Now Blogging - Dave's Blog (see our news page)
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RE-USE NEWS: Top Stories:

1-15-12 Best of 2011:

BEST OF 2011
Hello all and Happy New Year!

RE-USE Consulting had a great year in 2011 and we hope you did as well.

*Here was our year by the numbers:*
9,000,000+: The approximate population of Cook County, IL where we did a lot of training
and deconstruction was a priority for the Dept. of Environment in 2011
175,000: Number of work hours planned for the City of Chicago's decon
training program - RE-USE designed/manage it and wrapped up our work in 2011
42,500: The size (sq. ft.) of the largest building we helped deconstruct this year
10,000: The approximate number of volunteer hours Lou, the Board, and volunteers of the Evanston Rebuilding Warehouse have put into starting that non-profit in 2011
400: Buildings surveyed for deconstruction potential/studies/salvage/etc.
130+: Green-collar workers trained using our Deconstruction 101 training
curriculum or in hybrid deconstruction techniques
41: The number of States we have consulted in (and 3 Provinces)
26: Buildings deconstructed (16 others salvaged)
8: New deconstruction companies started (2 stores opened)
2: Cool jobsites in King County, WA- one a house to deconstruct, the other a County Park using excess shipping containers and salvaged materials from the house to create park cabins
________________________________________________________________
1 mission - To make building deconstruction a mainstream choice for building
removal and to ‘Build Up An Industry That Takes Down Buildings’


*Best of 2011: RE-USE Consulting's top 10 highlights:*

1. Taking down a 12,500 sq. ft. building with my son
2. Scooter practice in the alley behind Sarasota Architectural Salvage
(first time ever riding prior to the 2011 mile journey across 15 States visiting RE-USE clients)
3. Getting to meet and talk to all of my students in 2011!
4. Helping with the crane work at Reuse Action’s 4 story factory building
5. Buying a bicycle instead of renting a rental car for out-of-state consulting work
6. Arriving at the Decon ’11 conference 15 minutes late after riding a scooter 2011 miles to get there
7. Co-hosting the Chicagoland Deconstruction Networking Event
8. Going to the City of Niagara Falls and NOT visiting/seeing the waterfalls. (Still rethinking that one)
9. Couch surfing for 2.5 weeks to save clients money (and getting home-cooked
meals for my trouble!)
10. Meeting with and talking deconstruction with Senator Maria Cantwell

*Other news from 2011:*
-Reuse/decon article in the national magazine, Qualified Remodeler
-Interviewed by NBC Chicago in front of their downtown studios on America Recycles Day
-Interviewed by BBC Radio – London
-Home town went 228 days in a row with temps under 70 degrees
-Hometown paper published a nice article about RE-USE Consulting
-Said good-bye to the Reuse Center in MN.
-Said hello to the Evanston Rebuilding Warehouse

Thanks to everyone who contributed to our great year. We feel like we are
moving the deconstruction industry in the right direction and can't wait to help
start North America's largest decon company in 2012 if the funding comes through!
We are really excited about our upcoming training operations in Canada and look
forward to a new set of challenges related to those projects. If times are tough for you right
now, hold on and let us know what is up and how we can help. Hope you will all ‘like’ our
Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Re-Use-Consulting/168260119870367.




12-11-11

RE-USE was featured in an article in the national magazine, Qualified Remodeler (click here)
Interested in training or finding out more about our reusable building materials industry? Just pick up the phone and give us a call at
360.201-6977


11-11-11
RE-USE turns down rental car from client, buys bicycle instead, then donates it to a family in need
click HERE for details

11-8-11
4-Story building deconstructed with Reuse Action
Fortunately, the $1000/day crane was barely able to reach!  On to the next job, a....two-car garage!



1-1-11
ATTENTION All Green Builders:
Please, stop gluing buildings together and using spray foam insulation that cannot be removed!  You are designing waste into your structures.  You are eliminating future jobs and subsidizing the landfill!


10-10-11
300 buildings assessed for deconstruction in the last 30 days
We were hired to assess 300 buildings for deconstruction and found that some would be worth it and some would not.  We determined that not every building in the world should be deconstructed.  There, I said it, ok?  We need to use our limited deconstruction crews to focus on the better buildings and better materials... 

9-12-11
Creating more reuse jobs
We just hired two new reuse workers for our client's new reuse business!  That felt good...

8-29-11
Hybrid Deconstruction Lab
Occasionally, we put ourselves in a difficult situation with a plan of fighting our way out of it.  Our August building, a 12,500 sq ft structure, was an example of this.  The project was taken on with only two people on the crew so that we would have to rely on our existing hybrid deconstruction techniques and create a few new ones too.  It is projects like this that move us and the reuse industry forward.   


6-3-11 BBC Radio - London
Interview with Dave Bennink, RE-USE Consulting
(While Dave was at SeaTac airport hiding in a corner from jet noise...)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9peqjGvxnAE

5-30-11 RE-USE Consulting is planning regional efforts to promote building material reuse
We will launch the first of these in the Chicago area soon.  What we need are more people buying reusable materials and more people requesting deconstruction instead of settling for demolition.
IF YOU HAVE A PROJECT IN THE CHICAGOLAND AREA PLEASE CONTACT US!


5-16-11 Dave Bennink's scooter trip ends at 2000.1 miles at the Decon '11 conference in New Haven, CT.
Dave visited groups from Florida to Vermont.
We hope that we can continue to provide them assistance for their reuse efforts. Images coming soon or on Facebook:
 http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Re-Use-Consulting/168260119870367


5-11 Dave Bennink's 2000 mile scooter tour is underway! (5-5-11)
Thanks to our sponsors:
Action Wheelsports, St. Pete, FL
Sarasota Architectural Salvage, Sarasota, FL
Urban Miners, Hamden, CT
Meeting with EPA Atlanta is coming up soon...

4-11 RE-USE planning pro-bono consulting tour to help the building deconstruction industry in the Southeast and East Coast
Imagine buying a scooter over the internet, flying to Tampa to pick it up, and riding that motorcycle wannabe 2000 miles, stopping along the way to help struggling and new deconstruction and reuse businesses.  I know, time to grow up Dave - right? 

We are calling it the 'Road to Decon '11 Tour' because it begins in Sarasota, Florida, heads north to Vermont, and ends at the National Decon conference, Decon '11, in New Haven, CT.



Each group that we help along the way will be interviewed and each problem we encounter we be laid out on Facebook for your viewing enjoyment. Please follow and 'like' it by clicking the following:
 Moped Tour

3-11 RE-USE Consulting asked to speak at the national deconstruction conference
The Building Materials Reuse Assoc. is holding the Decon '11 conference on Yale's campus in May.  We are speaking and helping organize the exhibitors.  We are looking for all kinds of exhibitors, so if you are interested contact us at dave@bmra.org or check out this FLYER



 2-11 RE-USE to help the second largest County in the USA start a deconstruction program
We will be bringing a customized version of our basic training class to Cook County, IL to train and create green collar jobs for 60 individuals and contractors in the local area, helping the local group the Delta Institute complete the task.  

1-11   2011 is filling up

RE-USE Consulting will be speaking twice at the Decon '11 conference, has 12 buildings set for deconstruction, and is scheduled to train over 120 people, creating green-collar jobs across the USA and Canada.  We taught a great group of workers with barriers to employment this month where all had a work-ready attitude and graduated from the class, and we hope for the best for them as they begin to search for jobs.

12-10 What decon ever happens in December?

RE-USE Consulting helping Iowa training program get off the ground
RE-USE in Canada: Two Canadian decon pilot projects ready to start
BMRA tool expo coming to Decon '11 - contact us for details!
RE-USE starts its Rebuilt Shed Project, an effort to make
 a shed completely out of the parts from a larger building
 

11-10 New Training About to Begin
We are now working with Cook County and Delta to train contractors on deconstruction with the hope that they will hire deconstruction workers, including our Chicago Decon training program graduates! 
Best wishes to Lou Dickson at her new business, the Evanston Rebuilding Center in Evanston, IL


10-10 The Award for Greenest City in the World Goes to....?
 
RE-USE Consulting is now helping the City of Vancouver, British Columbia with their efforts to become the greenest city in the world by 2020!

9-10 Not all news is bad news
 RE-USE Consulting has been covered by a number of news networks this year including:

NPR, MSNBC, CNBC, and more!

We hope to continue to promote the building material reuse industry through opportunities like these!


See you at the Reuse Alliance's conference in October, www.reusealliance.org



8-10 One long road trip
This summer, we traveled 11 out of 12 weeks, training and taking buildings down.  We worked on 10 buildings, conducted decon studies, held meetings and made presentations in what was one of our most productive summer seasons.

7-10 RE-USE in the news
Note: We are aware that this page is way too long and a bad idea.  Please stop writing and blogging about this point.  It remains at the bottom of our do-to list.

Note: We are aware that our website has a
 'RE-USE in the News' page.  Please stop writing and/or blogging about this point.  It is important that we self-promote ourselves and yes, we do click on the links daily just to increase the hits. 
1. USA Today spells Dave Bennink's name wrong:
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2010/06/home-recycling/1
2. Pop City spells Dave Bennink's name right:
http://www.popcitymedia.com/features/deconstruction061610.aspx
3. The Root covers one of our ex-offender jobs:
http://www.theroot.com/views/jobs-ex-offenders-green-economy
4. RE-USE creates job training program for City of Chicago - will employee 140 trainees and 160 overall:
http://mayor.cityofchicago.org/mayor/en/press_room/press_releases/2010/march_2010/0311_ex_offenders.html
5. RE-USE to help deconstruct building - materials to be provided to other historical presevation project :
http://everett.komonews.com/content/port-votes-deconstruct-collins-building




6-10 Top Ten Reasons To Deconstruct (in no order)

• Create jobs in your community
• Save the environment!
• Decrease imported oil - decon saves energy 
• Reduce harvesting of natural resources
• Preserve historical architectural elements
• Two words: L.E.E.D. points
• Work force development
• Helping low-income homeowners
• Ex-offenders back to work=less crime
• Deconstruct buildings, work hard, lose weight