Registration opens for Decon+Reuse conference

The Building Materials Reuse Association (BMRA), Great Cranberry Isle, Maine, has announced that registration is open for the 2018 Decon+Reuse conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Sept. 19-21. The Decon+Reuse conference brings together members of the deconstruction and building material reuse industry to advance the field. 

“The BMRA is excited to bring a variety of stakeholders into the conversation and show the real benefits of deconstruction and building materials reuse to Grand Rapids and west Michigan,” Chris Rutherford, BMRA past-president and executive director of Architectural Salvage Warehouse Detroit, says. “Deconstruction is a growing industry that fits in well with community sustainability initiatives and shows the benefits of salvaged building materials in design, remanufacturing and direct reuse.”

Building deconstruction is the process of systematically dismantling all or part of a building so most of the resulting materials can be recycled, repurposed or reused. In addition to reducing landfill waste by redirecting valuable materials out of the waste stream, deconstruction also benefits the health of communities, BMRA says. Particularly in densely populated areas, deconstruction reduces exposure to air pollutants including asbestos, lead and fine particulates of dust that would otherwise be a result of demolition.

The Kent County Department of Public Works, Grand Rapids, is partnering with the BMRA to host the conference in Grand Rapids. The Decon+Reuse conference aims to bring together more than 200 reuse retailers and material suppliers, deconstruction and salvage companies, municipal leaders, collegiate-level instructors and student researchers, designers and architects and builders specializing in reclaimed materials.

“People in building and construction trades have a knowledge and expertise that is helping the waste industry advance models that reduce materials heading to landfill,” Kristen Wieland, marketing and communications manager for Kent County Department of Public Works, says. “We look forward to welcoming the big thinkers and doers to west Michigan and bringing together people who want to learn more about the benefits of deconstruction and building reuse.”

Kent County Department of Public Works is hosting the conference as part of their regional effort to keep valuable and marketable materials out of the waste stream. The department laid out a goal of diverting 90 percent of county-generated trash from local landfills by 2030 and intends to make construction and demolition (C&D) debris a priority material. To meet that sustainability goal, the department is developing a master plan for a sustainable business park that would take waste materials, like construction materials, and reuse or convert those materials into usable products instead of dumping them in a landfill.

Keynote speakers for the conference include Gayle DeBruyn, associate professor and sustainability officer at Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids and Dan Phillips, a designer and builder working in Huntsville, Texas. DeBruyn will speak to the value of sustainable design strategies in business and education. Phillips’s current work focuses on using one social problem to solve another through his low-income housing initiative, The Phoenix Commotion.

Register at www.bmra.org. Early bird registration ends June 30.