Used construction materials on Vancouver Island are finding second homes, thanks to a new initiative. 

In August, Vancouver-based non-profit Light House launched a free program called the Building Material Exchange (BMEx), which serves as a bridge between contractors with surplus materials and those who can reuse them. 

B次元官网网址淲e ... meet with companies and basically do a mini waste audit to determine what waste theyB次元官网网址檙e producing and then we will meet with other companies to identify what their needs are and then we match them up,B次元官网网址� said Gil Yaron, Light HouseB次元官网网址檚 managing director of circular innovation. 

Though the initiative is less than six months old, it has already fostered a handful of pairs. 

B次元官网网址淚n one case, we connected a demolition company in Victoria with a private company in Vancouver that was looking for bricks to do an interior fit-out of their new corporate offices,B次元官网网址� said Yaron. 

ReWood B次元官网网址� a volunteer-led initiative in Victoria B次元官网网址� is using lumber from construction sites to make greenhouses and planter boxes for farmers, agricultural associations and community gardens, and Chemainus-based modular home manufacturer NEXUS Modular Solutions supplied wasted wood and metal to a designer for a multimedia art project.

Connections like these help further the non-profit's goal of diverting reusable construction waste B次元官网网址� including concrete, aggregate, wood, drywall and metals B次元官网网址� from landfills.  

B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 a huge amount of valuable material that is going to waste,B次元官网网址� said Yaron. B次元官网网址淔rom an economic perspective, weB次元官网网址檙e throwing perfectly good material away.B次元官网网址� 

According to the Capital Regional DistrictB次元官网网址檚 2022 waste composition survey, 172,886 tonnes of material was thrown out in Hartland Landfill in 2021, and 13.3 per cent of that was non-wood construction and demolition waste. 

B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 a cost to expand and ultimately close and monitor landfills over time, and those come out of taxpayer dollars and/or tipping fees,B次元官网网址� added Yaron. 

In Victoria alone, salvaging and repurposing materials from demotion sites has the potential to divert 3,000 tonnes of waste from the dump every year, the city said on its website. 

So, why are construction companies throwing out reusable materials in the first place? 

B次元官网网址淐ontractors are under pressure to build quickly, and they canB次元官网网址檛 tolerate things that disrupt their building schedule,B次元官网网址� said the managing director. B次元官网网址淎nd so, making changes to the way they manage waste B次元官网网址� they see it as a potential risk in terms of impacting their schedules.B次元官网网址� 

Cost is a concern, too. 

B次元官网网址淚t currently costs less for a company to throw much of this material away than it would to divert it,B次元官网网址� added Yaron.

Reusing materials has implications beyond reducing landfill waste. 

Responsible for making and maintaining structures people rely on, from single-family homes to skyscrapers, the building and construction sector accounts for 37 per cent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, according to the UN Environment Programme.

A chunk of those emissions result from the production of building materials B次元官网网址� referred to in the industry as embodied carbon.

"Embodied carbon emissions are the emissions that come from building materials as they are extracted, processed, manufactured, transported, distributed and disposed of," said the Environmental and Energy Study Institute on its website.

According to the Washington, D.C.-based organization, reusing materials could reduce embodied carbon emissions.

In January, Light House plans to make it even easier for companies to do just that, with the launch of a platform similar to Facebook Marketplace. 

B次元官网网址淐ompanies can post materials and other companies can either procure them or receive them as a donation B次元官网网址� whatever arrangement they want to make,B次元官网网址� said Yaron. 

Also, in Nanaimo, the organization is working with Habitat for Humanity B次元官网网址� a non-profit that helps build homes for families in need B次元官网网址� to construct a hub where contractors can drop off excess or salvaged materials for buyers to procure. The facility is slated to open early in 2025.  

To date, 100 companies in the building world have registered with the program, according to Yaron. Light House is reaching out to over 300 general contractors on the Island and over 900 companies that are part of the building-material value chain. 

To learn more about BMEx, visit: .