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Managing Waste from Construction & Demolition

Why is integrating waste management into corporate culture important? What are the benefits? What's feasible and what's not? What are the space requirements for a project? Learn about construction & demolition recovery in Deschutes County, Oregon, steps towards Oregon compliance goals, and potential opportunities for entrepreneurs and building sector partners. Lastly, hear about products and processes that can reduce your waste, as well as a new building product designed to do exactly that: HempCrete.

Paula Latasa, Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (CPACE) Manager, 350Deschutes

Jordan Palmeri, Environmental Scientist and Policy Advisor, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality

Jordan Palmeri is a Senior Policy Analyst in the Materials Management Program at the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, where he coordinates projects around the built environment, life cycle assessments, and purchasing. He’s worked on building and zoning codes, and served as a technical and policy expert for small housing initiatives. He’s advised local, regional, and global green building rating systems and recently led a program to help Oregon concrete producers develop Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs).

Karen Rugg, Founder & Owner, Perennial Building, LLC

Karen Rugg is the founder & owner of Perennial Building, a general contracting company based in Bend, Oregon with the mission to foster sustainability, equity and community through the built environment. Her interest in sustainability and the built environment started at an early age, leading her to get a Masters of City and Regional Planning, focusing on real estate development and sustainable affordable housing. She transitioned into the commercial construction industry shortly after graduation where she attained LEED Accreditation. Since 2006, she has successfully managed over $140M in construction projects in the hospitality sector. After moving to Bend in 2018, she founded Perennial Building which focuses on building homes from hemplime, a natural, non-toxic & fire resistant material to construct the shell of a building. Over the years Karen has made time to pursue personal interests such as obtaining a Permaculture Design Certificate, working at several indoor and outdoor farms, and attending the Earthship Building Academy at Earthship Biotecture in Taos, NM.

Chad Centola , Deschutes Solid Waste Interim Director

Chad Centola Graduated from Humboldt State University with a bachelor’s degree in Forest Engineering in 1982 and received a masters degree in Environmental Management from the University of San Francisco in 1990. His career path led him to the solid waste industry in 1983 where he has worked for local governments in the operation, permitting and compliance of municipal solid waste landfills. He has worked as Operations Manager for Deschutes County’s Knott Landfill since 1999 and was recently appointed as Interim Director for the Solid Waste Department.