Have you ever heard of the term ‘deconstruction’? Adam Corneil hadn’t 10 years ago and now he is the founder of Canada’s only full time deconstruction business. Unbuilders turns the conventional demolition model on its head to eliminate almost all of the typical waste associated with new development. Deconstruction is the practice of dismantling a building piece by piece to keep the wood in a condition for reuse.

Adam and a crew member at a home in the process of being unbuilt

Adam has always loved the construction business and originally thought that he would find his place in the industry as an architect. He wasn’t accepted to architecture schooling which he now refers to as a blessing because it allowed him to continue working with his hands on the building side of construction. He worked for a custom home building firm before moving to Vancouver and creating his own sustainable contracting company. It was through these endeavours that he was exposed to the sheer amount of waste that building projects create:

“In Canada, the construction, renovation and demolition (CRD) industry generates about 10 million tonnes of waste annually. When you compare that to plastics which is about 4.6 million tonnes of waste, CRD creates more than twice that.”

Adam also became passionate about reducing his industry’s waste after understanding where these materials came from:

“The old growth wood is really what got me to launch Unbuilders. This resource is not renewable and something that we will not see again in our lifetimes. These trees took 500 to 1000 years to grow, and we’ve cut down almost all of them.”

A house in the process of deconstruction by Unbuilders

Unbuilders operates under a unique business model where the salvaged wood is donated to charity to provide the homeowner with a tax receipt that drives project costs down to even or below conventional demolition. Their work is supported by the City of Vancouver’s Green Demolition Bylaw. This bylaw mandates that houses built before 1950 must recycle 75% to 90% of the building’s materials, depending on if the house is deemed to have character qualities. Houses built before 1910 must salvage 3 metric tonnes of wood which Adam describes as basically a deconstruction bylaw as this is not achievable with the use of machinery.

While these bylaws do ensure more circular practices, this definition of recycling does not actually mean reuse. Recycling in this context is fulfilled by sending the wood to an incinerator where it is burned for biofuel.

“You have old growth lumber that is so valuable being burnt for energy which just seems insane to me. That’s why we continue to push and advocate for this bylaw to expand. We’re subsidizing things like oil and gas but we should be incentivizing and subsidizing homeowners choosing deconstruction over demolition.”

Unbuilders has achieved the City of Vancouver’s highest recorded salvage and recycle rate at 99.2%. This is outstanding with the consideration that the average home demolition creates 50 tonnes of waste. Adam is the oldest on his team at only 35 years old and is proud of the passion and drive that his young crew brings to the business.

“What we do is extremely hard work, it’s hard on your body and sometimes it’s very monotonous. The fact that we’re trying to make change in the industry makes it that much more enjoyable. It makes people come back to work.”

The impressive result of salvaged wood from a deconstruction project

He tells me that he actively builds a relationship with his crew and the company’s purpose by taking them into old growth tree groves: “We want to make sure our staff is connected with the material and where it came from. When you go into the old growth forests there is a totally different energy in there - you can feel it.”

I asked Adam what advice he would have for a young person that is in the position he was once in: motivated and passionate but lacks experience in entrepreneurship and business.

“Find what you love and gain some experience. Once you’re in the realm of what you’re passionate about then figure out how to make that industry better. Stay persistent, especially if you’re trying to make change – persisting is the hardest thing you can do.”

I applaud Adam for his persistence and look forward to seeing how his leadership will push the construction industry towards a more circular model in Vancouver, and across Canada. Learn more about Unbuilders at their website and follow along with them on Instagram.

From Demolition to Deconstruction with Adam Corneil