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WASHINGTON , DC — The National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Cascadia Green Building Council based in Seattle and the Green Building Services sustainable development consultancy of Portland, Ore., have launched a study to quantify the economic and environmental value of reusing existing buildings.
Adaptive reuse -- giving new life and purpose to old buildings -- is not new. Kirsten Ritchie, the director of sustainable design with Gensler, talked about the longtime practice in a 2009 podcast with GreenerBuildings.com.
Former department stores, factories, transit terminals and military bases are frequently the sites of some of the more higher profile adaptive reuse projects. They capture headlines when they become luxury hotels, green, high-tech corporate headquarters and sustainably designed communities.
Scant research has been done, however, to demonstrate the value of such transformations.
The study planned by the three groups is expected to evaluate a range of buildings, including homes, to show what environmental impacts and other costs can be avoided by reusing an existing structure -- instead of razing it and building a new one. Buildings account for about 40 percent of all energy used in the U.S.
“We can’t build our way out of the climate change crisis. We have to conserve our way out, and this study provides us with a unique and crucial opportunity to help people understand the environmental value of building reuse,” said National Trust President Richard Moe in a statement. “Ultimately, it is our hope that this study will provide the green building industry, residential and commercial building owners, developers, and policy makers with the information they need to make informed choices about the reuse and retrofit of existing buildings.”
The study is made possible by a grant from the Summit Foundation and is expected to be completed in early 2011.
San Francisco Ferry Building, once a transportation hub, now a bustling farmer’s market and food emporium -- Image CC licensed by Flickr user David Paul Ohmer.
It will be great to see the
It will be great to see the results of the study. As a real estate sales representative focussed on residential resale from a frugal/green approach, I've been a strong proponent of working with what we've got rather than starting over. It has surprised me how strong the perception of green building = new contstruction is, and how it's been a bit of an uphill battle to promote conservation over investment in add-on technology. Some data to demonstrate the value of various approaches to green building would be extremely helpful!
Recycling of large amounts of
Recycling of large amounts of building materials has been used in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia on a number of occasions, most noteably when a large factory was demolished in Harrisonburg and the site became a shopping center. After all abated materials were removed, the steel was completely recycled and hundreds of thousands of cubic feet of concrete, gravel, and asphalt were ground for fill material. One person working on the site claimed that 90% of the old structure or more remained on that site and never left it as the site was transformed from one useage to another. While this is not the same as re-using a building for another purpose, it is an example of re-use of materials for new and different purposes, mostly on the same site, reducing the energy used to carry away old materials or to manufacture new products. The steel and other metals live on in who knows how many other venues. The office furniture ended up in a used office products store and it is in use most likely, too. This is another kind of productive recycling of structures.
My first thought regarding
My first thought regarding the value of recycling older buildings is "great, why hasn't that been a major consideration before now, with regard to green and sustainable building models?"
However, not all buildings would necessarily be deemed worthy of "recycling." I recognize the diversity of buildings across the country that would fall into this category and there isn't a blanket approach that would satisfy this study except perhaps for looking at the cost analysis of "re-adaptive vs building new" and how much is needed to bring many buildings up to code, energy efficiency and what would their ultimate re-use serve for the community and potential new business or residential occupying the recycled space.
I am pleased that the emphasis to study this is proactively being addressed. We have so many buildings and communities that could take existing structures, revitalize them and give these buildings a new purpose.
This is truly an encouraging
This is truly an encouraging initiative! There is still an overwhelming focus on applying environmental best practices to new construction, while so many solid, appealing and relevant buidlings sit idle, many not yet at the end of their useful life.
As this study moves forward, I hope city planners, administrators, property owners and private investors can collaborate to promote the notion of "re-purposed" buildings across the country. There are likely many success stories out there to leverage.