Sustainability and within use office building adapations: A comparison of Dutch and Australian practices

Sustainability and within use office building adapations: A comparison of Dutch and Australian practices

Wilkinson, S.J.
Remøy, H.T.

Architecture

Real Estate and Housing

2011-01-16

Local Authorities worldwide are encouraging adaptation as a means of reducing building related urban energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The City of Melbourne is promoting the retrofit of 1,200 CBD properties before 2020 with sustainability measures as part of their policy to become a carbon neutral city. Australian cities date from 1837 to the present day whereas some European cities have been inhabited for over two millennia. The concepts of adaptation and evolution of buildings and suburbs is well developed in Europe, though the scale of some of the post war developments has created different forms of building perhaps less adaptable or suited to change. The need to adapt buildings and to reduce environmental footprints becomes more pressing over time as global concentrations of carbon dioxide increase. Is it possible for Europeans to learn from Australian practices and vice averse? Through examination of office building adaptation in Melbourne and Amsterdam, it is possible to learn where similarities and differences exist and where new practices can be shared. This paper addressed the questions; What are the key attributes influencing adaptations in Melbourne and Amsterdam office buildings, and what are the similarities and differences? Using the Melbourne CBD and Amsterdam as a case study, the research analysed 7393 commercial building adaptations in Melbourne and 98 office buildings in Amsterdam where adaptations were completed. The outcomes of this research show where similarities and differences exist and are relevant to all urban areas where adaptation of existing office buildings can mitigate the impacts of climate change and enhance the city for another generation of citizens and users.

Amsterdam
Melbourne
office
sustainability
refurbishment
building adaptation
Australia
the Netherlands

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:0ee9699e-9fe8-44ad-b745-cd89e6e40745

Proceedings of the 17th Annual Pacific Rim Real Estate Society Conference: PRRES, Gold Coast, Australia, 16-19 January 2011

Institutional Repository

conference paper

(c) 2011 Wilkinson, S.J.
Remøy, H.T.