Using Reclaimed Building Materials

The 3 Rs of green living – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle- can be easily applied to the building industry. While recycling still involves energy consumption, reuse does not. Reuse is much better because you take the material as it is and just stretch its work life. The majority of building materials take lots of energy to be manufactured. Only a few types of building materials can be recycled.

Using at least some reclaimed building materials for your green home project is a good way to reduce your carbon footprint. For example, baking a single brick will release more than 600 grams CO2 in the atmosphere. Taking the same brick that has served for decades and reusing it for a new build is a great idea. A wall built from reclaimed bricks will have near-zero grey energy (embodied energy). However, please note that some reused bricks cannot be used to build structural walls. They will be good for partition walls and other smaller objects.

Other reclaimed building materials that can be easily used include:

• Wood (check for woodworm and rot before taking anything)
• Metal (some surface rust is ok, you can always cover it with rust-paints, however check if it hasn’t rusted throughout)
• Rubble (a mixture of all sorts of materials is great for filling gaps and other groundworking procedures)
• Doors, gates, décor, architectural miscellania

The best way to find reclaimed building materials is networking. Many buildings are demolished around you, just ask people and let them know you’re looking for materials. You can also post an ad on an online classifieds board or in a newspaper. Sign up for your local Freegle newsletter and check if somebody knows of any demolition sites.

The extent to which a material can be reused is largely down to demolition workers’ approach. Taking a building down more carefully so that the bricks would preserve the shape is more time-consuming.

If you’re building a new eco-friendly house or just refurbishing your existing home to new sustainable standards, please check your local salvage yard. You will be surprised how much money you can save. To start using the map now, please visit our Architectural Salvage Yards page!