Sep 3 2010
GreenWizard®, Inc., the largest collection of green building product data for intelligent material selection, and PlanetReuse, a consulting-and-brokering company focused on reclaimed, FSC, and excess new building materials, have formed a new alliance that makes reclaimed building materials even more accessible to architects, engineers, and contractors (AEC) focused on LEED credits and green-and-sustainable building.
Initially, PlanetReuse will list 20+ categories of reclaimed and excess new building products in GreenWizard’s database. A product specifier can request a product by category (e.g. wood, flooring, furniture, doors, etc.), and enter in their project location. With that information, the team at PlanetReuse will source the product from its regional inventory or actively search for the desired product in current demolition and salvage projects. The quality and quantity of the reclaimed products are assured by PlanetReuse.
PlanetReuse prefers to engage AEC firms, owners, and contractors during the design-and-preconstruction phases, because that’s the way to maximize LEED credits through local use, which takes advanced planning. PlanetReuse works at no cost to the design team during the design phase on projects, and its minimal brokering fee is included when materials are delivered to the new project, so PlanetReuse’s service is essentially free-of-charge. With planning, PlanetReuse clients typically obtain reused products for less than the cost of new.
“Only 6 to 8% of LEED-certified projects have ever obtained the LEED Materials Reuse credits, MRc3.1 or MRc3.2, which require that 5%-10% of materials have been installed previously,” explains Nathan Benjamin, PlanetReuse’s Principal + Founder. “We believe we can drive that number significantly higher. After all, it’s a relatively easy LEED credit to obtain when working through the process with partners like PlanetReuse and Green Wizard.”
“AEC firms are not adverse to using reclaimed materials, if they are quality- and quantity-assured,” explains GreenWizard’s Adam Bernholz. “Now, with PlanetReuse, those firms finally have a viable alternative materials source.”