Using building adaptation to deliver sustainability in Australia

Abstract

Purpose-This paper seeks to establish the rationale for existing office building adaptation within Melbourne, Australia, as the city strives to become carbon neutral by 2020. The problems faced by policy makers to determine which buildings have the optimum adaptation potential are to be identified and discussed. Design/methodology/approach-This research adopts the approach of creating a database of all the buildings in the Melbourne CBD including details of physical, social, economic and technological attributes. This approach will determine whether relationships exist between attributes and the frequency of building adaptation or whether triggers to adaptation can be determined. Findings-This research provided evidence that a much faster rate of office building adaptation is necessary to meet the targets already set for carbon neutrality. The findings demonstrate that a retrospective comprehensive examination of previous adaptation in the CBD is a unique and original approach to determining the building characteristics associated with adaptation and whether triggers can be identified based on previous practices. The implication is that a decision-making tool should be developed to allow policy makers to target sectors of the office building stock to deliver carbon neutrality within the 2020 timeframe. Practical implications-Drastic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are required to mitigate global warming and climate change and all stakeholders should be looking at ways of reducing emissions from existing stock. Originality/value-This paper adds to the existing body of knowledge by raising awareness of the way in which the adaptation of large amounts of existing stock can be fast tracked to mitigate the impact of climate change and warming associated with the built environment, and in addition it establishes a framework for a decision-making tool for policy makers.

Sustainable Building Assessment of Colonial Shophouses after Adaptive Reuse in Kuala Lumpur

“…Conejos et al [24] determined the various challenges encountered in undertaking adaptive reuse. Department of environment and heritage [9], Latham [25] and Wilkinson et al [26] defined adaptive reuse as the restoration of the building's value to a place or community, and that it is a strategy that extends the building's physical and social functions by giving it a new purpose while still conserving its historic and cultural significance. Fournier and Zimnicki [27] developed adaptive reuse guidelines that integrate the goals of sustainable design and historic preservation.…”

Adaptive reuse of offices:Residential conversions in Sydney

“…In the course of 400 years, the uses of the buildings have changed numerous times, from warehouse to housing to offices and back to housing and shops, inflicting many changes to the buildings (Leupen, 2006;Remøy, 2010). Several authors (Barlow & Gann, 1993;Beauregard, 2005;Bullen & Love, 2010;Coupland & Marsh, 1998;Heath, 2001;Langston, Wong, Hui, & Shen, 2008;Tiesdell et al, 1996;Wilkinson et al, 2009) describe similar conversions of vacant office buildings in obsolete urban areas or downtown locations.…”

“…Former studies show the potential of delivering sustainability in urban areas by up building adaptation, upgrading the environmental performance of existing office buildings (Wilkinson & Reed, 2009), and the potential of adaptive reuse to enhance social sustainability in urban areas blighted by vacancy by introducing new functions (Heath, 2001;Koppels, Remøy, & El Messlaki, 2011). This paper explores the potential of conversion in Sydney, based on the political, economic, social, environmental and technological drivers and barriers to successful conversion.…”

Adaptive Reuse of Historical Heritage Sites: Contextual Frameworks, ‘Restrictive’ or ‘Challenging’ for the Redesign?

“…This kind of process is called 'adaptive reuse' (Latham [4]; Wilkinson et al [5]; Bullen and Love [6]- [8]; Plevoets and Van Cleempoel [9]). Adaptive reuse of a building can be seen as 'a process that not only makes a change in function of a building (i.e.…”

“…architectural interventions) to this building, in order to embrace this new function' (Bullen and Love [6]- [8]; Plevoets and Van Cleempoel [9]). In other words, adaptive reuse involves converting a building to undertake a change of use (Latham [4]; Wilkinson et al [5]; Bullen and Love [6]- [8]; Plevoets and Van Cleempoel [9]). …”