Westport teen creates organization to repurpose home building materials in deconstructions

WESTPORT – Growing up on building projects, Oliver Vynerib, 17, saw how many of the materials ended up in the landfill on renovations or demolitions.

He knew some of those items still had purpose though – including doors, windows, cabinets and vanities. So he created his organization HomeCycle CT in 2023, which links organizations together on sustainable deconstruction finding a new home for some of the items that would have been discarded during renovations or knock downs.

Vynerib, a Staples High School senior, said his father David Vynerib, a home builder would bring him to some of his and other builders’ projects where he notably saw how much home materials were going to waste, which motivated him to do something about it. Up to 20 to 25% of home materials can be reused, he added.

“The main goal is just to promote better sustainable building practices, promote sustainability in general,” Vynerib said. “We’re in world obviously where there’s some people who are trying to protect the environment but we’re in a recent surge where people are taking notice of the environmental issues.”

He said HomeCycle creates a bridge between those in home building looking to get rid of or donate materials with organizations that want to take it in.

HomeCycle, which is currently just him working for free, was able to salvage $1.5 million worth of home materials in about seven residences in Fairfield County including Westport, Fairfield and Greenwich that would’ve otherwise been discarded.

Westport First Selectwoman Jen Tooker recently presented a Westport Green Building Award to Vynerib from Sustainable Westport for demonstrating sustainable deconstruction for recent projects he worked on at 5 Sycamore Drive and 159 Easton Road.

Sustainable Westport Green Building Awards Chair Kristen Butts said applicants usually submit specific projects for the award, usually residences or business. Vynerib submitted two buildings he orchestrated the deconstruction for, which is the process of removing items that can be used elsewhere.

“We were more impressed with Oliver himself than the specific building,” Butts said. “It’s the first award that we’ve actually given to a person over an address basically. We were impressed with the effort that he’s making to reach out to home builders and owners to just spread the word about deconstruction.”

Vynerib will give a presentation to builders and interested residents in Westport on Wednesday at 4 p.m. on Wednesday at 180 Saugatuck Ave. He will discuss what his organization does, the general mission and how people can get involved regarding deconstruction and the environmental and economic benefits.

He said his and HomeCycle’s role is to communicate and reach out as the middle-man between donors, builders and organizations. Besides helping the environment, there is an incentive with a tax deduction for people involved with sustainable deconstruction.

He said the two buildings being recognized with the Sustainable Westport award results in salvaging $400,000 of materials and the donor saved $160,000 in taxes.

“The tax savings are crazy,” Vynerib said.

He said the tax deduction is a big part for why people might do this on their projects.

Vynerib said he’s only worked with one company who removes items for deconstruction, Second Chance, a nonprofit out of Baltimore, MD that salvages materials to be reused. The organization hires and trains unemployed people in several areas including in deconstruction, salvage, warehousing, retail and operations, according to the organization’s website.

He used Second Chance as an example for the process. Generally an appraiser comes in and determines the value of the materials, which in turn determines the tax deduction based on the tax bracket the builders are working in. The cost of the nonprofit’s services to remove the items is also factored out, but because it’s a nonprofit, the donor will generally get some more back in savings.

Vynerib said he’ll mainly communicate with home builders because it’s easier to build a relationship with homeowners who typically care more about saving $50,000 for themselves rather than a big corporation with a building.

He usually works with Habitat for Humanity for Fairfield County, which will just come and pick up all the items. Habitat does it for free and and will resell items at their ReStores where the profits go back into the nonprofit.

“I’m just making the connection saying rather hey, don’t throw this stuff out,” Vynerib said. “Come and just give it to us for a good cause.”

Vynerib said Habitat also accepts furniture, in addition to building materials. Habitat for Humanity will also pick that up at people’s homes for free and bring it back to their stores to sell.

“With these renovations and donations, the stuff that you’re actually donating is still tax deductible,” Vynerib said. “Whenever you’re donating, it’s always tax deductible.”

Vynerib said he plans to go to college next year for business school and a minor in social entrepreneurship but will look to continue to expand his organization as he builds relationships with more builders.

“When you know you’re saving the environment but you’re really saving that amount of money, it’s like a no brainer to always just make that donation through us,” Vynerib said.

Butts said she’s really impressed, that on top of his school work and being a teen, he takes what he’s passionate about and really is able to bring things to fruition. He’s gone beyond just the idea of this would be nice to actually executing it.

“He’s a role model to anyone else who has a passion and might think they’re only in high school but you can do it already, you can put your mind to it and make a difference in the world,” Butts said.

This article originally published at Westport teen creates organization to repurpose home building materials in deconstructions.