d-build: deconstruct design develop

Rob Englert and Grant Meacham are in the process of developing a new method of cataloging and distributing reclaimed materials in an effort to promote the benefits of their use in new constructions and products. To do so, they are creating a website called D-Build, which will be both a blog and an online marketplace that sells material from dismantled houses and the products made from them, while illuminating some of the material's cultural history.

This will be done by carefully cataloging a house as it is dismantled, taking note of historical information alongside dimensional data, which will be uploaded to a central database. Additionally, each home will be scanned, preserving buildings that might otherwise have no blueprints or other documented history. Then, all of this information will be linked to the online marketplace, so buyers can access an information-rich history of the materials they are browsing.

D-build is currently being prototyped, but you can check out their demo in the video above. The website will first focus on Syracuse, launching at the grand opening of the new Syracuse Center of Excellence Headquarters in December. It looks like this will be the first house to be taken apart and cataloged:

via Core 77