table straight out of a Clorox remodel project in Pleasanton, founder Lorenz Schilling said most business owners or homeowners are surprised by just how much can be reused.

Doors, lumber, flooring and lighting fixtures can all be saved from entering a landfill. Most homes, Schilling said, can have about 85 percent of their building material reused for another purpose.

He added that reuse of those building materials is another way of diverting building materials from the landfill during a remodeling project something mandated by the state and many municipalities.

Deconstruction of homes is well-established in the Bay Area and fairly well-known in areas like West Los Angeles, Schilling said. Its also slowly picking up in Orange County, especially in coastal communities or places like Anaheim Hills, he said.

Theres a growing awareness of the (deconstruction) process, Schilling said. Younger developers are looking for more progressive solutions or looking for competitive advantages.

The Deconstruction and ReUse Network has averaged 35 to 60 deconstruction projects per year since they started in 2007, Schilling said. The vast majority are residential projects, though commercial businesses have begun reaching out over the past three years.

Thats a trend we definitely hope continues. Thats where theres a great deal of waste, Schilling said.

The DRN is, in an ideal world, involved in a project from the very beginning.

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Newport's Deconstruction and ReUse Network helps salvage remodel materials