Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology

Factors influencing the adaptive re-use of buildings

Peter Bullen, Peter Love,
Article information:
To cite this document:
Peter Bullen, Peter Love, (2011) "Factors influencing the adaptive reuse of buildings", Journal of
Engineering, Design and Technology, Vol. 9 Issue: 1, pp.32-46, doi: 10.1108/17260531111121459
Permanent link to this document:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/17260531111121459
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE At 07:57 23 April 2017 (PT)

Downloaded on: 23 April 2017, At: 07:57 (PT)

References: this document contains references to 83 other documents.
To copy this document: permissions@emeraldinsight.com
The fulltext of this document has been downloaded 3283 times since 2011*
Users who downloaded this article also downloaded:
(2007),"Adaptive reuse and sustainability of commercial buildings", Facilities, Vol. 25 Iss 1/2 pp. 20-31
http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/02632770710716911
(2011),"Adaptive reuse of heritage buildings", Structural Survey, Vol. 29 Iss 5 pp. 411-421 http://
dx.doi.org/10.1108/02630801111182439

Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by emerald-srm:425905 []
For Authors
If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for
Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines
are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information.
About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.com
Emerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company
manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as
providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.
Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee
on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive
preservation.

*Related content and download information correct at time of download.

 The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1726-0531.htm

JEDT
9,1 Factors influencing the adaptive
re-use of buildings
Peter Bullen and Peter Love
32 Department of Construction Management,
Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia
Received 2 June 2009
Accepted 30 September 2009
Abstract
Purpose Adaptive re-use enables a building to suit new conditions. It is a process that reaps the
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE At 07:57 23 April 2017 (PT)

benefit of the embodied energy and quality of the original building in a sustainable manner. Initiatives to
improve the sustainability of buildings have tended to focus on new construction projects rather than
existing ones. One reason is the tendency to regard old buildings as products with a limited useful life
that have to be eventually discarded and demolished. Much of the existing building stock will still be in
use for another 100 years. Thus, there is a need to develop policy and strategies that encourage adaptive
re-use and the ongoing sustainability of building stock. The purpose of this paper is to provide a
comprehensive review of the factors influencing the decision to adopt an adaptive re-use strategy.
Design/methodology/approach Adaptive re-use is beginning to receive attention, yet there is a
lack of consensus as to whether it is an appropriate strategy for meeting the changing needs and
demands of developers, occupiers and owners for existing building stock. Considering the limited
published research on adaptive re-use in buildings, particularly in the context of sustainability,
a comprehensive review of the normative literature is undertaken to determine the factors influencing
the decision-making process for its use.
Findings It is revealed that the major drivers for adaptive focus on lifecycle issues, changing
perceptions of buildings, and governmental incentives. The barriers to re-use, on the other hand, include
a perception of increased maintenance costs, building regulations, inertia of development criteria and
the inherent risk and uncertainty associated with older building stock. The identification of drivers and
barriers has enabled a balanced view of the adaptive re-use debate to be presented.
Research limitations/implications The paper concludes that more empirical research is required
to examine the role of adaptive re-use in the context of its contribution to sustainability if it is to become
an effective strategy that drives the formulation of public policy for addressing the issues associated
with existing building stock.
Practical implications The research identifies key adaptive re-use issues that need to be addressed
by policy makers, developers and owners during the formative stages of the design process so that
efforts toward sustainability can be ameliorated. Addressing a buildings adaptive re-use will
significantly reduce whole life costs, waste and lead to the improved building functionality.
Originality/value This paper provides policy makers and key decision makers with the underlying
factors that need to be considered when implementing an adaptive re-use policy as part of their
sustainability strategy.
Keywords Buildings, Sustainable development
Paper type General review

Introduction
Journal of Engineering, Design and Adaptive re-use has become an integral strategy to ameliorate the financial,
Technology environmental and social performance of buildings (Langston et al., 2007). The
Vol. 9 No. 1, 2011
pp. 32-46 Department of Environment and Heritage (2004) defines adaptive re-use as a process
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1726-0531
that changes a disused or ineffective item into a new item that can be used for a different
DOI 10.1108/17260531111121459 purpose. Continual demand for new and improved operational and sustainability
 performance will invariably require the demolition of existing buildings, particularly as Adaptive re-use
land availability becomes scarce. Yet, it has been estimated that buildings that require of buildings
demolition account for only 0.5-1 per cent of the existing stock with the remainder
having a further 30-50 years of life (Petersdorff et al., 2004; Nye and Rydin, 2006;
Hakkinen, 2007). In fact, Shah and Kumar (2005b) proffer that in the case of significant
public buildings their life could extend in excess of 80 years. With the life of buildings
being extended adaptive re-use will play a pivotal role in meeting the increasing 33
demand for facilities and regeneration of the built environment (Kurul, 2007;
Langston et al., 2007).
Until recently, demolition decisions have been based on economic factors and
as a result buildings have been demolished prematurely (Langston et al., 2007).
Traditionally, the opportunities to maximize plot ratios provided by demolition have
been a more attractive investment proposition for developers than building re-use. The
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE At 07:57 23 April 2017 (PT)

disposal of buildings has often been prompted by the perception that they need replacing
simply because they are old or inefficient. There are signs that this mindset is changing
as more is being spent on refurbishing and reusing buildings than constructing new
ones with re-use becoming a prominent strategy (Douglas, 2002; Ball, 2002; Latham,
2000; de Valence, 2004; Property Council of Australia, 2004; Langston et al., 2007). With
this in mind, this paper provides a comprehensive review of the factors influencing the
decision to adopt an adaptive re-use strategy. As there has been limited published
research on adaptive re-use in buildings, particularly in the context of sustainability it is
envisaged that the review presented will provide the building blocks for further research
in this contemporary and contentious area.

Demolition, redevelop and re-use

The shift to building re-use and adaptation has become an increasing trend within
the built environment (Ball, 1999; Bon and Hutchinson, 2000; de Valence, 2004;
Gallant and Blickle, 2005; Kohler, 2006; Bradley and Kohler, 2007; van Beuren and de
Jong, 2007). In many cases, increasing the life of a building through re-use can lower
material, transport and energy consumption and pollution and thus make a significant
contribution to sustainability (Douglas, 2002; Gregory, 2004; Remoy and van der Voordt,
2007; Velthuis and Spennemann, 2007). There is ubiquitous convergence researchers
that adaptation can make a significant contribution to the sustainability of existing
buildings (Brand, 1994; Pickard, 1996; Cooper, 2001; Balaras et al., 2004; Bromley et al.,
2005; Kurul, 2007). There is also a growing perception that it is cheaper to convert
old buildings to new uses than to demolish and rebuild (Vanegas et al., 1995; Ball,
2002; Department of Environment and Heritage, 2004; Douglas, 2002; Gregory, 2004;
Pearce, 2004).
It has been suggested that the longevity of most buildings can be detrimental because
any inherent negative environmental impact will be spread over long periods (Itard and
Klunder, 2007). Such longevity also raises technical problems, particularly with respect
to the durability of external fabric and finishes. When the external fabric of a building
begins to deteriorate then this can cause significant problems when considering re-use.
Ball (1999) suggests that such technical challenges require a wide range of renovation
and refurbishment techniques. In many cases this involves finding innovative solutions
that can be applied within the constraints imposed upon the design team and contractor
(Shipley et al., 2006).
 JEDT The relative costs, related benefits and constraints of re-use versus demolition and new
9,1 build have received widespread debate. Hall (1998), Douglas (2006) and Kohler and Yang
(2007) have proffered that the costs of reusing buildings are lower than the equivalent
costs of demolition. It is potentially cheaper to adapt than to demolish and rebuild
inasmuch as the structural components already exist, and the cost of borrowing is reduced,
as contract periods are typically shorter. Refurbishing to sustainability standards can,
34 however, generate a cost uplift of 3-12 per cent over the cost of a standard re-use project
(Shipley et al., 2006; Ellison et al., 2007).
Buildings are generally demolished because they no longer have any value (Kohler
and Yang, 2007). In most cases it is the market that sets this value, even though such
an assessment may be based on incomplete information with no consideration given
toward externalities. Douglas (2006) maintains that there is considerable value attached
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE At 07:57 23 April 2017 (PT)

to retaining style and character and the so-called solid build qualities of buildings.
According to Ball (2003) it is generally preferable to repair a building than replace it
because the value of the location and quality of a new building is not necessarily better
than the old one. In contrast, ODonnell (2004) suggest that an adapted building will not
completely match a new building in terms of performance, but the shortfall should be
balanced against gains in social value.
Demolition is often selected when the life expectancy of an existing building is
estimated to be less than a new alternative despite any improvements that adaptive re-use
may inject (Douglas, 2002). According to Davies (2004) this would only justify limited
investment on a short-term basis prior to disposal and redevelopment. Certainly the
lifecycle expectancy of the materials in an older building may well fall short of those in
a new building. The age of materials will also directly affect the ongoing maintenance
costs of an adapted building, which, as a result, may well be higher than those for a new
building.
Adaptive re-use strategies are preferable to demolition if the objectives of
environmental sustainability and reduced energy consumption are also to be met
(Klunder, 2005; Thomsen and van der Flier, 2006). The central issues are that a static
internal environment that cannot be easily adapted is wasteful in terms of sustainability
and not warranted in terms of the needs of the occupants. The more flexible a building is
the quicker and easier to adapt, which represents a saving in the time and productivity
lost during office churn (Boehland, 2003).
Adaptive re-use also offers a more efficient and effective process of dealing with
buildings than demolition. This is because it is deemed to be safer as it reduces the
amount of disturbance due to hazardous materials, contaminated ground and the risk of
falling materials and dust. In particular, site work is also more convenient because the
existing building presents a work enclosure that reduces downtime from inclement
weather. In a similar vein, Itard and Klunder (2007) have stated that demolition should be
regarded as being an environmentally unfriendly process. They found from a renovation
study that adapting buildings for a new use generate less waste, uses fewer materials and
probably uses less energy than demolition and rebuilding. Evidence clearly suggests
that the opportunities created by adaptive re-use generally outweigh those presented by
demolition and rebuilding (Ball, 1999; Brand, 1994; Cooper, 2001; Douglas, 2002; Kohler
and Hassler, 2002; Petersen, 2002).
Building owners and occupiers need to evaluate an array of options when considering
discarding, expanding or changing the function of their buildings. The decision process
 is influenced by political, economic, social, environmental and technological factors that Adaptive re-use
act in tandem. These factors influence the operational efficiency of buildings but also of buildings
their effectiveness in achieving sustainability outcomes. Establishing the viability of
adaptive re-use as an option, therefore, relies on identifying and understanding the
extent to which both outcomes are influenced by these factors. The drivers and barriers
influencing the decision to demolish, renovate, refurbish, rebuild and re-use are shown in
Figure 1 and are discussed below. 35

Factors driving adaptive re-use

A number of factors having been driving the growth of adaptive re-use including
cost-effectiveness and the value of it as a practical strategy for delivering buildings for
new uses. A key driver has been rising energy costs, which has increased the cost of new
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE At 07:57 23 April 2017 (PT)

construction (e.g. materials, transport, resources) and resulted in clients opting to re-use
existing building stock (Douglas, 2002; Kohler and Yang, 2007). Ellison et al. (2007)
suggest that rising energy prices will drive property investors to improve the energy
efficiency of buildings so that they can maintain market demand and rental growth.
Significant growth in the construction of new buildings during the last four decades has
created a wealth of built stock and as a result there are many buildings available for
refurbishment and re-use (Shah and Kumar, 2005a). Though, many of these buildings
were constructed without adherence to environmental performance codes and thus are not
as environmentally efficient as new buildings. Adaptive re-use is seen as an alternative
way to address this environmental gap by functionally improving a buildings
performance while simultaneously reducing its environmental loading.
Adaptive re-use is being considered more frequently by building occupiers when they
require room to expand within an existing building. The reconfiguration of space is
often a more effective solution than relocation, particularly as re-use is less disruptive
(van der Voordt, 2004). Success would, however, critically depend on the adaptability
of the space within the existing building. Ellison et al. (2007) suggest that buildings
with low flexibility are of less value than a more adaptable alternative because they
require costly refits to accommodate changing spatial needs. Conversely, buildings that
incorporate space that is adaptable to changing needs require less frequent and less
costly refits and remain sustainable over longer periods.

Drivers Barriers
Increased building life Condition of external fabric
Lower material, transport and Environmental and finishes
energy consumption Demolition, renovate, loading (+) Maintenance costs
Reduced resource consumption refurbish or re-build Higher rental in reuse buildings
Less material waste Building regulations/planning
Decision point
Rising energy costs restrictions
Building functionality Complexity
Less disruption Adaptive reuse of existing Lack of skilled tradesmen
Environmental
Reduce negative impact of building stock Building layout ( e.g., space
loading ()
poor buildings efficiencies)
Changing work patterns Health and safety requirements
Requirement for multiple use Commercial risk and uncertainty Figure 1.
Financial incentives Low quality construction
Drivers and barriers
Sustainability economically, of adaptive re-use
socially and environmentally (+)
 JEDT Rents tend to be higher in buildings that have been adapted. Whether occupiers are
9,1 prepared to offset higher rentals would be dependent on the cost benefit analysis of rents
and reduced energy bills over the period for which the tenant occupied the building.
Needless to say, the cost of upgrades needs to be balanced against current rent levels
because occupiers would be reluctant to pay above market rates just because a building
is more energy efficient (Ellison et al., 2007). Adair et al. (2003) and de Valence (2004)
36 suggest that the changing preference of building users to adaptive re-use is driven by a
commitment to sustainability juxtaposed with the need to improve the aesthetics of
existing buildings. Likewise, Yau et al. (2008) state that adaptive re-use creates the
opportunity to reduce the negative visual impact of poor quality buildings. This can
provide an opportunity to re-life an existing building and optimize its whole lifecycle
costs (Shah and Kumar, 2005a).
As the needs of owners and occupants continually change, this will invariably drive
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE At 07:57 23 April 2017 (PT)

buildings to be re-used more frequently ( Jones Lang Lasalle, 2005; Lufkin et al., 2005).
The rate of re-use frequency will not be ultimately dictated purely by the physical ability
of buildings but by changing user expectations (Kohler and Yang, 2007). If response to
changing expectations is not met then buildings may experience higher occupancy
turnover due to dissatisfaction of occupiers (Ellison and Sayce, 2007). In economic terms
the buildings would be less sustainable, because they would experience higher vacancy
rates than alternative buildings that are more readily adaptable.
The operational energy in commercial buildings has increased significantly during
the last four decades and, therefore, energy improvements through adaptive re-use can
provide significant cost savings for occupiers (Brown, 2006; Bruhns et al., 2006).
Accordingly, several Australian Government agencies such as the Green Building
Council of Australia (2006) and the Department of Environment and Heritage (2005)
have espoused the need to reduce the environmental loading of their buildings and
implemented a strategy to retrofit. Moreover, the Green Building Council of Australia
(2006) has suggested that government should only tenant sustainable buildings.

Lifecycle issues
The life expectancy of buildings has been identified as an important issue that
determines whether they are re-used or demolished (Bradley and Kohler, 2007). Kendall
(1999) suggests that by extending the lifecycle of a building the ageing asset, existing
failures and resourcing requirements can be dealt with effectively. Addressing such
issues enables buildings to be stabilized so that they are able to accommodate new
technologies. In addition, it allows for changes in the organization of work and the
life-styles of building occupants. Being able to adapt to suit changing working practices,
particularly where greater flexibility and worker and space efficiencies are required, is
significant to investment performance (Ellison et al., 2007). Buildings that can adapt to
constant changing market demands would be more sustainable and provide investors
with confidence as long-term investments. When buildings are constructed for both
present requirements and future change, real estate decisions will effectively begin to
represent a sustainable investment.
Residual service life expectancy is based on matching user requirements to
resource availability and the capability of the building over the whole of its lifecycle.
Yet, estimating the service life of buildings remains a problematic issue (Lutzkendorf
and Lorenz, 2005; Ellison et al., 2007). This is because it can either be based on the end of
 the physical life or a clients expected time line for the building. Compounding this Adaptive re-use
problem is the fact that estimation of future maintenance and operating costs of a of buildings
building requires observation and longitudinal evidence to determine the life of
materials and components (Lutzkendorf and Lorenz, 2005). As a result, there may be
considerable differences between the estimates produced by building owners and
occupiers and those calculated by property investors and developers.
Despite these estimation differences the residual service life method is considered to 37
be the most accurate way to estimate the optimum service life of built asset (Shah and
Kumar, 2005a). Although the process is complex it prioritizes investment choices in
relation to social, economic, environmental and governance factors. In many cases the
residual service life expectancy of a building may be less than a new replacement,
despite any improvements by adaptive re-use and because the life expectancy of existing
materials may fall short of new replacements. This will directly impact ongoing
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE At 07:57 23 April 2017 (PT)

maintenance costs of the adapted building, as they can be higher than those for a new
building (Douglas, 2006).

Changing perceptions of buildings

Hassler et al. (2000) suggests that buildings that are able to provide multiple uses by
adaptive re-use are in great demand. Conversely, Velthuis and Spennemann (2007)
suggest that other motives such as the growth of appreciation for built heritage is
driving the growth in support for adaptive re-use. Despite the increasing demand for
adaptive re-use it remains an anathema to many architects and most of the building
professions (Gregory, 2004). Many architects believe that adapting older buildings for
multiple uses is less prestigious than constructing new ones, and inhibits their creative
opportunities. Yet, it is often the constraints that are imposed upon them, which results
in innovation and outcomes that are of significance to the wider community. Older
buildings provide an essential platform for providing a social and economic edge to
sustainability (Ball, 1999).
The use of older properties can enable occupiers at the lower end of the rental market
to occupy buildings in locations where normally they would only have the choice of
newer buildings at much higher rent levels. Older buildings may present reduced levels
of amenity and service, but they are an affordable resource that can be exploited by new
or less profitable organizations. Eventual commercial success by these organizations
may in the long term generate opportunities for them to either upgrade their buildings
through adaptive re-use or relocate to new ones.
The European Union (2001) and Myers and Wyatt (2004) suggest that regeneration of
urban property, particularly older buildings, generally pursues the sustainable
development tenet of economic growth. Unfortunately, retrofitting older buildings with
equipment and service upgrades to improve energy efficiency can be a difficult and
expensive process. Such improvements, however, can achieve as much as 20 per cent
energy savings with a payback period of one to two years (Bradford, 2007). Continual
urban growth, coupled with an increase in demand for commercial and residential space,
generates the prospect of stock shortages for the foreseeable future until new office
buildings have been developed (APCC, 2002). As a result, where tenants in the past have
been offered low rents and incentives to occupy buildings, it has been predicted that in
future they will struggle to find large amounts of contiguous space in the business
districts of cities (Property Council of Australia, 2006). This type of prediction tends to
 JEDT drive developers to increase their available building stock by adapting existing and
9,1 heritage buildings for new uses.

Incentive schemes
Government agencies are prime candidates to implement an adaptive re-use strategy
because of their large property portfolios. Having a large stock in place enables agencies to
38 develop organization wide plans and adopt a strategic screening process to select the most
appropriate buildings to adapt and re-use (California Commissioning Collaborative,
2006). According to Barber (2003) and Shipley et al. (2006) government agencies can also
encourage development, particularly in the case of heritage buildings, through the use
of financial incentives. This has generally not been the case, however, for example,
Green Building Council of Australia (2006) has been critical of the government, as it has
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE At 07:57 23 April 2017 (PT)

eschewed supporting, leading and providing incentives for adaptive re-use. The lack of
incentive invariably results in adaptive re-use becoming an unappealing exercise for
developers. This is further exacerbated by the often inconsistent application of local
authority requirements. The varying interpretation of requirements that affect re-used
buildings can lead to myopic decisions being made by developers when consider
they are confronted with retaining or demolishing a building. In swaying developers to
embrace sustainability, government clearly needs to generate policy initiatives that
encourage adaptive re-use. One such strategy is to introduce a degree of flexibility to
planning requirements, so that proposals for buildings that enable a range of different uses
in the future become viable. Moreover, Kincaid (2000) suggests that building codes should
incorporate a set of reusability criteria but the code should not be relaxed to simply
accommodate re-use issues.
The City of Los Angeles Adaptive Reuse Program (2004), for example, uses an
ordinance to streamline the application process and provide more flexibility in meeting
building code and zoning requirements. The ordinances introduce financial incentives to
provide income and property tax reductions and construction incentives that offer
additional flexibility in meeting building code requirements. Buildings being adapted still
have to satisfy planning and building code requirements but are subject to exemptions
where non-compliance is not possible. Key areas that create problems for older buildings
to comply with building codes during adaptive re-use are fire protection, disabled
access and parking allocation requirements. The building code in Ontario, Canada, has
inbuilt flexibility for these areas, which allows inspectors to accept alternative standards
to encourage adaptive re-use, but at the same time still maintain standards of safety.
A similar example can be found in Western Australia where most town planning schemes
allow some discretion for parking requirements.
The use of subsidies and incentives for adaptive re-use by public organizations such
as the Urban Renewal Authority and Housing Society of Hong Kong are helping to
mitigate the problem of urban decay (Langston et al., 2007). Yau et al. (2008) state that the
benefits of such incentives are not confined to upgrading buildings but have the flow-on
effect of increasing the values of adjacent property. Encouraging adaptive re-use may
involve a series of steps, which include making inventories of potential adaptive re-use
sites, amending local zoning regulations, arranging for possible property transfers of
publicly owned buildings, and providing assistance in obtaining sources of funding
such as loans, grants and rent subsidies (Municipal Research and Services Center of
Washington, 1997).
 The Commission of the European Union (2002) issued a directive that member states Adaptive re-use
were required to introduce legislation to make existing buildings more energy efficient. of buildings
This also ensured the incorporation of energy improvements during the refurbishment
and adaptive re-use of buildings. According to Lutzkendorf and Lorenz (2005)
similar initiatives are being made in Australia, Canada and the USA, together with
the introduction of incentives such as tax credits and subsidy programs. The Green
Building Council of Australia (2006) state that government should generate tax 39
incentives to enable building owners to address the poor environmental performance of
existing buildings. Such incentives would naturally ensure that the high levels of energy
consumption, resource use and emissions generated by buildings are reduced.

Barriers to adaptive re-use

Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE At 07:57 23 April 2017 (PT)

The complexity associated with converting an old building to new uses is a

major determinant facing adaptive re-use projects (Kurul, 2007). This is because older
buildings typically do not provide voids or access ways and sufficient room to retrofit
modern services such as air-conditioning. Overcoming this problem may add to the
design and construction time needed to finish the project. Other barriers include
unfamiliarity of trades people with older materials, the necessity of detailed structural
evaluation and planning, or the need to work around occupiers of the facility. Despite
these barriers, the benefits of choosing rehabilitation, over new construction, will
generally offset any additional time taken to complete a project (Douglas, 2006).

Maintenance
The assessment of a buildings physical and operating for adaptive re-use can be a time
consuming process and involves a detailed survey of structure and fabric. In some cases,
the structure and fabric of buildings may have deteriorated to a point where high levels
of maintenance and repair are required, which can affect the buildings usage. In this
situation, for example, the building may not be a viable proposition for re-use due to the
continuing high maintenance and repair costs. The current layout of a building may
also be inappropriate for any change of use, particularly if it contains a large number
of columns or internal partition walls. Remoy and van der Voordt (2007) suggest that
buildings of this nature are not flexible enough to be re-used and have poor spatial
quality. Office buildings that are functionally or technically outdated for multiple uses
and have low visual quality should be demolished. ODonnell (2004) supports this view
because older buildings may also not reach the desired standards of new buildings in
terms of operating performance. Any shortfalls should, however, be balanced against
potential gains in social value from adaptive re-use.

Building code compliance

An underlying reason for engaging in a re-use project is the need to bring older facilities
up to current performance levels, as required by new building codes and regulations
(Cooper, 2001). This creates an obstacle to change of use because it may take extensive
modifications and expense to ensure that older buildings comply. In Western Australia,
for example, the performance-based building code allows some flexibility in terms of
options to satisfy current code requirements, but adaptive re-use may still involve
substantial expenditure by the developer. Shipley et al. (2006) states that developers
often complain about the inflexibility of building codes and other regulations in
 JEDT the requirements for reusing buildings. Any consideration for further relaxations for
9,1 adaptive re-use projects would, however, need to be balanced against the risks it could
create for the health and safety of occupants.

Classification change
Changing the classification of buildings through adaptive re-use may result in zoning
40 changes and the need for compliance with new building codes (Langston et al., 2007).
This applies pressure to designers to find solutions, particularly with older buildings,
but there may be compensations for developers in the shape of gaining floor space
efficiencies. St Lawrence (2003) suggests that urban planners have the opportunity to
make a significant difference to environmental outcomes for development. Yet, they do
not always embrace this opportunity because of the lack of resources needed to police the
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE At 07:57 23 April 2017 (PT)

requirements being asked by developers. There are, however, signs that local authorities
are starting to take note of sustainability issues such as climate change and reflecting
this in the requirements of building codes, standards and regulations (Department for
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, 2007).

Inertia of production and development criteria

Many areas of contemporary cities were constructed under a set of production
and developmental criteria that were very different from those currently in use
(Fothergill et al., 1987; Sabot, 1998). As a result, this poses challenging issues for planners,
developers, designers and the like who are striving to improve the environmental
performance and sustainability of buildings. In tackling this issue as well as urban decay,
regeneration programs can be and have been widely used, though there are drawbacks
to this approach. For example, regeneration schemes such as the London Docklands,
Swansea Maritime Quarter, Bristol Docklands and Cardiff Bay redevelopments,
only produced a limited amount of affordable residential units (Bromley et al., 2005).
While such regeneration schemes are good examples of adaptive re-use on a
large-scale they did not, therefore, fully satisfy the tenets of sustainability from a social
perspective.

Commercial risk and uncertainty

Many contractors are unwilling to renovate old buildings (Municipal Research &
Services Center of Washington, 1997). This is because of the perceived risk that
lengthy or difficult renovations may decrease profit margins (Reyers and Mansfield,
2001). This is further exacerbated by the difficulty of raising finance for adaptive re-use
ventures (Shipley et al., 2006). This is often a result of additional risks of re-use including
unknown work, scope changes, compatibility of materials, quality of information and
the operating environment, health and safety, design constraints and decanting of
occupants (Reyers and Mansfield, 2001; Cox, 2004).
Remoy and van der Voordt (2007) state that a lack of accurate information and
drawings for older buildings is an issue that can potentially stymie the re-use process.
In addition, the discovery of latent problems, defects or dimensional and material
inconsistencies may affect the success of adaptive re-use. ODonnell (2004) suggests
that buildings owners would not see any economic benefit in updating buildings
to sustainability standards. Commercial property markets have only a limited response
to the sustainability agenda (Pivo and McNamara, 2005; Ellison and Sayce, 2007).
 This has often been blamed on the lack of a suitable business case for procuring Adaptive re-use
sustainable buildings (Pett et al., 2004; Sayce et al., 2007). However, Davies (2004) and of buildings
Wall (2004) suggest there is a genuine intent by building owners to embrace
sustainability. It has been suggested by Gulliver (2004) that failing to upgrade existing
buildings to the required sustainability standards limits the market potential for a
building. Fundamentally, sustainable buildings perform better economically, socially
and environmentally (Zimmerman and Martin, 2001; Kats et al., 2004; Lutzkendorf and 41
Lorenz, 2005) and as a result, reflect an improved market performance.

Financial and technical perceptions

Better knowledge and understanding of the building stock is required so that a
comprehensive conservation strategy for adaptive re-use can be propagated. To be
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE At 07:57 23 April 2017 (PT)

effective, this knowledge needs to also encompass the negative as well as positive aspects
of reusing buildings. There is a mixture of perceived and factual negative design, technical
and operational issues attached to adaptive re-use projects. Where perceptions are strong,
they have convinced developers that adaptive re-use would be too expensive and
demolition is the only way to acquire a reasonable profit. Unfortunately, this has lead to
hundreds of older buildings being prematurely demolished (Shipley et al., 2006). It has
been suggested by the Green Building Council of Australia (2006) that there is a lack of
value attached to the long-term benefits of green buildings. There has been too great a
focus on short-term construction and a culture of building cheap for demolition in the
future. Itard and Klunder (2007) state that if buildings are produced to low quality
standards, their problems in meeting current needs will often be significant. The extent of
the financial and technical resources needed to solve these problems may preclude
adopting renovation, leaving demolition as the only viable solution.
Investors and developers typically base their adaptive re-use decisions on perceptions
rather than an objective assessment of risk, complexity, cost and value (Kurul, 2007).
However, with the rising costs of new construction this trend appears to be reversing as
most adaptive re-use projects now compete economically with redevelopment (Bullen,
2007). Moreover, it would appear that developers are beginning to appreciate the values of
age, character and architectural quality and pay for space and architectural standards that
are not available in equivalent new buildings (Bullen, 2007). The actual costs of adaptive
re-use projects still remain very difficult to define, despite the growing body of evidence
that supports their viability compared with demolition and redevelopment. Physical and
operational attributes of older buildings vary considerably and consequently the costs of
reusing them will also differ in relation to the scope, size and complexity of the works being
carried out. For example, a study by Mills et al. (2005) revealed that the cost to carry out
the adaptive re-use to a selection of different buildings ranged from US$0.13 to 0.45/sq.ft.
The California Commissioning Collaborative (2006) state that the size of a building is a
predominant factor in the cost of adaptive re-use and suggest that the larger the building
the less it would cost per unit of area.

Conclusion
The research identifies key adaptive re-use issues that need to be addressed by policy
makers, developers and owners during the formative stages of the design process so that
efforts toward sustainability can be ameliorated. Addressing a buildings adaptive
 JEDT re-use will significantly reduce whole life costs, waste and lead to the improved building
9,1 functionality.
As buildings age their operational performance typically reduces until eventually
they fall below the expectations of building owners and occupiers. Apart from the
natural depreciation of the buildings fabric and systems their effectiveness is impacted
by changing market demands. The resultant declining operating performance is a
42 critical issue that owners and operators have to deal with during the potentially long
lifecycles of their buildings. Responding to declining performance frequently results in
decisions to demolish and redevelop buildings that are justified purely on economic
grounds. The decision to demolish may be premature if it ignores the residual utility and
value of buildings that could be optimized by adapting and refurbishing using the
process of adaptive re-use. Failing to optimize buildings also means that their residual
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE At 07:57 23 April 2017 (PT)

lifecycle expectancy is not fully exploited which is a basic problem in adopting a more
sustainable use of the built stock. The drivers and barriers to implementing an adaptive
re-use strategy have been identified from a thorough review of the normative literature.
Adaptive re-use is beginning to receive widespread attention because of the
economic, social and environmental benefits that can be espoused. However, the jury
appears to be still out on whether adaptive re-use is the most appropriate strategy for
meeting the changing needs and demands of developers, occupiers and owners for
exiting building stock. Thus, more empirical research is required to examine the role of
adaptive re-use in the context of its contribution to sustainability.

References
Adair, A., Berry, J. and McGreal, S. (2003), Financing propertys contribution to regeneration,
Urban Studies, Vol. 40 Nos 5/6, pp. 1065-80.
APCC (2002), Perceptions of the Construction Industry in Australia, Australian Procurement and
Construction Council, Australian Capital Territory.
Australian Government Department of Defence (2006), Ecologically sustainable development and
environmental performance, Annual Report 2005-2006, available at: www.defence.gov.au/
budget/0506/dar/volume_01/appendices/06_ecologically_sustainable.html (accessed
18 March 2007).
Balaras, C.A., Dascalaki, E. and Kontoyiannidis, S. (2004), Decision support software for
sustainable building refurbishment, ASHRAE Transactions, Vol. 110 No. 1, pp. 592-601.
Ball, M. (2003), Is there an office replacement cycle?, Journal of Property Research, Vol. 20 No. 2,
pp. 173-89.
Ball, R. (1999), Developers, regeneration and sustainability issues in the reuse of vacant
buildings, Building Research and Information, Vol. 27 No. 3, pp. 140-8.
Ball, R. (2002), Re-use potential and vacant industrial premises: revisiting the regeneration issue
in stoke-on-trent, Journal of Property Research, Vol. 19 No. 2, pp. 93-110.
Barber, S. (2003), Municipal tax incentives in Victoria, British Columbia a case study,
Plan Canada, Vol. 43 No. 2, pp. 20-2.
Boehland, J. (2003), Future-proofing your building: designing for flexibility and adaptive reuse,
Environmental Building News, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 1-14.
Bon, R. and Hutchinson, K. (2000), Sustainable construction: some economic challenges,
Building Research and Information, Vol. 28 Nos 5/6, pp. 310-14.
 Bradley, P.E. and Kohler, N. (2007), Methodology for the survival analysis of urban building Adaptive re-use
stocks, Building Research and Information, Vol. 35 No. 5, pp. 529-42.
Brand, S. (1994), How Buildings Learn: What Happens After Theyre Built, Viking Penguin,
of buildings
New York, NY.
Bromley, R.D.F., Tallon, A.R. and Thomas, C.J. (2005), City centre regeneration through
residential development: contributing to sustainability, Urban Studies, Vol. 42 No. 13,
pp. 2407-29. 43
Brown, S.K. (2006), High quality indoor environments for office buildings, Proceedings of 2nd
International Conference of the CRC for Construction Innovation, 12-14 March, CRC Press,
Boca Raton, FL.
Bruhns, H., Steadman, P. and Marjanovic, L. (2006), A preliminary model of non-domestic
energy use for England and Wales, Proceedings of the Annual RICS Construction and
Building Research Conference, September 6-7, RICS, London.
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE At 07:57 23 April 2017 (PT)

Bullen, P.A. (2007), Adaptive reuse and sustainability of commercial buildings, Facilities,
Vol. 25 Nos 1/2, pp. 20-31.
California Commissioning Collaborative (2006), California Commissioning Guide: Existing
Buildings, California Commissioning Collaborative, Portland, OR.
City of Los Angeles (2004), Adaptive Reuse Program Sourcebook, Mayors Office of Economic
Development, San Francisco, CA.
Commission of the European Communities (2002), Directive on the Energy Performance of
Buildings, Directive 2002/91/EC, Commission of the European Communities, Brussels.
Cooper, I. (2001), Post-occupancy evaluation-where are you?, Building Research and
Information, Vol. 29 No. 2, pp. 158-63.
Cox, F. (2004), The Engineering and Management of Retrofit Projects in Process Industries,
European Construction Institute, Loughborough.
Davies, R. (Ed.) (2004), Green value: green buildings, Growing Value, RICS, London.
Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (2007), Draft strategy for
sustainable construction, available at: www.berr.gov.uk (accessed 14 November 2007).
Department of Environment and Heritage (2004), Adaptive Reuse, Commonwealth of Australia,
Canberra.
Department of Environment and Heritage (2005), ESD Design Guide for Australian Government
Buildings, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra.
de Valence, G. (2004), The Construction Sector System Approach, CIB Publication No. 293, CIB,
Rotterdam.
Douglas, J. (2002), Building Adaptation, Butterworth-Heinemann, Woburn.
Douglas, J. (2006), Building Adaptation, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford.
Ellison, L. and Sayce, S. (2007), Establishing sustainability criteria relevant for the commercial
property investment sector, Journal of Property Management, Vol. 25 No. 3, pp. 287-304.
Ellison, L., Sayce, S. and Smith, J. (2007), Socially responsible property investment: quantifying
the relationship between sustainability and investment property worth, Journal of
Property Research, Vol. 24 No. 3, pp. 191-219.
European Union (2001), A sustainable Europe for a better world: European Union strategy for
sustainable development, available at: http://europa-eu.int/eur-lex/eu/com/cn/2001/
com2001 (accessed 23 August 2007).
Fothergill, S., Monk, S. and Perry, M. (1987), Property and Industrial Development, Hutchinson,
London.
 JEDT Gallant, B.T. and Blickle, F.W. (2005), The building decommissioning assessment: a new
six-step process to manage redevelopment of brownfields with major structures,
9,1 Environmental Practice, Vol. 7 No. 2, pp. 97-107.
Green Building Council Australia (2006), The dollars and sense of green buildings: building the
business case for green commercial buildings in Australia, available at: www.gbca.org.au/
(accessed 9 July 2007).
44 Gregory, J. (2004), New South Wales department of housing rehabilitation, New Ways for Older
Housing, available at: www/housing.nsw.gov.au/rehab.htm (accessed 21 August 2006).
Gulliver, T. (2004), Getting serious about green dollars, Property Australia, Vol. 18 No. 4, p. 14,
available at: www.propertyoz.com.au (accessed 9 July 2007).
Hakkinen, T. (2007), Assessment of indicators for sustainable urban construction,
Civil Engineering and Environmental Systems, Vol. 24 No. 4, pp. 247-59.
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE At 07:57 23 April 2017 (PT)

Hall, P.G. (1998), Cities on Civilisation, Wiedenfeld and Nicolson, London.

Hassler, U., Kohler, N. and Schwaiger, B. (2000), International Conference Sustainable Building,
22-25 October, Industrial Culture and Preservation of Resources, The Industrial Building
Stock, Maastricht.
Itard, L. and Klunder, G. (2007), Comparing environmental impacts of renovated housing stock
with new construction, Building Research and Information, Vol. 35 No. 3, pp. 252-67.
Jones Lang LaSalle (Mulholland, V., Hartmann, A., and Plumb, C.) (2005), Building
refurbishment repositioning your asset for success, March, White Paper, Jones Lang
LaSalle, Cairns.
Kats, G., Alevantis, L., Berman, A., Mills, E. and Perlman, J. (2004), The costs and financial
benefits of green buildings a report to Californias sustainable building task force,
available at: www.usgbc.org/Docs/News/News477.pdf (accessed 23 July 2004).
Kendall, S. (1999), Open building: an approach to sustainable architecture, Journal of Urban
Technology, Vol. 6 No. 3, pp. 1-16.
Kincaid, D. (2000), Adaptability potentials for buildings and infrastructure in sustainable
cities, Facilities, Vol. 18 Nos 3/4, pp. 155-61.
Klunder, G. (2005), Sustainable Solutions for Dutch Housing. Reducing the Environmental
Impacts of New and Existing Houses. Sustainable Urban Areas Series No. 4,
Delft University Press Science, Delft.
Kohler, N. (2006), A European perspective on the Pearce report: policy and research,
Building Research and Information, Vol. 34 No. 3, pp. 287-94.
Kohler, N. and Hassler, U. (2002), The building stock as a research object, Building Research
and Information, Vol. 30 No. 4, pp. 226-36.
Kohler, N. and Yang, W. (2007), Long-term management of building stocks, Building Research
and Information, Vol. 35 No. 4, pp. 351-62.
Kurul, E. (2007), A qualitative approach to exploring adaptive re-use processes, Facilities,
Vol. 25 Nos 13/14, pp. 554-70.
Langston, C., Wong, F.K.W., Hui, E.C.M. and Shen, L.-Y. (2007), Strategic assessment of building
adaptive reuse opportunities in Hong Kong, Building and Environment, Vol. 43 No. 10,
pp. 1709-18.
Latham, D. (2000), Creative Re-use of Buildings, Donhead, Dorset.
Lufkin, P.S., Desai, A. and Janke, J. (2005), Estimating the restoration and modernization costs of
infrastructure and facilities, Public Works Management and Policy, Vol. 10, pp. 40-52.
 Lutzkendorf, T. and Lorenz, D. (2005), Sustainable property investment: valuing sustainable Adaptive re-use
buildings through property performance assessment, Building Research and Information,
Vol. 33 No. 3, pp. 212-34. of buildings
Mills, E., Bourassa, N., Piette, M.A., Friedman, H., Haasl, T., Powell, T. and Claridge, D. (2005),
National Conference on Building Commissioning 4-6 May. The Cost-effectiveness of
Commissioning New and Existing Commercial Buildings, Lessons from 224 Buildings,
Portland Energy Conservation, New York, NY. 45
Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington (1997), Infill development strategies for
shaping livable neighborhoods, Report No. 38, available at: www.mrsc.org/Publications/
textfill.aspx (accessed 14 November 2006).
Myers, D. and Wyatt, P. (2004), Rethinking urban capacity: identifying and appraising vacant
buildings, Building Research and Information, Vol. 32 No. 4, pp. 285-92.
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE At 07:57 23 April 2017 (PT)

Nye, M. and Rydin, Y. (2006), Evaluating Sustainable Housing Construction Standards in

London: Report to the Greater London Authority, London School of Economics, London.
ODonnell, C. (2004), Getting serious about green dollars, Property Australia, Vol. 18 No. 4,
pp. 1-2, available at: www.propertyoz.com.au (accessed 7 September 2006).
Pearce, A.R. (2004), Rehabilitation as a strategy to increase the sustainability of the built
environment, available at: http://maven.gtri.gatech.edu/sfi/resources/pdf (accessed
21 September 2005).
Petersdorff, C., Boermans, T., Stobbe, O., Joosen, S., Graus, W., Mikkers, E. and Harnisch, J.
(2004), Mitigation of CO2 Emissions from the EU-15 Building Stock: Beyond the EU
Directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings, Report for European Insulation
Manufacturers Association and European Alliance of Companies for Energy Efficiency in
Buildings, Cologne.
Petersen, E.H. (2002), 3rd International Conference on Sustainable Building, 23-25 September,
An LCA based assessment tool for the building industry, BEAT, Oslo.
Pett, J., Guertler, P., Hugh, M. and Smith, W. (2004), Invisible Property Investment: Asset Implications
of Low Energy Offices, Association for the Conservation of Energy, London.
Pickard, R.D. (1996), Conservation in the Built Environment, Addison-Wesley, Longman.
Pivo, G. and McNamara, P. (2005), Responsible property investing, International Real Estate
Review, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 26-42.
Property Council of Australia (2004), Office supply and demand, available at: www.propertyoz.
com.au (accessed 19 July 2008).
Property Council of Australia (2006), Office Market Report, available at: www.propertyoz.com.au
(accessed 24 September 2006).
Remoy, H.T. and van der Voordt, T.J.M. (2007), A new life: conversion of vacant office buildings
into housing, Facilities, Vol. 25 Nos 3/4, pp. 88-103.
Reyers, J. and Mansfield, J. (2001), The assessment of risk in conservation refurbishment
projects, Structural Survey, Vol. 19 No. 5, pp. 238-44.
Sabot, E. (1998), Traitement despaces, traitment dimage de la difficulte detre et lavoir ete:
le cas de Saint Etienne, Modern and Contemporary France, Vol. 6 No. 1, pp. 33-47.
Sayce, S., Ellison, L. and Parnell, P. (2007), Understanding investment drivers for UK
sustainable property, Building Research and Information, Vol. 35 No. 6, pp. 629-43.
Shah, A. and Kumar, A. (2005a), Challenges in residual service life assessment for refurbishment
projects, Proceedings of the 11th Pacific Rim Real Estate Society Conference, PRRES 2005,
Melbourne.
 JEDT Shah, A. and Kumar, A. (2005b), Optimisation of maintenance expenditure for buildings:
refurbish or demolish?, IABSE Reports, Vol. 89, pp. 302-14.
9,1 Shipley, R., Utz, S. and Parsons, M. (2006), Does adaptive reuse pay? A study of the business of
building renovation I Ontario, Canada, International Journal of Heritage Studies, Vol. 12
No. 6, pp. 505-20.
St Lawrence, S. (2003), Review of the UK corporate real estate market with regard to availability
46 of environmentally and socially responsible office buildings, Journal of Corporate Real
Estate, Vol. 6 No. 2, pp. 149-61.
Thomsen, A. and van der Flier, K. (2006), XXXIV IAHS, World Congress on Housing, Sustainable
Housing Design, 20-23 September 2006: Life Cycle of Dwellings: A Conceptual Model
Based on Dutch Practice, IAHS, Naples.
van Beuren, E. and de Jong, J. (2007), Establishing sustainability: policy successes and failures,
Building Research and Information, Vol. 35 No. 5, pp. 543-56.
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE At 07:57 23 April 2017 (PT)

van der Voordt, T. (2004), Costs and benefits of flexible workspaces; work in progress in
The Netherlands, Facilities, Vol. 21 Nos 13/14, pp. 306-14.
Vanegas, J.A., DuBose, J.R. and Pearce, A.R. (1995), paper presented at the Symposium on Design
for the Global Environment, 2-3 November, Sustainable Technologies for the Building
Construction Industry, Atlanta.
Velthuis, K. and Spennemann, D.H.R. (2007), The future of defunct religious buildings:
Dutch approaches to their adaptive re-use, Cultural Trends, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 43-66.
Wall, C. (2004), Getting serious about green dollars, Property Australia, Vol. 18 No. 4, p. 5.
Yau, Y., Chau, K.W., Wing Ho, D.C. and Wong, S.K. (2008), An empirical study on the positive
externality of building refurbishment, International Journal of Housing Markets and
Analysis, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 19-32.
Zimmerman, A. and Martin, M. (2001), Post-occupancy evaluation: benefits and barriers,
Building Research and Information, Vol. 29 No. 2, pp. 168-74.

Further reading
Davis, L., Everest, A. and Wall, M.G. (2004), Cost model, Building Magazine, 16 April.

Corresponding author
Peter Love can be contacted at: plove@iinet.net.au

To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: reprints@emeraldinsight.com

Or visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints
 This article has been cited by:

1. MohamedRayman Rayman Mohamed rayman.mohamed@wayne.edu BoyleRobin Robin Boyle

r.boyle@wayne.edu YangAllan Yilun Allan Yilun Yang allan_yang@uhaul.com TangariJoseph Joseph
Tangari joetangari@gmail.com Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA Department of Urban
Studies and Planning, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA U-Haul International Inc.,
Phoenix, Arizona, USA Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Wayne State University, Detroit,
Michigan, USA . 2017. Adaptive reuse: a review and analysis of its relationship to the 3 Es of sustainability.
Facilities 35:3/4, 138-154. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
2. W. Keener Hughen, Dustin C. Read. 2017. Analyzing form-based zonings potential to stimulate mixed-
use development in different economic environments. Land Use Policy 61, 1-11. [CrossRef]
3. LouwMichael Paul Michael Paul Louw michael.louw@uct.ac.za School of Architecture, Planning and
Geomatics, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa . 2016. The adaptive reuse of industrial
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE At 07:57 23 April 2017 (PT)

structures. Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology 14:4, 920-940. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
4. Damla Msrlsoy, Kaan Gne. 2016. Adaptive reuse strategies for heritage buildings: A holistic
approach. Sustainable Cities and Society 26, 91-98. [CrossRef]
5. Sheila Conejos, Craig Langston, Edwin H. W. Chan, Michael Y. L. Chew. 2016. Governance of heritage
buildings: Australian regulatory barriers to adaptive reuse. Building Research & Information 44:5-6,
507-519. [CrossRef]
6. Patrik Rohdin Division of Energy Systems, Department of Management and Engineering, Linkping
University, Linkping, Sweden Mariusz Dalewski International Centre for Indoor Environment and
Energy, Department of Civil Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
Bahram Moshfegh Division of Energy Systems, Department of Management and Engineering, Linkping
University, Linkping, Sweden . 2016. Combining a survey approach and energy and indoor environment
auditing in historic buildings. Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology 14:1, 182-195. [Abstract]
[Full Text] [PDF]
7. Kristy Dyson Department of Construction Management, Curtin University, Perth, Australia Jane
Matthews Department of Construction Management, Curtin University, Perth, Australia Peter E.D. Love
Department of Civil Engineering, Curtin University, Perth, Australia . 2016. Critical success factors of
adapting heritage buildings: an exploratory study. Built Environment Project and Asset Management 6:1,
44-57. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
8. Anna Nra Krdy, Zorn Vukoszvlyev. 2014. Aspects of social sustainability in cases of building
rehabilitations in Central Europe. pits - pitszettudomny 42:3, 287-333. [CrossRef]
9. Jannik Giesekam, John Barrett, Peter Taylor, Anne Owen. 2014. The greenhouse gas emissions and
mitigation options for materials used in UK construction. Energy and Buildings 78, 202-214. [CrossRef]
10. Sarel Lavy, Manish DixitIndustry-Specific Needs 141-166. [CrossRef]
11. Sung-Lin Hsueh, Jen-Rong Lee, Yu-Lung Chen. 2013. DFAHP multicriteria risk assessment model
for redeveloping derelict public buildings. International Journal of Strategic Property Management 17:4,
333-346. [CrossRef]
12. Nicholas ChilesheSchool of Natural and Built Environments, Barbara Hardy Institute (BHI), University
of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia Jamal M. KhatibFaculty of Science and Engineering, University
of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, UK Mohamed FarahOmniserv Ltd, London, UK. 2013. The
perceptions of contractor's and landlord's representatives in the refurbishment of tower blocks. Facilities
31:11/12, 521-541. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
 13. Jonathan Gosling, Paola Sassi, Mohamed Naim, Robert Lark. 2013. Adaptable buildings: A systems
approach. Sustainable Cities and Society 7, 44-51. [CrossRef]
14. Nicholas ChilesheSchool of Natural and Built Environments, Barbara Hardy Institute (BHI), University
of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia Jamal M. KhatibSchool of Technology, University of
Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, UK Mohamed FarahLondon, UK. 2013. The perceptions of tenants
in the refurbishment of tower blocks. Facilities 31:3/4, 119-137. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
15. Peter A. BullenDepartment of Construction Management, School of the Built Environment, Curtin
University, Perth, Australia Peter E.D. LoveDepartment of Construction Management, School of the
Built Environment, Curtin University, Perth, Australia. 2011. Adaptive reuse of heritage buildings.
Structural Survey 29:5, 411-421. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE At 07:57 23 April 2017 (PT)