Instead of demolishing houses, Corneil's company deconstructs them and salvages the materials so they can be returned to the supply chain. "I knew the value of that lumber because it was all old-growth Douglas fir lumber in those pre-1970s houses," he said. The partnership allows Unbuilders to keep prices competitive with demolition companies because homeowners are given tax receipts for their donations. Corneil says now that they're using cranes instead of dismantling homes by hand, they'll also be competitive with project timelines. "Every year in Vancouver, there are about 1,200 demolitions that happen in the residential sector and of those, about 700 are pre-1950, which is where you're getting that really nice old-growth lumber."

Source: CBC News October 01, 2020 14:02 UTC