Video Showcase: lumber innovation

Oakland, California-based Urban Machine has a high-tech plan to reclaim lumber from constrution and demolotion projects.

The process—as seen above at All Bay Mill & Lumber Co. in California—unlocks significant cost savings for the construction industry and supplies architects with a beautiful, high quality building material while also reducing the environmental impact of new construction, the company said.

The wood is sourced directly from demolition and construction sites, reducing transportation costs, and with up to 100% lumber diversion rates, there is no need to spend money trucking wood waste to the landfill. 

Annually, wood accounts for 10% of all materials in landfills, Urban Machine notes. With the tech company’s innovative approach to lumber reclamation, the company aims to sell salvaged lumber at a price

The energy used to salvage lumber is only one-tenth of that used to produce virgin lumber – truly making it a “green” building product, the company said.  

Urban Machine received funding earlier this year from Lowercarbon Capital. Shuo Yang, partner at Lowercarbon Capital said. “They’re turning a formerly abundant waste stream of wood into a fundamental resource of premium lumber, relentlessly building a team and technology, and tying it all together in a way that both heals the planet and becomes profitable.”