Industry coalition calls for building reuse over redevelopment to cut carbon emissions

Architects, builders, academics and regulators have united to call for a major shift in Australia’s building policies, claiming current approaches are based on narrow environmental cost views that downplay the real costs of new construction.

The consortium comprises representatives across Australia’s property sector, including developers, architects, industry bodies, environmental and heritage consultants, government and researchers.

The group gathered at Hames Sharley architects’ Adelaide office to work through challenges holding back sustainable building reuse and agree on a framework to progress building adaptation for housing and other purposes.

A total of 24 recommendations were developed, including making adaptation and reuse of existing buildings the first option before considering redevelopment across housing, community and commercial functions.

The recommendations call for government to lead by adapting building policies to prioritise sufficiency and adaptive building reuse through its own accommodation choices.

A database of vacant precincts, buildings and land must be established to identify opportunities for adaptive reuse and redirect investment, according to the proposals.

Building policy must change to recognise embodied carbon saved by reuse rather than demolition and rebuild, and better balance this with energy efficiencies of new builds.

Economic incentives such as tax relief and reduced charges are vital to recognise environmental savings from reusing existing buildings and make adaptive reuse viable.

The University of South Australia co-hosted the workshop in partnership with Hames Sharley, also involving the City of Adelaide and University of Adelaide.

Professor David Ness, from UniSA’s Centre for Sustainable Infrastructure and Resource Management and co-founder of World Sufficiency Lab in Paris, has long advocated for recognising environmental savings from adaptive reuse of buildings.

“While new builds are lauded for their energy efficiencies, large amounts of carbon are ’embodied’ in their materials and construction while they consume excessive water and other natural resources,” Ness said.

“This can be greatly reduced by adapting vacant and underutilised existing buildings, which otherwise go to waste.”

Ness said the building industry represents around one-third of global carbon emissions, yet more and bigger builds are being constructed by default.

“This seems far out of step with EU countries such as France and Denmark, where attention is focussed on making better use of existing space,” he said.

“It’s therefore critical that our policy settings prioritise building retention, retrofit and reuse – instead of new builds.”

Yaara Plaves, Hames Sharley associate director and head of its National Sustainability Forum, said bringing key stakeholders together is vital to address cross-sector issues.

“In any field where complex, systemic challenges resist straightforward solutions, siloed expertise creates blind spots and biases,” Plaves said.

“Addressing these through a community of practice model that brings participants together cultivates learning and mutual trust – and is essential to bring about sustainable, demonstratable solutions.”

Supported by the Australian-French Association for Research and Innovation, the workshop involved sharing learnings from France’s innovative policies and initiatives, including the concept of sufficiency now enshrined in French Energy Law.

The recommendations will be shared with South Australian policymakers, and a bilateral partnership with France explored through a proposed Adelaide University-based Australian Sufficiency Lab.

The proposed lab would become a national centre for sufficiency and adaptive reuse across multiple sectors.

Professor Jane Burry, chair of architecture and civil engineering at University of Adelaide, said the session provided a great springboard to go forward.

Les Moore of Les Moore Projects said with the right mindset, extraordinary outcomes could be achieved.

The recommendations were developed by representatives from organisations including ARUP, the Australian Institute of Architects, Built Australia, City of Adelaide, Lendlease, Renewal SA and the State Planning Commission.