For more than a decade, Building Resources, located at 701 Amador Street, has been the only place in San Francisco to acquire used residential and commercial building and landscaping materials. The property is owned by the Port of San Francisco. When the lease with the previous management expired the City issued a request for proposal for a new organization to take over the one-acre space.
Ted Reiff and Michael Chambers seized the opportunity to expand their construction recycling activities. Together, they formed a nonprofit entity, Building Resources of San Francisco, which won the RFP. They’re now working with James Slattery, at the San Francisco Department of the Environment, to navigate the process of occupying the site, including taking control over all previously donated materials.
Reiff first discovered the value of recycled building materials in 1993 when he helped coordinate Project Valle Verde, which collected 400 tons of donations valued at $1.2 million from contractors, public agencies, and private citizens in the San Diego area for flood victims in Tijuana, Mexico. The success of that effort inspired Reiff to continue the work as a nonprofit business. Two years and several name changes later, the Reuse People was up and running in San Diego. They now have locations in eight states, with three sites in California, including the corporate headquarters in Oakland.
Since then, Reuse People has deconstructed, rather than demolished, more than 4,000 houses, diverting 400,000 tons of material away from landfills. They’ve trained hundreds of workers in the deconstruction process through a 14 day-program developed with funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Products Laboratory. Graduates receive a certificate of completion.
Among Reuse People’s more interesting projects was salvage of interior materials from 618 U.S. Navy apartment units and deconstruction of the massive freeway set built at the Naval Air Station in Alameda for the chase scene in The Matrix Reloaded. Reif called that job “a real kick.”
Because all materials at Building Resources of San Francisco are donated, Reiff compared the operation to a thrift store.
“Only it’s not books and clothing, it’s strictly building material,” he said. “Which is a real benefit to people like first time home buyers, who need something but can’t afford to go to Lowe’s or Home Depot and buy it new.”
As a nonprofit, they can provide tax-deductible receipts to donors. With advance notice, pickup service is available for larger, pre-approved loads.
Besides processing donations, Building Resources of San Francisco will offer training programs in the deconstruction process, as well as classes on basic household projects such as how to repair a broken toilet or install a kitchen sink.
Reiff plans to increase the covered storage area at the site, which is located near Pier 90, through use of shipping containers. Reiff estimates that only 3,000 square feet of the 40,000 square foot total is covered. “And that’s just not good for most building material,” Reiff said. “Lumber can stand it, but lighting fixtures and cabinetry cannot.”
Building Resources of San Francisco’s Executive Director Michael Chambers met Reiff in 2006, when he served as the financial auditor to the Reuse People. He became more directly involved thanks to being “a frustrated carpenter.” “I’ve remodeled a few homes on my own, so it was already a kind of hobby.”
Chambers grew up in Palo Alto, where his father worked on construction projects, taking everything to the landfill, memories that prompted him to want to reduce the waste stream. “Not just from a moral standpoint, but with the understanding that the more you do something, the cheaper it gets.” He pointed to how the first LCD TVs cost $8,000. “Today you can get one for $299. The same thing is true with recycling and reusing.”
In addition to classes, Chambers said there are plans to attract more local artists to the space.
“We’re shooting for October to get the ball rolling on that,” he said, adding that they’re talking to several Potrero Hill artists.
Besides building materials, Chambers said they accept donations of any kind.
“We’re looking for property, for vehicles, for cash, and we can always use volunteers to organize and clean-up.”
Chambers and Reiff hope to have an opening ceremony sometime in September.
Jessica Zimmer 
Alina Ferguson