Building Value Moves to the Northside Community

Building Value, a nonprofit building materials re-use enterprise, officially relocated to its Northside location after its expansion into full-structure deconstruction required more space.

Building Value celebrated its move with a Grand Opening event, which was held today at 10 a.m. City Councilman Greg Harris read a proclamation signed by Mayor Mallory that officially pronounced Saturday, November 14 as “Building Value” Day in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Jerry Janszen, director of Building Value, welcomed the crowd and commemorated the relocation with a ceremonial de-nailing, or removing of nails, from a piece of lumber that had been salvaged from a deconstructed building. Janszen said the de-nailing replaced a traditional ribbon-cutting ceremony and described the common task for Building Value trainees as symbolic of what Building Value does – making something old, new again.

“We give quality building materials a second life,” Janszen said. “Instead of shipping items off to a landfill, we salvage them and allow people to take them home to use and enjoy.”

Items found in the Building Value retail outlet vary from the very large to the very small. The store is stocked with full kitchen cabinet sets, fireplace mantels, doors, windows, bath tubs, doorknobs, nails and screws. Items are sold for up to 75 percent below retail cost, and inventory changes daily.

“We’re a go-to resource for people of all kinds – DIYers, homeowners, artists, landowners, you name it,” Janszen said.

Building Value’s new location at 4040 Spring Grove Ave. boasts additional parking, outside storage space, and 23,000 square feet of retail space, up from 16,000 square feet at its former location on Gilbert Avenue. The additional space will be used to house and display salvaged materials from its full-structure deconstruction, a capability the enterprise added in May 2009 that allows them to salvage 60 to 90 percent of a building for re-use or recycling.

“Right now we’re only a few months into it, and we’ve already hit our goal of completing seven full-structure deconstruction projects,” Janszen said. “Now we’re aiming for four more and going strong. This new building allows us to expand opportunities for employment.”

Building Value provides on-the-job training opportunities in construction and retail to individuals with workplace disadvantages and disabilities. Employing approximately 25 people, Building Value offers training opportunities to retail and deconstruction employees and to individuals participating in Easter Seals WRC work adjustment and training programs.

The enterprise expects to see an increased interest in its deconstruction services and retail outlet as green building becomes more popular. With the U.S. Green Building Council predicting the industry to generate 7.9 million jobs within the next four years, Building Value stands eager to increase the number of trainees it’s able to take on.

“We’re lucky to have this new space so that we can expand our services and touch the lives of even more individuals with our hands-on experience and employment services,” Janszen said.