It's environmentally sound and economically viable. So why aren't more construction companies in the deconstruction business?

"We just have to get the word out," said Ken Ortiz, regional manager of The ReUse People in Chicago. "It's somewhat new to the Midwest, and a lot of people don't yet understand it. It's an education process."

Ortiz will lead a workshop in Dubuque on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 19-20, sponsored by the Four Mounds Foundation and the Dubuque Metropolitan Area Solid Waste Agency. The workshop focuses on green-building and deconstruction practices and includes a field trip to the Roshek Building.

Ortiz is a certified specialist on deconstruction and has worked on 55 projects in the Chicago area. The ReUse People is a nonprofit organization that began in California and has spread to other metropolitan areas.

"The goal is to keep reusable construction materials out of the landfill," Ortiz said. "In our projects, we've found that 85 to 90 percent of materials are reusable."

Christine Happ Olson, Four Mounds Foundation executive director,

upcoming events
* The two-day Deconstruction Strategies for Building Professionals workshop costs $50. Registration is available at fourmounds.org or by calling Stephanie at 563-557-7292. * To make reservations for Tuesday's free Construction, Demolition, Deconstruction, Renovation dinner and workshop, call Chuck Goddard at 563-589-4250.

said the growth potential is tremendous, but building a network of sources who handle reusable and recyclable construction material is lagging.

"It takes some time to advertise and to link to people who reuse material," Olson said. "That's why we are trying to train local construction companies about the opportunities."

A goal of the Dubuque Solid Waste Agency is to significantly reduce the amount of material it is burying, not only to extend the life of the existing site, but to minimize its environmental impact.

A significant amount of construction material could be diverted to other uses.

"About 7,000 tons of material comes to the landfill each year that is related to construction and demolition," said Chuck Goddard, Solid Waste Agency administrator. "Some of that is drywall and plaster that has to go in, but about two-thirds could be pulled out. That's 5,000 tons."

At a dinner/workshop Tuesday night, Goddard will recognize six construction projects that diverted material from the landfill. Since 2003, 37 projects have reported the amount of diverted material to Goddard. He said those companies saved nearly $5 million in landfill fees.

"The old adage, time is money; just knock it down and take it to the landfill is the cheapest way, well, study after study proves it's not," Goddard said.

Ortiz said his organization has a warehouse system in Chicago where reusable materials are sold for pennies on the dollar. He also holds deconstruction-site auctions and offers building material to other nonprofits, such as Habitat for Humanity.

"There is a growing network of reuse and resale stores," Ortiz said. "But you do kind of have to hunt for them."

Ortiz said deconstruction basically is reverse construction. The last thing that goes in, such as plates over the light switches, is the first thing to come out.

He said the process requires manpower rather than machine power, and therefore creates jobs. There also are tax benefits available to property owners and municipalities.

"Usually, once I explain the benefits, people want to know why everyone isn't doing this," Ortiz said.