Building a Greater Los Angeles: Happy Anniversary to Habitat for Humanity of Greater L.A. ReStores!

Sustainability succeeds when we work together. Over the years, Ecovations, a local design and building company specializing in eco-renovations, has had the privilege of working with Habitat for Humanity of Greater L.A.’s (HFH GLA) ReStores on a series of projects. From reclaiming windows and doors to donating materials from construction sites, we have used the HFH GLA ReStores on nearly all of our projects.

Ecovations works on a wide range of projects and provides design, consulting and building services that aim to create zero impact industries through healthy, valuable and smart buildings with sustainable operations strategies that benefit us all. Ecovations will remodel, design and build what you need in the most eco-friendly methods possible.

In addition to our residential clients, we are working on renovating MUSE School, a pre-K through 8th grade school in Calabasas Canyon. As with many of our projects, the HFH GLA ReStores are a go to stop for finding materials and donating our materials. For this particular project, we salvaged windows from the HFH GLA ReStores and donated a variety of material. By being our partner, HFH GLA ReStores are helping MUSE become one of the greenest campuses and, as such, a model for sustainable design nationwide. It is important to us that we design with health, functionality and sustainability in mind at all times.

When you tour around campus you will see repurposing around every corner. One of our favorite repurpose projects are our reclaimed benches. If you take a stroll behind the main lodge at MUSE, you may notice the eco elegant amphitheater. The amphitheater is located directly under California Oak trees and it was imperative that we design the space and seating in such a way that would not damage the trees or the root system. As we looked around site for materials, we were drawn to the old bunk beds from the camp that we found in storage. We thought, “Those would make great seating for the amphitheater!” We took the material from the beds and restructured it with reclaimed wood from old buildings on campus to bring the new seating you see today! As we looked a bit deeper into history, it turns out that the bunks were US Army bunks from WWII from the 1930s!

What one may consider a challenge, the HFH GLA ReStores help us make into an adventure. The former summer camp structures were excellent sources of wood and material to build things like fences and bookshelves around campus and the ReStores were a great place to go for additional material and inspiration. During construction, we were also sure to keep the campus a zero waste construction zone by donating materials to local non-profits, like the HFH GLA ReStores. Our goal is to continue to divert 100% of construction waste from landfills, operate with the highest possible energy efficiency, construct zero-net energy buildings and to construct zero-emissions buildings that have no carbon footprint.

From cleaning products to paints, having a local supplier of green materials has been a great option. So often, green options are only available online and it is great to know that there are organizations like the HFH GLA ReStores in town that can help us out directly with our needs. We also love supporting local businesses because we feel that being sustainable isn't just about buying a non-toxic item or a used material, but it is also about supporting the local economy.