A non-green builder uses the stores are their storage house. When they need something they go to the store and buy exactly what they need.
But a Brooklyn green builder gets their material from dumpsters, other job sites, fellow contractors, and the street. You never know what you will get or how much. And it usually isn’t pretty when you get it. For example the salvaged cinder blocks below. Or the salvaged wood next to them. Or the pile of salvaged stone.
This is a photo of one of our jobs. It looks more like a junk yard than a construction site. It is ugly. This is one of the issues with green building construction sites. It is not as “perfect” visually. Not that I mind. But if you don’t understand it you might simply think it is a sloppy job site.
On the contrary. It is a very conscientious job site. We think hard about the materials. But you wouldn’t notice that in passing. I just looks like a mess of junk.
A Brooklyn green builder has to be their own store house. With time we will have a large ware house to store all the stuff. In the long run it pays off to store it. The landfill is better for it, the materials are given a new life and often the quality is better.
Also what is saved in material costs can be passed on to more worker wages.