The greenest building is…one that is already built.

Stewardship Imperative

Buildings represent enormous investments in energy, material, and financial resources and yet hundreds-of-thousands of viable buildings are destroyed every year in the name of progress. The scale of such wastefulness is especially troubling as the world confronts climate change, ecological collapse, and ever-increasing demand for essential resources.

Codes require buildings that can survive fire, earthquake, storm, and other destructive forces, dictating construction using extremely durable materials, like masonry, steel, and concrete. For millennia, the long life of buildings justified the enormous investment of resources. Our ancestors understood the multi-generation value proposition of buildings and cities. It is their superpower.

Misguided notions about building performance and energy efficiency continue to devalue existing buildings, missing the forest for the trees. They fail to holistically account for both embodied and operational impacts, to recognize the effectiveness of retrofit practices, and most importantly, to appreciate the crucial lessons embedded in built heritage.