By carefully dismantling structures instead of demolishing them – ‘unbuilding’ them, in other words – they are able to salvage valuable resources and reclaim materials that would otherwise end up in Canadian landfills. In doing so, they are able to make a positive impact on their environment and their community, while also often saving their clients’ money along the way. Adam Corneil, founder and CEO of Unbuilders, is a builder and entrepreneur with an extensive background in sustainable building, deconstruction, and reclaimed wood use. He’s been involved in construction ever since a young age, when he started doing renovations with his father and brothers. When he was in high school, he and his father flipped a house – “back before that was even really a thing on TV,” Adam says – and that experience solidified his desire to be in the building world. “I was also obsessed with architecture as a kid,” he recalls. “I was drawing blueprints when I was about six years old. So I was always really fascinated about building and construction.” Adam attended university for “something completely different,” he says, while he continued to work construction during the summers. Though he didn’t end up pursuing a career in the fields he was studying, he does credit his time in university for fostering his passion for sustainability. “I studied a lot of biological anthropology,” he says. “We were looking at climate change and human evolution. So I thought ‘I want to be in construction, I want to be building buildings, but I want to be building sustainably.’” MARCH 2023
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