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Adaptive reuse is an effective strategy for optimizing the operational and commercial performance of built assets. While the benefits of adaptive re‐use have been widely espoused, it would appear that owners and practitioners lack a point of reference to justify and evaluate their decision‐making with regard to reusing existing assets. This paper therefore aims to develop a model to assist practitioners with their decision‐making when considering to re‐use or demolish an existing built asset.

To gain an understanding of the issues that owners and practitioners are confronted with when considering adaptive re‐use, demolition and issues pertaining to sustainability, an interpretative research approach was adopted. A total of 81 in‐depth interviews were conducted over a six‐month period with a variety of stakeholders such as architects, developers, planners, building managers/owners and property consultants. Content analysis was used as the primary analysis technique on the collected data.

The analysis of the interviews revealed three key criteria are used to examine adaptive reuse decision making: capital investment; asset condition; and regulation. While financial criteria such as development and construction costs were the primary determinants influencing the decision reuse or demolish, the physical condition of the asset juxtaposed with regulations were also considered. Additionally, issues associated with the environmental, economic and social tenets of sustainability were identified as being important but had been given less priority when considering reuse. As current building stock is rapidly becoming obsolete, increasing emphasis is beginning to be placed on them during the adaptive reuse decision‐making process to ensure sustainable outcomes.

The developed model identifies the critical areas that owners, developers and key project stakeholders need to consider when deciding to either reuse or demolish an existing building. It also can be used to evaluate the economic, physical and social implications of undertaking a heritage project. Project and asset managers need to be aware of the impact that different variables have on a reuse project's construction and operational performance as well as long term commercial performance.

The proposed adaptive reuse decision‐making model is grounded in practice and therefore encompasses the real‐life dilemmas and issues facing practitioners. The model captures the complexity associated with the adaptive reuse process and provides an important reference point for developing future ex‐ante evaluation models for its investment justification.

There is growing acceptance that heritage buildings are an important element of Australia's social capital and that heritage conservation provides economic, cultural and social benefits to urban communities. The decision whether to reuse a building entails a complex set of considerations including location, heritage, architectural assets, and market trends. The role of building conservation has changed from preservation to being part of a broader strategy for urban regeneration and sustainability. A growing body of opinion supports the view that adaptive reuse is a powerful strategy for handling this change. Urban development and subsequent redevelopment has a significant impact on the environment and the purpose of this paper is to investigate how the conservation of heritage buildings may contribute to a more sustainable urban environment.

This paper examines the views and experiences of architects, developers and building managers who have been involved with the adaptive reuse of heritage buildings. In total, 60 semi‐structured interviews were drawn from this stakeholder group to investigate their current understanding of the sustainability issues associated with the adaptive reuse of heritage buildings.

The subsequent data show that despite many positive outcomes in terms of sustainability, the adaptive reuse of heritage buildings is considered to create many problems; not the least of which is whether heritage buildings are icons that should be conserved or whether they are in fact eyesores and unviable for adaptive reuse.

The contribution of heritage buildings to the three tenets of sustainability has not previously been explored comprehensively and as a result there is a conflict of interest between the preservation of heritage values and progression of the sustainable urban design agenda.

Adaptive reuse of older commercial buildings, particularly in countries such as the USA, has been regarded by building owners and developers as uneconomic. Retention of older commercial buildings has commonly been regarded as a barrier to progress and a hindrance to the regeneration of older urban areas. This paper aims to examine the program and legislation that is adopted to encourage the adaptive reuse of commercial buildings in the downtown area of Los Angeles (LA) in the USA, as it is considered to be an exemplar example of how a regeneration strategy makes a contribution to sustainability. It seeks to assess the effectiveness of adaptive reuse of redundant buildings as a commercially viable and effective strategy for urban regeneration that meets the criteria of sustainability.

A case example is used to examine the underlying factors that have contributed to LA being an exemplar for adaptive re‐use and its contribution to sustainability.

Urban regeneration requires a vision and a continued commitment to sustainability. In the case of LA, there is clearly evidence of a commitment to sustainability through the implementation of an adaptive re‐use program. A key to this strategy's success is the offering of incentives. Such incentives are required to entice investment and involvement in the program. The ability to make commercial buildings attractive to developers as viable reuse projects relied heavily on the use of legislation that reduces code and zoning requirements and offers substantial financial incentives in the form of tax concessions. The advantages of adaptive reuse in terms of sustainability appear to outweigh the advantages of demolition and new development as experienced in LA. Certainly in terms of urban regeneration the adaptive reuse program in the downtown area appears to have been something of a catalyst in prompting investment in major developments.

The sharing of experiences is pivotal to learning. Such situated learning can provide clients, and industry practitioners with insights about how adaptive re‐use can be used to promote sustainable outcomes. The experiences of LA emphasize the need to consider emphasis on not only environmental and economic benefits but also issues of social equity such as low cost housing for lower income groups. Generally, the objectives of reusing old buildings appear to coincide with many of the desired outcomes of sustainability, but further research is needed to assess the viability of adaptive reuse as a strategy for urban regeneration and sustainability.

Adaptive re‐use enables a building to suit new conditions. It is a process that reaps the benefit of the embodied energy and quality of the original building in a sustainable manner. Initiatives to improve the sustainability of buildings have tended to focus on new construction projects rather than existing ones. One reason is the tendency to regard old buildings as products with a limited useful life that have to be eventually discarded and demolished. Much of the existing building stock will still be in use for another 100 years. Thus, there is a need to develop policy and strategies that encourage adaptive re‐use and the ongoing sustainability of building stock. The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of the factors influencing the decision to adopt an adaptive re‐use strategy.

Adaptive re‐use is beginning to receive attention, yet there is a lack of consensus as to whether it is an appropriate strategy for meeting the changing needs and demands of developers, occupiers and owners for existing building stock. Considering the limited published research on adaptive re‐use in buildings, particularly in the context of sustainability, a comprehensive review of the normative literature is undertaken to determine the factors influencing the decision‐making process for its use.

It is revealed that the major drivers for adaptive focus on lifecycle issues, changing perceptions of buildings, and governmental incentives. The barriers to re‐use, on the other hand, include a perception of increased maintenance costs, building regulations, inertia of development criteria and the inherent risk and uncertainty associated with older building stock. The identification of drivers and barriers has enabled a balanced view of the adaptive re‐use debate to be presented.

The paper concludes that more empirical research is required to examine the role of adaptive re‐use in the context of its contribution to sustainability if it is to become an effective strategy that drives the formulation of public policy for addressing the issues associated with existing building stock.

The research identifies key adaptive re‐use issues that need to be addressed by policy makers, developers and owners during the formative stages of the design process so that efforts toward sustainability can be ameliorated. Addressing a building's adaptive re‐use will significantly reduce whole life costs, waste and lead to the improved building functionality.

This paper provides policy makers and key decision makers with the underlying factors that need to be considered when implementing an adaptive re‐use policy as part of their sustainability strategy.

Much of the existing commercial building stock in Western Australia has the ability to adapt to varying conditions such as climate change, which provides some potential for reusability and sustainability. Current sustainability assessment systems tend to be relevant only for new construction. The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of the National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) to address this gap by considering the influence of occupant behaviour on performance.

Feedback provided from 39 stakeholders during a public review of NABERS and a subsequent trial of NABERS on nine office buildings in Sydney and Victoria are examined. The data are obtained from the Department of Environment and Heritage and NSW Department of Energy, Utilities and Sustainability (now the Department of Environment and Climate Change).

Assessment of the environment performance of existing facilities is needed to improve their energy efficiency. These findings need to be given serious thought when considering an adaptation strategy or the construction of a new facility. From a sustainability perspective, it will almost always be a more viable option to use an adaptive re‐use strategy. The use of adaptation will require clients and designers to re‐examine how their facilities are to be used and require them to embrace whole‐life costing and the use of innovative materials and technologies.

Adaptive re‐use has received limited attention in Australia, as there has been a tendency to demolish or construct new buildings in response to client demands. However, adaptation is proving to be an effective strategy in ensuring a sustainable built environment. This research provides the impetus and foundations for exploring the invaluable role of adaptation and energy efficiency of existing facilities.

To investigate the viability of adaptive reuse of commercial buildings and the impact it has on the sustainability of existing built environment in Western Australia.

A survey of building owners in Western Australia and a review of literature concerning adaptive reuse of commercial buildings.

The concept of adaptation is supported by building owners and there is a strong intuition/perception that adaptive reuse serves the key concepts of sustainability. Building owners are considering adaptive reuse as a viable option to demolition and redevelopment of existing facilities.

The use of a structured questionnaire limits the depth of responses in the study. A follow up study using interviews would allow further because it does not allow probing, prompting and clarification of the issues addressed.

Results from this research has implications for building owners and managers as it will eventually provide a theoretical framework that can be incorporated in the decision‐making process for adaptive reuse projects.

The contribution of existing buildings to the three tenets of sustainability has not been explored comprehensively in Western Australia.

Course credentialing essentially involves the implementation of digital badges. A number of studies have recently been conducted that clarify this philosophy and promote their adoption in learning programmes. The research presented in this chapter contributes to the body of knowledge on learning and teaching regarding the comparative analyses of learning outcomes, multidimensional credentialing and digital badges relevant to the pedagogy of construction management. The aim of this research was to determine the maturity of multidimensional credentialing within its online pedagogy in particular. A review of literature pertaining to course multi-disciplining, accreditation, credentialing and digital badges had been conducted. Comparative analyses were performed to allocate learning outcomes of the tertiary institution and two accrediting bodies onto each unit in the online delivery mode of a Construction Management Bachelor Degree course. These analyses had yielded three matrices that could assist decision-making on how to assess learning in each unit. The results revealed that almost all units in this course had implemented at least one tertiary institution and accrediting body learning outcome.