Gil Yaron barely contains his excitement when asked to describe his non-profit venture to convince construction companies, developers and renovation contractors to recycle tonnes of building material waste on Vancouver Island.

91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檙e the Tinder of the construction sector,91裸聊视频� he said, chuckling at the reference to the online dating application. 91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檙e the matchmaker.91裸聊视频�

Yaron said it91裸聊视频檚 not a sexy topic, enticing construction companies to keep waste materials on their projects from being sent to landfills, but he91裸聊视频檚 looking to build relationships that benefit developers and the environment.

91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 trying to connect companies directly. It91裸聊视频檚 trying to create those relationships,91裸聊视频� he said.

Recently, more than 150 development industry leaders, including those in contracting, manufacturing, demolition, deconstruction and waste management, gathered in Nanaimo and Victoria to nail down partnerships to keep waste materials in circulation and out of the dump.

The launch in November of the Building Material Exchange, abbreviated to BMEx, aims at getting the word out to the construction and development community that their project leftovers have value, said Yaron, the managing director of circulation innovation at Light House, the Vancouver-based non-profit behind the exchange.

The unique in-Canada program, funded by regional districts in Nanaimo, Cowichan Valley, Victoria and the City of Nanaimo, is free to join, he said.

In early 2025, the project will launch an online BMEx Marketplace, which will become a business-to-business platform for the construction industry to list and exchange excess or salvaged construction materials, said Yaron.

91裸聊视频淲e want to create a formal program that makes it easy for companies to exchange these materials,91裸聊视频� he said. 91裸聊视频淩ight now, materials are increasing in costs and the less efficient you are, the more you are spending on materials, and tipping fees at landfills are also going up, so the higher your waste management costs are going to be on projects.91裸聊视频�

The BMEx pitch is twofold, said Yaron.

Recycling construction materials rather than sending them to landfills saves money, while participating in the program can elevate and showcase the business as a supporter of environmental and sustainable practices, he said.

91裸聊视频淭hey can get value from doing a good thing,91裸聊视频� Yaron said.

Vancouver Island homebuilder Noah Topp said the data show benefits are both economic and environmental.

Reducing construction waste and emissions are priorities for Nexus Modular Solutions, a Cobble Hill company, located about 50 kilometres north of Victoria, that builds complete homes at an indoor warehouse facility, said Topp, who91裸聊视频檚 the business development manager at Nexus.

An average 2,000-square-foot home will create 17,460 kilograms of construction waste, but by building indoors, reducing timelines and using local suppliers to limit transportation emissions, waste is cut to 2,080 kilograms on a Nexus project, Topp said.

Total greenhouse gas emissions from a 2,000-square-foot Nexus home amounts to about 0.59 tonne, while for a traditional home build of the same size produces 7.80 tonnes of GHGs, he said.

91裸聊视频淚 think this is something that can get really big,91裸聊视频� said Topp in an interview inside the living room of one of his modular show homes. 91裸聊视频淭he construction industry 91裸聊视频� and I91裸聊视频檓 hesitant to use the word egregious 91裸聊视频� but it91裸聊视频檚 a pretty big contributor to landfill waste.91裸聊视频�

He said local artisans are using leftover wood and metal from Nexus housing builds to produce art and unique functional products, including putting together outdoor neighbourhood libraries from unused end cuts of wood.

91裸聊视频淭here91裸聊视频檚 so much potential for that symbiotic relationship between companies,91裸聊视频� Topp said. 91裸聊视频淥ne company can be both a supplier and a receiver of materials.91裸聊视频�

Yaron said up to one-third of landfill waste is connected to the construction industry.

The BMEx project has the backing of Habitat for Humanity, said Jeff Krafta, the global non-profit housing organization91裸聊视频檚 mid-Island executive director in Nanaimo, about 110 kilometres north of Victoria.

Habitat for Humanity, which operates a largely volunteer-operated store that sells and accepts donations of home products, plans to transform an empty lot on its property to a location where developers and builders can leave their waste products or pick up needed items, he said.

91裸聊视频淲hat we91裸聊视频檙e proposing right now is, through the Building Material Exchange program using some of our space here as a hub for builders, developers, people in the construction industry,91裸聊视频� said Krafta. 91裸聊视频淭here91裸聊视频檚 been lots of excitement, lots of buy in.91裸聊视频�

Habitat for Humanity is still working on details that will allow the non-profit to issue tax receipts to companies for the construction waste, he said.

91裸聊视频淲hat is going to make it unique is it91裸聊视频檚 the first official partnership and program officially designed for builders to have a direct line of sight to a place to deliver their overages and waste,91裸聊视频� Krafta said.

91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檒l take lumber, plywood. We91裸聊视频檒l take siding, cladding, sheathing, sheeting, that kind of stuff. Insulation, we91裸聊视频檒l take. We91裸聊视频檒l take windows, doors. When we have more space, masonry, cement blocks.91裸聊视频�

Construction companies are always looking for ways to cut costs, but many owners are also concerned about their environmental footprint, and finding ways to reduce costs and limit pollution will be the selling points of the exchange program, he said.

91裸聊视频淕etting rid of wires, fixtures and insulation, even pulling out fibreglass insulation and putting it off to the side, as long as it doesn91裸聊视频檛 get wet, we can package it up and it will be gone in a day here,91裸聊视频� said Krafta.

Dirk Meissner, The Canadian Press