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One construction sector is being heavily disrupted because of changing attitudes and new laws: demolition.

Builders and developers in the Portland area are being pressured to . Proponents of deconstruction (i.e., taking a structure apart with recovery of reusable materials in mind) have a host of arguments in their favor: environmental stewardship, salvage, historical considerations, public health and aesthetics. Now Portland Mayor Charlie Hales wants to make the practice the norm.

Hales’ long-term goal, according to spokeswoman Sara Hottman, is to require deconstruction for some structures 鈥� starting with houses age 100 or older. The Portland City Council on Wednesday will hear a proposal that would get the ball rolling. The potential ordinance would require deconstruction for structures built in 1916 or earlier, or if designated as historic resources.

The 1916 date was chosen because one-third of homes demolished in Portland were built before that year, and the city’s Deconstruction Advisory Group, which prepared the proposed resolution, set one-third as a target for reducing demolitions.

The DAG was established by the council last summer to devise a plan to incentivize deconstruction. Its meetings were a 鈥渓ively鈥� affair due to the diversity of the interests represented on the committee, said DAG member Stephen Reichard, who runs the .

鈥淲e ran the gamut from folks who would like every single home in Portland deconstructed to those who would like none deconstructed,鈥� he said.

Hales’ support for deconstruction is part of his larger agenda to address the negative effects of demolition, which are said to include harm to health and the environment. Another tool he’s looking at to address this is revising residential infill development standards, according to Hottman.

The group United Neighborhoods for Reform recently issued a statement declaring reluctant support for the Hales’ resolution.

鈥淲e are supporting the resolution as written,鈥� the statement reads. 鈥淗owever, we ask the (Portland City) Council to amend the resolution to compress the timeline and more quickly expand the date requirement to affect more houses.鈥�

Last year, approximately 300 single-family homes were demolished in Portland, and the mayor’s office is worried that number will rise as the economy improves.

One barrier to the advancement of deconstruction is that it typically costs between $3,000 and $6,000 more than demolition. To help, the city has offered grants to homeowners. So far, eight projects have received $25,000, and the city has applied for additional grants from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.

This is occurring at a time of drastic change in waste recovery. of the SP Fiber Technologies paper mill in Newberg in November set off a chain reaction, according to Wood. The mill burned wood 鈥� mainly treated or processed wood 鈥� for energy, and received about 85 percent of the Portland-metro area’s wood waste. Wood formerly sold for use as fuel now goes to the landfill, and the cost to dispose of treated or processed wood is significantly higher.

Andy Webber, president of Konell Construction and Demolition Corp., called it a 鈥渞eal game-changer.鈥�

鈥淲e went from being able to dispose of wood for free to paying $97 per ton for disposal,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd that just gets passed right down the line.鈥�

Webber’s business performs both deconstruction and demolition. He said many more downtown clients are now asking to keep materials like timber beams for reuse.

鈥淲e started out just doing (deconstruction) for the environmental aspect of it,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut obviously with the dump fees being what they are in Portland right now, and not being able to get rid of wood waste, I mean that’s obviously a driving factor in this.鈥�

A year ago, approximately 50 to 60 percent of a demolished house in Portland was burned as fuel, said Shawn Wood, the city’s construction waste specialist. 鈥淭oday it’s closer to 0 percent.鈥�