Our planet has finite resources. That means that designers of the built environment have a responsibility to consider the longevity of their projects – whether they are intended to stand the test of time, be easily repaired, or perhaps adapted into something new.

Last month our Adelaide Studio hosted representatives across Australia’s property sector, including developers, architects, industry bodies, environmental and heritage consultants, government and researchers, to work through the challenges holding back the sustainable re-use of buildings and agree on a framework to progress building adaptation for housing and other purposes.

A total of 24 recommendations were developed, including:

• Adapting and reusing existing buildings must be the first option before considering redevelopment - across housing, community and commercial functions.
• Government should lead by adapting building policies to prioritise sufficiency and adaptive building reuse, and should lead 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.
• Building policy must change to recognise embodied carbon saved by reuse rather than demolition and rebuild - and better balance this with the energy efficiencies of new builds.
• Economic incentives such as tax relief and reduced charges are vital to recognise the 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 (SIRM) and co-founder of World Sufficiency Lab, Paris, has long advocated for recognising the environmental savings resulting from adaptive reuse of buildings.

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

“The building industry represents around a third of global carbon emissions, yet we’re seeing more and bigger builds 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.

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

Hames Sharley Associate Director and Head of our National Sustainability Forum, Yaara Plaves, 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,” she 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, demonstrable solutions.”

Supported by the Australian-French Association for Research and Innovation (AFRAN), the workshop involved sharing learnings from France’s innovative policies and initiatives, including the concept of ‘Sufficiency’ which is now enshrined in French Energy Law and reflected in more holistic policies on carbon mitigation.

The recommendations will be shared with South Australian policy makers, and a bilateral partnership with France explored through a proposed Adelaide University-based ‘Australian Sufficiency Lab’, which would become a national centre for sufficiency and adaptive reuse across multiple sectors.