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November 2025: Sustainable Design for Uncertain Futures: Dialogues on Time-Based Architecture
November 3rd, 2025
In this talk Joshua Lee and Joseph Murray present their new book, Sustainable Design for Uncertain Futures: Dialogues on Time-Based Architecture. Their work introduces readers to 14 time-based design strategies through a series of dialogues between leading experts, including two of CR0WD’s founders, Jenni Minner and Felix Heisel. A total of 15 leading practitioners and researchers participated in the dialogues on topics that include adaptive reuse, the circular economy, preservation, repair and design for disassembly and reuse. Each dialogue offers key insights into how these strategies work in practice and where they might be used in combination. By presenting these strategies through dialogue, the editors demonstrate the collaborative thinking needed to address growing uncertainty in the built environment and provide a framework to consider the technical and management approaches that emerged.
June 2025: The Greenest Building is the One Already Built
June 2nd, 2025
Historic Ithaca and Significant Elements, its architectural salvage store, demonstrate everyday that maintaining, repairing and preserving our buildings all play key roles in the circular construction economy. Come learn how their preservation focus, advocacy and outreach are creating a more sustainable built environment in Tompkins County and throughout NYS.
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Join us to hear more about how Historic Ithaca and Significant Elements staff work to promote circularity in our region.
May 2025: Students in the CR0WD
May 5th, 2025
This project, led by an outstanding group of student leaders, and supported by the Just Places Lab and Dr. Jennifer Minner’s Circular Cities and Research to Action course, has guided two cohorts of Binghamton and Vestal area high school students in conducting community-based circularity research. This effort will continue with a third cohort of high school and university students in Fall 2025.
This CR0WD Conversation may be of particular interest to university students, educators, and high school students interested in circularity, preservation, reuse, sustainability, and innovative education partnerships.
Auburn Deconstruction Resolution: One Year Later
April 7th, 2025
In May 2024, the City of Auburn became the first municipality in New York State to pass a deconstruction resolution – adopted unanimously by the City Council. What changes have residents seen over the past year as a result?
Join Auburn, NY, resident Dominic Gambaini, CR0WD partner and founder of Cayuga Climate Action. Dominic played an integral part in the resolution’s passage and consistently advocates for reuse and a circular economy.
NYS White Paper Launch: Constructing a Circular Economy through Deconstruction
October 7th, 2024
Deconstruction and building material reuse represent a $1.4 billion opportunity in New York State. Join us for the launch of a groundbreaking white paper that quantifies the enormous potential of the circular construction economy in New York State and beyond. Speakers from the White Paper Project Team will share highlights from the research and recommendations.
Students in the CR0WD
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May 6th, 2024
Three Cornell University students, including two set to graduate in May, share their final research projects related to creating a circular building economy. Featuring Shivani Aysola (The Dilemma of Debris: A Grounded Analysis of Construction & Demolition Waste in Bangalore) and Kai Foti and Annie Stewart (Where Buildings Go to Die: A Storymap of New York State Waste Sites).
Denny's: The Story of an Unlikely Deconstruction Project
April 1st, 2024
Building off past experiences in a reuse facility in Illinois, Auburn, NY, resident and climate activist Dominic Gambaini inquired about a deconstruction of a soon-to-be demolished Denny’s in Auburn. When his request was randomly granted, Dominic and Cayuga Climate Action found themselves as local advocates for deconstruction and building materials reuse.
Planting Innovation at the Dynamic Learning Center
March 4th, 2024
Cultivating a greener future, Cornell University Cooperative Extension Nassau County fosters dynamic partnerships that empower hands-on learning and sustainable solutions. Learn how a partnership between CCE Nassau County, Covanta, H2M and Healthy Aging LLC is creating a learning center on Long Island from shipping containers and reclaimed materials.
Design with Impact:
Sustainable design through local wood supply chains in the Northeast
December 4th, 2023
Brooklyn-based Tri-Lox is a design, custome fabrication and millwork practice that works with regional, sustainable wood. Join us as we hear more about their mission to source and work with wood in ways that support forests and communities. Learn about their process, research, regional supply chains and how they define "sustainable wood."
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Empire State Development: Supporting a Circular Building Economy
November 6th, 2023
Hear how Empire State Development (ESD) is supporting a circular building economy in New York State through funding programs and the relevance of this work to NYS's climate goals from ESD's very own Rebecca Miller and Jamie Ethier.
Finger Lakes ReUse: The Case for Hubs and Spokes
October 3rd, 2023
Diane, the founder of Finger Lakes ReUse, brings over 20 years of expertise in salvage, reuse, and fair workforce development to her vision for a statewide building material marketplace. In this Cr0wd Conversation, she shares her ideas of creating a New York State hub-and-spoke exchange for building materials.
Baltimore's Deconstruction Ordinance
March 3, 2023
Steph Compton of Energy Justice Network shares her work on creating a deconstruction ordinance in Baltimore, MD. Steph is a zero waste expert, accredited through Zero Waste USA and is a TRUE Advisor. In Baltimore, she's spearheading a local deconstruction ordinance and organizing community events to educate on zero waste policies, programs and infrastructure.
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Building Collaboration: A Case Study from Ithaca, NY
February 6, 2023
In Jan 2022, 11 old buildings in Ithaca, NY, were set to be demolished for the Catherine Commons project. However, the Cornell Circular Construction Lab, along with community organizations and the Building Deconstruction Institute convinced the developer to deconstruct one of the buildings instead. This unique project allows for a comparison of demolition and deconstruction processes on similar buildings in the same economic setting.
Benefitting from Building Deconstruction
December 5, 2022
The City of Portland, Oregon, adopted its ground-breaking deconstruction requirement in 2016. What was initially viewed as an experiment has since become a model policy and inspiration for other municipalities in North America. Having overseen the development, implementation, and evolution of Portland’s deconstruction efforts, Shawn Wood will share outcomes and lessons from the past six years.
San Antonio's Path to a Deconstruction Ordinance
November 7, 2022
On September 8, 2022, San Antonio became the largest city in the US to adopt a deconstruction ordinance, and the first major city to develop one administered by a Historic Preservation office. This presentation will highlight how aligning stakeholders in climate action, affordable housing, historic preservation, real estate and development, innovation, workforce training, and public health can affect transformative, place-based policy change.