When Meredith Moore moved from Toronto to New York, she was astonished by the amount of home renovation happening in the city — and by the full construction waste bins.

"I would see these dumpsters just filled with wood and trim and doors and all these things that I knew were not waste," said Moore, who has always looked for ways things could be reused in her previous work as an interior designer.

Deconstruction may seem slow, inefficient and potentially costly compared to just knocking something down. But there's growing interest from building owners and the construction industry alike in taking a more careful approach, which cuts waste and emissions by giving new life to old materials.