City of Eugene waste‑prevention staff urged a committee to support a building‑code change that would create a clear, objective path for salvage lumber to be used safely in construction, potentially reducing construction‑and‑demolition waste and adding a material‑stream choice for owners and builders.

Gary (last name not specified), who identified herself as working on the city’s waste‑prevention team, said the proposed code language was developed with input from industry groups and has been vetted by the American Wood Council, the National Association of Home Builders, the National Council of Structural Engineering Associations and the American Lumber Standard Committee. "Our code change proposal is to specifically include salvage lumber," she said, and emphasized the measure is intended as a choice for builders rather than a mandate.

Gary described a local pilot project (77 Garfield) in which a 150‑year‑old building was deconstructed to recover lumber, and she cited recent Oregon Department of Environmental Quality landfill‑composition work showing roughly 16% of the construction and demolition wood stream in the county is reusable. She said Portland has received a DEQ ‘Reduce, Reuse, Reimagine’ grant and is working with the OSU Lumber Lab to test reclaimed boards; she asked the committee to consider how Eugene might collaborate or run complementary pilots.

Commissioners asked about denailing and grading capacity, automation and whether AI‑assisted denailing or visual‑grading apps could scale reuse. Gary pointed to Urban Machine’s recent AI denailing work (a vendor example), Cornell University’s circular‑economy lab developing a handheld, low‑energy AI grading app, and ongoing industry efforts to make denailing and grading more practical and cost‑effective. She said the city has not pursued a local ordinance and instead hopes clear code language will allow market actors to adopt salvage lumber where feasible.

On next steps, Gary said the proposal could go to a vote in April at the International Code Council committee-level process; if the proposal and subsequent jurisdictional votes are successful, salvage lumber language could appear in the 2027 International Building Code and International Residential Code. She also said she plans outreach to AIA contacts in Salem and to industry partners to broaden coalition support.

The committee thanked staff for the presentation; staff offered to share slides and recordings and suggested follow‑up conversation on outstanding Google‑Doc questions at the next meeting.