Vermont Nonprofit Receives EPA Grant

The Vermont not for profit will develop a national train-the-trainer program for building deconstruction and the use of reclaimed building materials in new residential construction. The partnership brings together a committed group of "Building Materials Reuse" professionals and draws from more than 10 years of experience in this emerging field.

"This grant will help support and encourage deconstruction and materials reuse, providing environmental benefits by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from landfills and reducing energy and resource consumption by extracting resources from old building materials," said Robert Varney, regional administrator of EPA's New England Office.

The project partners ReCycle North, Habitat for Humanity, Penn State University's Building Materials Reuse Association and Yestermorrow Design/Build School will develop a curriculum and present two workshops in April 2006 in the Burlington area.

The workshops will include a combination of classroom instruction and actual "deconstruction" of local buildings to demonstrate the value of reusable materials and to give participants hands on-experience of the "deconstruction experience." The class will also visit ReCycle North's Building Materials Center, a retail store that sells salvaged and donated building materials.

EPA has estimated that 92 percent of the 136 million tons of building-related construction and demolition waste is generated in this country each year is from renovation and demolition activities with about 20 to 30 percent reused or recycled. The goal of this pilot is to develop a formal training program that can be transferred to other accredited educational organizations, such as community colleges, trade schools, and union apprentice programs. Currently there is no single source educational program for building deconstruction and materials reuse.

ReCycle North's professional crew deconstructs buildings slated for demolition and salvages reusable materials to be sold at the Building Materials Center located in Burlington. ReCycle North's fees for deconstructing buildings are often less than the cost of demolition because ReCycle North salvages and reuses almost all materials from buildings, reducing disposal costs. Building owners can also receive significant tax benefits for donating materials to a nonprofit organization.