How Recycled Building Materials Embrace History and Circularity

Chapters

00:00 Meet Kelley Lowe 

00:49 From Fine Arts to Deconstruction 

07:01 Why Building Materials, and How Re:Purpose Savannah Got Started 

10:36 A Third of the World’s Waste Is Construction and Demolition 

14:32 Why Kelley Is So Passionate About Reuse and Sustainability 

17:02 Demolition, Toxic Materials, and Environmental Justice 

18:52 How Reclaimed Lumber Reduces Greenhouse Gas Emissions 

24:29 A Typical Workday in Salvage 

30:42 How the Georgia Climate Community Can Support Deconstruction 

33:05 What’s Giving Kelley Lowe Hope

Recycled building materials, those reclaimed when a building is deconstructed rather than demolished, play an important role in reducing emissions and air pollution and uplifting communities.

It’s a topic that Kelley Lowe, Director of Salvage at Re:Purpose Savannah, is deeply passionate about. In this edition of the Georgia Climate Digest interview series, host Eriqah Vincent talks with Kelley about the path that led a fine arts major to a career in deconstruction and recycled building materials, and the many benefits of reclaiming these materials, from environmental to cultural to economic.

How Did a Fine Arts Major End Up in Deconstruction?

Kelley traces an unconventional path, from growing up abroad with State Department parents, to art school and museum object restoration, to landing at Re:Purpose Savannah during the pandemic. What drew her in was the mission: an alternative to demolition that salvages roughly 96% of a building’s usable materials, run by a team that didn’t fit the typical image of construction workers.

Why Does a Third of the World’s Waste Come from Buildings?

Kelley breaks down why construction and demolition account for such a staggering share of global waste, and why reclaimed lumber, already sequestered carbon, is one of the most sustainable building materials available. Old-growth lumber is especially valuable: it would take a second-growth forest roughly 200 years to store the same amount of carbon already locked in a century-old beam.

How Does Demolition Connect to Environmental Justice?

Kelley and Eriqah get candid about a harder truth: demolished buildings release toxic materials into air, water, and soil, and the buildings that get demolished disproportionately sit in disadvantaged communities. Deconstruction, done carefully instead of quickly, is as much an equity issue as a climate one.

What Would It Take to Get More Cities Doing This?

Kelley shares how Re:Purpose Savannah is pushing for a local ordinance that would require buildings over 50 years old to be evaluated for deconstruction before a demolition permit is issued, following the lead of Portland and five other U.S. cities already doing the same.

Whether you’re renovating a home or just curious about where old buildings go, this conversation offers a fresh, hopeful lens on what it means to build with care.

What You’ll Learn

• How Kelley’s path from fine arts and museum restoration led to a career in deconstruction.
• Why a third of the world’s waste comes from construction and demolition.
• How reclaimed and old-growth lumber compares to new lumber in embodied carbon.
• How demolition disproportionately affects disadvantaged communities.
• What a typical workday looks like in salvage, from job sites to the lumberyard to the wood shop.
• How Georgians can support deconstruction, from using reclaimed materials to backing local ordinances.
• What gives Kelley Lowe hope about climate solutions in Georgia.

Continue reading in our companion blog for additional highlights from Kelley’s conversation about recycled building materials and the growing deconstruction movement in Georgia.

Download the Interview Transcript

Prefer to read the conversation instead? Download the complete PDF transcript of this interview with Kelley Lowe to explore her insights on deconstruction, reclaimed lumber, and environmental justice.