Innovative, Upcycled, Non-Wood Building Materials To House Our Homeless Population

 April 27, 2022

Innovative, Upcycled, Non-Wood Building Materials To House Our Homeless Population

As Portland faces a rising homeless population, creating sustainable, cost-effective building materials to help all have the shelter they deserve has taken center stage in the people of Portland's hearts. Innovative, low-priced and sustainable materials are needed to build these shelters. But what materials should we use? Wood? Wood DOES seem to drive our nation; we see it everywhere from in the building of most structures to paper products we can't seem to live without (2020 Toilet Paper Panic and Shortage, anyone?). Yet we all know the steep and rising costs of lumber lately; this, combined with many of us seeking eco-friendly alternatives to wood, has led to some rather innovative alternatives. As a Green City and whose people care for all of our citizens, Portlanders want to find these lower-cost, eco-friendly building materials to in our attempt to ensure no one is left out in the cold on the streets. 

Enter ACRE sheets. ACRE is a wood alternative that is water-resistant, strong, and guaranteed not to crack or splinter. It is made of upcycled rice hulls, making ACRE very eco-friendly, both in terms of cutting less trees down and in upcycling goods that are already being used. ACRE is also visually appealing, which promotes pride in one's surroundings, leading to higher levels of confidence overall. 

If you or someone you know is interested in this great product that is beneficial for our environment and for building, please visit https://modern-mill.com/sheets/ for more information on how you can help save the environment one sustainable sheet at a time.

-- Donnelle Clark

Building Material's Impact on the Environment

In light of the class project for this quarter wanted to share some of the information I’ve been learning about in regards to building materials and their relation to the environment specifically. Hopefully, this information will present itself as useful, or spark other ideas for the class.

My first step was to research and become more familiar with the impact building materials have on the environment. According to U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), buildings (and structures) account for an average of 41% of the entire world’s energy use, out consuming the industrial industry and transportation.  Benefits of Green Building | U.S. Green Building Council (usgbc.org)  

When buildings are renovated or demolished the vast majority of those materials are driven to landfills or incinerators. Neither is a great solution for the environment. And More than 75% of all construction waste from wood, drywall, asphalt shingles, bricks, and clay tiles ends up in landfills. EPA) This got me thinking about finding a way to buy the usable materials from demolition, renovation, and building sites and recycling it for shelters for houseless communities. Potentially the money those building companies could save to not have to haul and pay for the materials to be discarded themselves would be enough for them to be donated or sold at a very low cost? Some of these building materials include wood, metal, plastics, and bricks. (image to the right is from 23 Construction Waste Statistics | BigRentz) 

My next step will be to look at existing companies that recycle building materials to see how viable of an option this is. More to come later. 

Sara (they/she)