Adaptive Reuse of Heritage Buildings: From a Literature Review to a Model of Practice

The Adaptive Reuse (AR) of heritage buildings is a complex process, which aims to preserve the values of heritage buildings while adapting them for use in the present and transferring them to the future. This paper aims to identify steps in this process and develop a structured model. The model is an ‘ideal’, it needs validation in practice;...

Energy potential mapping: Visualising energy characteristics for the exergetic optimisation of the built environment

It is difficult to fully satisfy the energy demand of today’s society with renewables. Nevertheless, most of the energy we use is lost as non-functional waste energy, whereas a large part of the built environment’s energy demand is only for low-quality energy, so the initial demand for primary, high-quality energy can be reduced by more...

Greening Governance: An Evolutionary Approach to Policy Making for a Sustainable Built Environment

After twenty years of sustainable building policies, the issue of environmental impact of buildings and urban environments remains. Policy makers still have difficulties addressing the ambiguous, contested and dynamic goals encapsulated in the term ‘sustainable development’. How to decide between using zinc or PVC gutters, when knowledge and...