Sara Badiali
Circularity Consultant Portland, Oregon
Turning Buildings Into Possibility
I work in imagination and practicality: taking apart what no longer serves us and reimagining it as something new.
I am a circular economy and material reuse consultant, researcher, and writer. For more than two decades, my work has explored what happens when buildings and materials reach the end of their original purpose and how they can become resources for new ideas, businesses, communities, and economies.
My experience includes building deconstruction policy, sustainable materials management, research, reuse system development, and education. I contributed to Portland's Building Deconstruction Ordinance and founded Reclamation Administration, a resource and database that documented building material reuse, deconstruction, and related policy for thirteen years.
Today, I work with cities, nonprofits, businesses, artists, and others interested in finding new possibilities in existing materials.
I help cities, nonprofits, and businesses design systems where buildings and materials at the end of their original purpose don't simply become waste, but instead feed back into communities as jobs, resources, and inspiration.
Think of this as a menu with plenty of room for improvisation. These are starting points, not fixed packages.
Ways We Can Work Together
Policy & Program Design
Crafting deconstruction and reuse ordinances, shaping pilot programs, and creating pathways for materials to flow back into local economies.
Research & Analysis
Reports, surveys, and market studies that not only inform policy but also tell the bigger story of why reuse matters.
Reuse Systems & Product Development
Exploring practical, creative, and profitable uses for salvaged materials - whether that’s new product lines, material streams for local businesses, or community-centered reuse projects (like my work helping a rural transfer station develop reuse opportunities).
Material Opportunity Assessment
Looking closely at existing material streams and asking what else is possible. What has value? Who could use it? What new products, businesses, or community resources could emerge?
Special Projects & Collaborations
Creative projects, research partnerships, design/build contests, pop ups, and other unexpected collaborations that bring material reuse into public view.
About Costs
Every collaboration has its own rhythm. Some projects are short and nimble, others are more in-depth and layered. I usually work in three ways:
By the hour for focused conversations and problem-solving
By the project for research, reports, or reuse development work
By retainer for ongoing partnerships or long-term initiatives