How can salvaged building materials be included in new construction?
A. Some developers and builders steer away from using salvaged building materials in affordable projects because it can be difficult to plan for the incorporation of materials that are not standard sizes, and to coordinate the availability of salvaged materials with the construction schedule. Projects that make the extra effort to include reused salvaged materials, however, often obtain remarkably high-quality materials at especially low cost. The Case Studies section of this site documents several building projects that successfully reused salvaged building materials. Often, processing and reinstalling salvaged materials can be labor intensive, and when this is the case, the salvaged materials may be best incorporated in building projects than use volunteer labor, or in which the future occupant is required to contribute sweat equity. Reusing salvaged structural materials can be complicated, but there are many good opportunities for reuse of non-structural materials. Just a few exampl
