Save the date!

The ReBuilding Exchange will celebrate its grand opening on Friday, February 13th, 6-10pm with live music, food, and a live and silent auction.  Please join us for this exciting event!

Have a skill or item you'd like to donate to raise funds for the ReBuilding Exchange?  We are currently accepting donations of items for the silent auction. Items may include donated services such as health, beauty, educational, skilled artisanry or items such as artwork, gift certificates for retail or restaurants, or stays at vacation homes.  Use your imagination!

If you'd like to be added to our mailing list for more information about this event and other news at the ReBuilding Exchange, or have an item to donate, please send an email to ezelechowski@delta-institute.org.

We are also currently accepting donations of building materials by appointment until our grand opening in February. 

Tales from our first volunteer kick-off weekend!

Dave Hampton of Urban Habitat Chicago and Echo Studio writes about our first weekend of moving and set-up in the new space.

http://www.urbanhabitatchicago.org/blog/birth-of-the-rebuilding-exchange/

Thanks to all our volunteers for coming out!

We're moving into our new home on 47th Street in Chicago!

Today is the day! We're moving in and setting up shop. Deliveries of materials are arriving regularly over the next couple of weeks and we're looking for volunteers to help with moving, inventory, and material organizing. Please let us know if you want to participate! More information about our grand opening coming soon...

3333 West 47th Street

we've deconstructed 8 buildings to date in chicago!

While we haven't found a permanent home yet for the Building Material Reuse Center, we're busy deconstructing homes around the city. We've done 8 so far, and are storing these materials for when we open.

We're currently taking other materials for storage until we open, on a case by case basis. Please email Elise at ezelechowski@delta-institute.org for more info.

lifecycle building challenge -- design for deconstruction, adaption and reuse

Lifecycle building is the design of building materials, components, information systems, and management practices to create buildings that facilitate and anticipate future changes to and eventual adaptation or dismantling for recovery of all systems, components, and materials.

This competition gives you the opportunity to design and create a building model that incorporates these principles.

http://www.lifecyclebuilding.org/index.php

Reusing building materials to make furniture - From the Portland Rebuilding Center.

Pictures from our new warehouse. The first round of deconstructed materials are coming in!

Deconstructing Portland

This is a home being sustainably deconstructed in Portland, Oregon by The Rebuilding Center. The owner plans to reuse some of this wood in the reconstruction of a home addition. The remaining materials will go to The Rebuilding Center's retail warehouse.

Salvaged wood flooring from a home deconstruction project.

blog launch

Hey there!
This is the first posting on our new Building Material Reuse Center blog.
We decided to create this blog in order to facilitate discussion about sustainable building deconstruction and material reuse practices.

Our group is in the process of fundraising and locating a warehouse in the Chicago area to operate a retail center for used building materials. This is a non-profit venture, and the Delta Institute and The Reuse People of America, are the primary project initiators.

www.delta-institute.org
www.thereusepeople.org

The goal of this project is to divert material from the landfill, promote the creative and utilitarian reuse of building materials and sell these materials at a very low cost.

We have secured a temporary space for material storage and limited operations on the A Finkl campus on Goose Island. Once we identify a permanent location, we plan to operate on a full schedule. Coming shortly will be a link to a website for the Center. Until we move into our permanent home, we intend to post information and pictures of materials as they come in, and visitors will be able to purchase these materials on a limited basis.

More information to come...

Elise