Selina Tarantino is so committed to the idea of being "green" that she was willing to start a business that initially isn't intended to make a profit.

Tarantino last year co-founded Re-use Hawai'i, a nonprofit business that deconstructs, rather than demolishes, structures and sells the salvaged material for new construction. The Chaminade University graduate was working as an interior designer and came up with the idea after realizing how much waste is generated and disposed of when a home or building is torn down.

"I saw a lot of opportunities where nobody was salvaging material for reuse. It just wasn't happening here," Tarantino said.

Tarantino did some research into deconstruction services and hooked up with Quinn Vittum, who has experience in the field. Together they formed Re-use Hawai'i, which is believed to be the only company here that does just deconstruction and recycling work.

Rather than incorporating as a for-profit business, Tarantino went the nonprofit route because she said it is a better fit with her environmental beliefs.

"It is mission-driven, and the profit margin is incredibly small. Let me just say it's minimal," she said. "You have to be really dedicated to the mission."

One big advantage to being a nonprofit, Tarantino said, is the material that is salvaged from a project can be claimed by the property owner as a tax deductible donation.

The recycled material is appraised before it is resold, she said. As a "green building" resource, the material also helps architects and contractors obtain Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, a nonprofit organization dedicated to sustainable building design and construction.

Re-use Hawai'i offers three programs. The first is the deconstruction service, where structures are disassembled to "maximize the reuse and recycling of material," Tarantino said.

The second program is a consulting service to construction companies and government agencies that are interested in diverting material away from what she called the "waste stream." The third is Re-use Hawai'i's Kaka'ako distribution center where the salvaged material is stored and sold.

For the moment, the center sells primarily lumber, but Tarantino said she expects to expand the inventory to other salvaged products, such as sinks, doors, windows and roofing material.

Re-use Hawai'i recently completed its first project, the deconstruction of a 26,000-square-foot warehouse at Fort Shafter Flats. Tarantino said that job produced 26 tons of reusable material.

The company's current project is at the Makakilo Baptist Church, where an existing worship hall is being taken apart to make way for a larger facility. Gary Hockett, a member of the church's building team, said the church found out about Re-use Hawai'i through church contractor Homeworks Construction.

"We thought it was a good idea because it is environmentally friendly and also because there are a lot of memories with the building that we're tearing down and it's good to know that it's going to go someplace else to be used," Hockett said.

He said deconstruction is a little slower than demolition "because they're meticulously taking it apart," but Hockett said church officials don't mind. He said the work is a lot less disruptive, particularly to the church's preschool.

"It seems like a good way to do it, and we're glad that we're a part of it," Hockett said.

Tarantino said she has spent a lot of time reaching out to architects, contractors and government officials to sell them on the deconstruction idea. She believes that eventually the government will mandate that all buildings be disassembled and the material reused.

"The privatization of military housing, they're destroying thousands of homes, literally whole neighborhoods, and all of that demolition waste is equivalent to a Class 4 hurricane on the island," Tarantino said. "Contractors are really great at salvaging materials, but they just don't have the channel of redistributing it back into the community. Our mission is to make those materials available to the community."

Although a not-for-profit organization, Tarantino said her goal is to become profitable in five years. For now, she's happy knowing she's helping the environment.

"I've always been into green living and sustainability. That was just my interest and how I felt I could contribute," Tarantino said.

Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.