190
unprecedented rates, it is imperative for designers to use the resources available to
them. Today, some of our most valuable resources are existing buildings (King
2017). In terms of life cycle thinking, adaptive reuse becomes a powerful tool to
reduce the overall environmental impacts of a building. Not only does the salvaged
material get saved from the landfill, but it also does not contribute to any cradle-togate impacts in any of the included impact categories. The reclaimed materials have
already been manufactured and, in some cases, transported to the site. Therefore,
their impacts are only seen in the later life cycle stages, including end of life. The
power of adaptive reuse and salvaged materials as sustainability tools cannot be
ignored.
After reconsidering Building 197 using life cycle thinking, the approach to adaptive reuse was reconsidered. The original warehouse, composed of tilt-up concrete
wall panels, lacked expression in form and adequate glazing. The easiest way to fix
these issues from a design standpoint was to remove the existing envelope and build
a new one. In the initial design, the only elements that were used from the existing
structure were the steel columns and foundations. However, this was not an appropriate decision to make from a sustainability approach. The original envelope,
which makes up almost 14% of the total mass of the existing structure, was completely discarded. When reframing the project from the goal of preserving and reusing materials, it becomes clear that efforts should be made to save the roof and
envelope.
While many believe that formal decisions and sustainable performance have to
be at odds with each other, they can be at least partially decoupled and both can be
prioritized throughout the design process. Using this information, and the results of
the WBLCA, one project was redesigned to maintain more of the existing building
envelope. In the end, the original design intention of replacing the entire envelope
(0% saved) was compared against two others, which saved 50% and 75% of the
building envelope assemblies, respectively (Fig. 9.11). These new design configurations save an additional 6% and 7%, respectively, of the original building mass.
In order to clearly demonstrate the life cycle effects of reusing materials, a new
baseline was established that replaced the entire building envelope but maintained
the original height and footprint of the building. Decisions made in the redesign
were kept as close to the original design as possible. This means that a steel structural system was still used independently of the results of the structural system
comparison. The same exterior wall construction from the original WBLCA was
used anywhere that a new portion of the envelope was added. The thermal performance of the existing envelope was increased by adding a layer of metal studs, filled
with mineral wool insulation, and gypsum board to the interior of the wall construction wherever the envelope was salvaged. Fenestrations were added to the salvaged
envelope to meet the circulation and natural light requirements of the updated building program. Six of the loading doors were saved to service the building, just like in
the initial design, and the remainder were replaced with fixed glass.
The study was carried out using Tally because there is direct support for salvaged
material within the program. Currently, the only way to do this in One Click LCA is
by using a “used product” profile and changing the transport distance to zero.
9 Case Studies
unprecedented rates, it is imperative for designers to use the resources available to
them. Today, some of our most valuable resources are existing buildings (King
2017). In terms of life cycle thinking, adaptive reuse becomes a powerful tool to
reduce the overall environmental impacts of a building. Not only does the salvaged
material get saved from the landfill, but it also does not contribute to any cradle-togate impacts in any of the included impact categories. The reclaimed materials have
already been manufactured and, in some cases, transported to the site. Therefore,
their impacts are only seen in the later life cycle stages, including end of life. The
power of adaptive reuse and salvaged materials as sustainability tools cannot be
ignored.
After reconsidering Building 197 using life cycle thinking, the approach to adaptive reuse was reconsidered. The original warehouse, composed of tilt-up concrete
wall panels, lacked expression in form and adequate glazing. The easiest way to fix
these issues from a design standpoint was to remove the existing envelope and build
a new one. In the initial design, the only elements that were used from the existing
structure were the steel columns and foundations. However, this was not an appropriate decision to make from a sustainability approach. The original envelope,
which makes up almost 14% of the total mass of the existing structure, was completely discarded. When reframing the project from the goal of preserving and reusing materials, it becomes clear that efforts should be made to save the roof and
envelope.
While many believe that formal decisions and sustainable performance have to
be at odds with each other, they can be at least partially decoupled and both can be
prioritized throughout the design process. Using this information, and the results of
the WBLCA, one project was redesigned to maintain more of the existing building
envelope. In the end, the original design intention of replacing the entire envelope
(0% saved) was compared against two others, which saved 50% and 75% of the
building envelope assemblies, respectively (Fig. 9.11). These new design configurations save an additional 6% and 7%, respectively, of the original building mass.
In order to clearly demonstrate the life cycle effects of reusing materials, a new
baseline was established that replaced the entire building envelope but maintained
the original height and footprint of the building. Decisions made in the redesign
were kept as close to the original design as possible. This means that a steel structural system was still used independently of the results of the structural system
comparison. The same exterior wall construction from the original WBLCA was
used anywhere that a new portion of the envelope was added. The thermal performance of the existing envelope was increased by adding a layer of metal studs, filled
with mineral wool insulation, and gypsum board to the interior of the wall construction wherever the envelope was salvaged. Fenestrations were added to the salvaged
envelope to meet the circulation and natural light requirements of the updated building program. Six of the loading doors were saved to service the building, just like in
the initial design, and the remainder were replaced with fixed glass.
The study was carried out using Tally because there is direct support for salvaged
material within the program. Currently, the only way to do this in One Click LCA is
by using a “used product” profile and changing the transport distance to zero.
9 Case Studies