ABSTRACT

Two key benefits of building retention and adaptation, over demolition and new build are identified in the academic literature as: the conservation of heritage, and reductions in embodied greenhouse gas emissions from construction materials. A four-year research project, including expert interviews, focus groups and three detailed case studies, developed extensive data on how these benefits are considered in decisions to demolish or retain buildings within larger urban development sites. The research found that heritage and embodied impacts are considered quite differently. Heritage is frequently a key driver towards retaining individual buildings, whilstembodied emissions are rarely key considerations. Where there are insufficient arguments based on heritage value, many buildings are therefore demolished and replaced rather than retained. To reduce the impact of construction on the environment it is crucial that we calculate the embodied as well as operational impacts of demolition decisions and retain and refurbish buildings where this is the lower carbon choice. Using heritage arguments as a basis, this paper proposes that the introduction of policy drivers for retention and against demolition, and the conversion of environmental value into economic uplift, are likely to be necessary conditions to encourage the retention of buildings for lower whole life carbon.

摘要

在学术文献中，建筑物保留和改造、拆除和新建的两个主要好处被确定为：保护遗产和减少建筑材料中的隐含温室气体排放。一个为期四年的研究项目，包括专家访谈、焦点小组和三个详细的案例研究，开发了大量数据，说明在更大的城市开发地点拆除或保留建筑物的决策时如何考虑这些好处。研究发现，遗产和具体影响的考虑方式大不相同。遗产通常是保留个别建筑的关键驱动因素，而隐含排放很少是关键考虑因素。在基于遗产价值的论据不足的情况下，许多建筑物因此被拆除和更换，而不是保留。为了减少施工对环境的影响，我们必须计算拆除决策的具体影响和运营影响，并在低碳选择的情况下保留和翻新建筑物。本文以遗产论点为基础，提出保留和反对拆除的政策驱动因素的引入，以及将环境价值转化为经济提升，可能是鼓励保留建筑物以降低整个生命周期碳的必要条件。