The embodied carbon dilemma for commercial buildings: Demolish, retrofit, or rebuild?

As architects strive for sustainability, one of the greatest challenges lies in the carbon footprint of existing buildings. This session will address the complex decision-making process behind demolition versus retrofitting. Experts in heritage preservation, adaptive reuse, and life-cycle analysis will weigh the environmental impact of tearing down outdated structures against the challenges of upgrading them to modern efficiency standards. This panel will showcase innovative examples of retrofitted buildings that achieve contemporary performance levels while also preserving their historical and cultural value, offering insights into how cities can balance growth with sustainability.

Learning Outcomes

Following this presentation, you should be able to:

1. Outline the methods used to measure the relative environmental impacts of demolishing, retrofitting, or rebuilding a given building
2. Outline the challenges associated with retrofitting old buildings to achieve contemporary performance levels
3. Identify examples in which these challenges are successfully overcome

This presentation will deliver outcomes related to the following Competency/s from the National Standard of Competency for Architects 2021:

Performance Criteria For Practice Management And Professional Conduct:

PC 10 – Demonstrate understanding of the whole life carbon implications of procurement methods, materials, components and construction systems.

Performance Criteria For Project Initiation And Conceptual Design:

PC 31 – Be able to identify, analyse and integrate information relevant to environmental sustainability – such as energy and water consumption, resources depletion, waste, embodied carbon and carbon emissions – over the lifecycle of a project.

PC 35 – Be able to assess operational and embodied carbon implications of materials, components, construction systems and supply chains (including transport) to achieve net zero whole life carbon when developing design concepts. This includes integrating relevant consultant expertise and advising on the impact of chosen materials, components and systems on carbon outcomes.

This session is presented by: