RALEIGH -- It's been said that destruction is a form of creation - a contradiction that makes perfect sense in Joel Lubell's world.
As DeConstruction manager at Habitat for Humanity of Wake County, Lubell's job is to dismantle homes in a way that bears fruit - yielding money for the group's building projects and diverting waste from the county landfill.
He also puts salvaged pieces to creative use in his free time, making items ranging from picture frames to his own 1,200-square-foot workshop - which is bigger than his house and made entirely from reused materials.
He took over Habitat's fledgling deconstruction program at the height of the tear-down trend, when central Raleigh homes were being replaced with larger, more modern homes at a steady clip. But Lubell has managed to keep the program afloat even as the housing boom ended. In the process, he has transformed Habitat Wake's deconstruction program into one of the nation's most established and one of just a handful of such programs that dismantles entire houses.
"Joel has really been the driver to keep the program going and keeping it successful," says John Stees, director of ReStore operations for Habitat Wake, where salvaged parts of homes are sold.
"I think everyone likes the goal, but he really brings the passion to it that keeps people energized."
Lubell grew up in New Jersey, where he was a self-described high school "shop kid" who enjoyed tinkering and woodworking as much as his classes. He also did well in math and science, and planned to be anengineer.
He went to the University of Miami as an engineering major, but he says he burned out on the intensive math. He remembers going to the library and searching online for Restoration Hardware, then a fairly new chain specializing in home accessories using historic designs, to see what kind of jobs they had.
He ran into the job description "product designer," which eventually led him to the College of Design at N.C. State University. He majored in industrial design, which still only loosely fit his interests.
He found that the focus on mass production of plastic products didn't appeal to him. Nor was he good at rendering his ideas on paper.
"I think I was the only graduate of that program who couldn't draw," he says. "Halfway through, I decided I never wanted to design anything made out of plastic."
He graduated with a healthy dose of independent studies that allowed him to do his own design projects, including a total overhaul of an Airstream trailer. He often spent long days and nights in the studio, where he was also a supervisor.
He found that a blank sheet of paper sapped his creativity, while a single piece of wood or metal would send ideas flooding.
It was an inclination that lent itself to salvage and reuse.
"I like to find something that kick-starts your creative engines," he says. "My style is to amalgamate."
A knack for reuse
After graduation, he started his own business making custom furniture and architectural elements - railings and lights, tables and shelves - often using reused materials.
His pieces showcase raw materials using clear stains and simple designs. Most of his pieces make something new with salvaged pieces - a maple log sink, for instance, or a rolling cube made of scrap wood.
His work brought him frequently to Habitat for Humanity's ReStore, which sells donated or salvaged appliances, cabinets and other items. In 2005, when he decided he needed at least some stable income, he inquired there about a part-time job.
What he found was a full-time, grant-funded position that would expand the group's deconstruction section, which up to that point had only one part-time employee and little equipment.
Lubell took the job, and has since grown the program into four employees and several trucks full of equipment that stand ready to take on any project - from pulling out kitchen cabinets to tearing down an entire house - quickly.
And some of his work is just random calls, such as a request to pick up a donated stone fountain.
"We're always ready for anything," he says.
Lubell found he had both a passion and a knack for reuse. His creative outlet on the job, he says, is making the program work - finding out what kinds of jobs to focus on, which projects to take on, and how to use his staff and volunteers most effectively.
While his employer is a nonprofit organization, and his work helps divert tons of building materials from the landfill, his program also has to make money. So part of Lubell's success has been to focus on items that sell well at the ReStore.
The down economy has forced him to get creative, pulling out gym floors from schools, for instance. His team is in Cary dismantling a kit home, which he hopes to sell in its entirety.
Six hours, no notes
His passion for the art of saving what can be saved runs deep. Lubell was a panelist at a deconstruction conference last year at Yale University - where he says he talked for six hours on the topic without notes.
The Habitat team can keep up to 85 percent of a house out of the landfill, and a typical 2,000-square-foot home breaks down into 50 to 75 tons of waste.
Lubell says they can save between 80 and 100 percent of the parts of a house that can be reused, including wood used for framing, hardwood floors, doors, windows and appliances. Some wood that can't be reused is recycled. The only parts that end up in the landfill are the insulation and drywall.
Stees says the challenge of pulling apart a house in the most efficient way fits well with Lubell's background in engineering and design.
"The practical puzzle piece makes it exciting for him," he says.
"It's also very hands on and physical. You're not in your cubicle doing theory. You're out there doing the work."
Lubell brings pieces of his work home - his own deck is built of seven decks, for instance. His impulse to reuse can be a challenge at times, making him itch to see each scrap fulfill its potential.
"I see a window and think, 'I could build an entire house around that,' " Lubell says. "It's all about figuring out how to use things in the way I think is best."
