The Greenest Buildings (PjM) (PPD) (PA)

When the question of what to do with older buildings arises, it usually resolves itself to choices of reusing them as is, repairing them, restoring them, repurposing them or replacing them.

There is an old saying regarding existing buildings that goes like this. "It has good bones." Any facility, free of structural defects and doing a reasonably good job of keeping water out, represents a tangible asset. The trick to maximizing the value of existing structures, especially in areas where changing economic factors have also resulted in changing market demands, is to approach their reuse from a different point of view. The judicious employment of renovation funds should not be based on restoring them to a previous use, but making them suitable for other markets in which the existing bones might enable a whole new purpose.

This presentation proposes criteria that may prove valuable in determining which option for the disposition of older buildings represents the best value for the owner, the buyer or the community in which the structure is located. For the benefit of everyone involved, any reuse of older buildings is better than none.

Upon successful completion of this module, the student will be able to:

• Identify system components assessed in older or historic buildings, to determine how to proceed with their further use
• Discuss sources of more environmentally friendly materials for incorporation in projects
• Examine principles inherent in choosing adaptive reuse, both benefits and difficulties
• Recognize why buildings renovated for adaptive reuse are arguably the greenest buildings

Paul Spite, BS, BA
AFD Consulting, Founder and Principal

Paul is a Registered Architect with over forty years of experience, a course developer and has been a teacher in multiple venues in the past. He is also a writer in many venues, having developed many studies, a few published articles, numerous short stories, multiple screenplays, two non-fiction manuals for church design and one novel. More to the focus of this endeavor, Paul has also created presentations for twenty-six lunch and learn presentations for building material manufacturers, webinars covering the subjects of Aging-in-Place and Architectural Acoustics and eleven distance learning courses for architects, engineers and contractors. As he nears retirement from managing his small architectural practice, Paul hopes to focus even more of his energy on teaching and on course development.