ABSTRACT

Buildings account for at least one third of global greenhouse gas emissions and existing buildings constitute 98 per cent of Australia’s building stock in any one year. Hence, existing buildings, many of which have high cultural heritage value, play an important role in addressing climate change and other key environmental challenges. Despite convincing evidence that historic buildings are high environmental performers, most environmental improvement initiatives within building and planning systems continue to focus heavily on operational performance. They generally fail to value broader indicators of environmental sustainability such as resource depletion, material waste and pollution. When these broader environmental benefits of maintaining existing buildings are not considered or appropriately valued, historic fabric is often removed or demolished, often replaced by newer ‘green’ buildings. This not only results in the loss of important cultural heritage, but also a substantial opportunity for maximising environmental outcomes. This article reviews national and international literature on environmental and cultural sustainability to highlight the broad environmental benefits of conserving historic buildings; how they can be valued; and what further research is required to ensure building and planning systems adequately address the role that buildings play within the challenge of anthropogenic climate change.

摘要

建筑物至少占全球温室气体排放量的三分之一，而在任何一年中，现有建筑物占澳大利亚建筑物存量的98％。因此，现有建筑物，其中许多具有很高的文化遗产价值，在应对气候变化和其他关键环境挑战中发挥着重要作用。尽管有说服力的证据表明历史建筑在环境方面表现突出，但建筑和规划系统中的大多数环境改善计划仍将重点放在运营绩效上。他们通常无法重视更广泛的环境可持续性指标，例如资源枯竭，材料浪费和污染。如果未考虑或没有适当重视维护现有建筑物带来的这些广泛的环境效益，历史悠久的建筑经常被拆除或拆除，经常被更新的“绿色”建筑所取代。这不仅导致重要文化遗产的流失，而且为最大程度地提高环境成果提供了巨大的机会。本文回顾了有关环境和文化可持续性的国内外文献，以强调保护历史建筑的广泛环境利益；如何评估它们；以及需要进行哪些进一步的研究以确保建筑和规划系统充分解决建筑在人为气候变化挑战中所扮演的角色。本文回顾了有关环境和文化可持续性的国内外文献，以强调保护历史建筑的广泛环境利益；如何评估它们；以及需要进行哪些进一步的研究以确保建筑和规划系统充分解决建筑在人为气候变化挑战中所扮演的角色。本文回顾了有关环境和文化可持续性的国内外文献，以强调保护历史建筑的广泛环境利益；如何评估它们；以及需要进行哪些进一步的研究以确保建筑和规划系统充分解决建筑在人为气候变化挑战中所扮演的角色。