Sustainable building practices are now considered to be an essential part of modern building practices. However unlike some countries, Canadian builders and renovators are now actively seeking to include more reuse of reclaimed and salvaged materials in this sustainability trend.
 
There is now a realisation that sustainable building practices should fully consider the amount of waste that is being sent to landfill by the construction, renovation and demolition industries. In Canada it amounts to one third of the twenty million tons sent to landfill each year. This has led to what Lindsay Gurevitch, a Calgary based interior designer, says to an 'industry awakening'. So reuse is becoming a big part of Canadian renovations and the results can be seen with an increase in the sale of reclaimed building materials.
 
In 2014, Habitat's southern Alberta stores saw a 32 percent increase in customers and store manager Mike Palmer says customers are becoming more interested in materials for bigger renovation projects plus a large repurposing crowd buying everything from kitchen cabinets to flooring. This growing customer base is creating the desired result with Restores keeping 2,200 tonnes of materials out of landfill in 2014. The customers have realised they can combine being environmentally friendly and also renovate, repurpose or upcycle at a great price.
 
Designers and builders as well as homeowners have embraced the popular reclaimed look. While it is the real reclaimed or salvaged items rather than fake that have been attracting Canadian renovators to shop more at architectural salvage showrooms. Sharon Crowther, The Globe and Mail, reports that the results of this reuse design trend has led to striking feature walls, rustic flooring, unique lighting installations, vintage bathrooms and original window frames that could easily ' grace the covers of interiors magazines'. Past life has become a great selling point and customers love a unique piece of history in their own project. Interior designer, Lindsay Gurevitch supports this view having recently reused corrugated steel, metal ceiling tiles, light fixtures and wood from a 1900s cannery.
 
Architectural salvage dealer and founder of Reclaimed Trading Co. in Calgary, Kelly Kask was once a builder himself and observed both the waste and the insufficient supplies of reclaimed building materials. So now he happily supplies a complete range of building supplies like reclaimed bricks and wood. The demand is there too as his showroom has grown from a single garage to 6,000 square feet and he is now looking for an additional 10,000 square feet.
 
His appeal has partly been that he has kept his warehouse in the town centre so he can appeal to the masses. He feels the market has grown with awareness of reclaimed materials from social media like Pinterest and Instagram. The throw away society values are changing in Canada and the market for genuine reclaimed and salvaged materials is changing too.