Ten years ago, Portland tried something new. Instead of tearing down older homes and sending their materials to the waste stream, the City began requiring some buildings to be carefully taken apart so materials could be reused. The successes of this program have inspired a nationwide movement towards saving building materials for reuse.
In 2016, Portland became the first city in the nation to adopt a residential deconstruction ordinance. The policy required houses and duplexes built in 1916 or earlier, as well as certain historic resources, to be deconstructed rather than mechanically demolished. In 2018, the City expanded the requirement to include houses and duplexes built in 1940 or earlier.
The City’s Deconstruction Program oversees the requirements and provides resources for deconstruction such as maintaining a list of certified deconstruction contractors. The program has grown from a policy into an established local industry. More than 760 buildings have been deconstructed through the residential deconstruction requirements, recovering millions of pounds of lumber and other building materials for reuse.
The program is also beginning to look beyond houses. Through a new commercial deconstruction pilot, Portland is testing how larger buildings can be carefully dismantled and how materials can be returned to use in new construction and community projects. As Portland celebrates 10 years of deconstruction, the program is looking at what has been accomplished and what could come next.