No Bones About It
BoneyardNW, a new Web site, facilitates buying and selling of used construction materials

by Russell Boniface
Associate Editor

Summary: A new online marketplace called BoneyardNW offers the free selling and buying of reusable construction materials taken from renovation or demolition. Located at www.BoneyardNW.com, the site lists materials from the Portland region but is available to persons anywhere. Metro, the regional government serving the Portland area, created the public Web site to help the local construction and demolition industry increase recycling. BoneyardNW lists items such as windows, doors, flooring, and soil. Even items like old phone booths and water fountains are listed. Metro hopes that architects and builders can benefit by reusing the material listed on the site.

About 20 percent, or 250,000 tons, of waste created in the Portland area is from construction. Metro believes architects, developers, builders, and demolition experts can reuse high-quality, inexpensive salvageable materials, so it created BoneyardNW. Green building in the Northwest also spurred interest in saving material from demolition and disposal.

Making Boneyard easy to use
One caveat for using BoneyardNW is that all reusable material listed come from the Portland area. However, architects anywhere can find materials on BoneyardNW—and easily, because they are categorized using the Construction Specifications Institute’s standard industry classifications. Clicking on categories takes users to screens that offer specific lists for items, such as concrete, masonry, or metals. A seller’s contact information allows ready follow-up. For example, one seller is offering old barn wood and rough saw beams, suitable, the ad reads, for ventures like restaurants and specialty shops. Categories also include:

• Wood, Plastics, Composites
• Thermal/Moisture Protection
• Openings, Finishes, Furnishings
• Plumbing
• Electrical
• Earthworks
• Exterior Improvements, e.g., paving, plants, fences.

Throwing architects a bone
Bryce Jacobson, associate planner with Metro Solid Waste and Recycling, says Metro started developing the site about three years ago by looking at the barriers that prevented salvage. “We wanted to put a buyer and seller together in such a way that if one is not in the ‘old boy’ network he or she can still find usable commercial construction materials.

“We didn’t have $5 million for a facility. We also knew that existing avenues like Craigslist are not set up well for builders and architects. They’re good for swing sets but not for commercial contractors, so there really wasn’t a tool out there for them that worked the same. We wanted to offer everything from telephone poles to soil to heavy mass materials, plus make it easy for the industry to use. For example, the second someone posts information on, say, a door, the buyer will get an email notification.”

Making it technically easy to use was especially paramount for another reason, Jacobson explains: “We realized that we have one group, such as demolition contractors, and a second group, such as architects, builders, and developers. But there’s a difference between the two groups as far as computer-user savvy.”

Architects can bone up on LEED®
Metro wants the Portland region to achieve a state-mandated recycling rate of 64 percent by 2009. Salvaged materials can also help projects earn a certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED system.

“We didn’t emphasize so much that we are keeping things out of the landfill as opposed to emphasizing the site is a tool,” Jacobson points out. “If it helps someone with a LEED project, that’s great, but we didn’t want to preach.”

The White Stag Block rehabilitation project, located adjacent in Portland’s Old Town Historic District, is being showcased as part of the BoneYardNW launch because nearly all of its three buildings are using recycled material. It will house the University of Oregon Portland campus and is seeking LEED Gold certification.