Narratives and HVAC systems: why universities demolish and refurbish buildings

It has been a wide spread argument that existing buildings should be demolished to give way for more energy efficient ones (in terms of operation of buildings). However, from a Co2 emission perspective considered over a 50-year lifespan it will in most cases still be more sustainable to refurbish an existing building even though the HVAC system will be less efficient. The embodied energy in existing buildings holds a societal value due to a potential avoided CO2 emission, in the same way as buildings holds cultural heritage value, precious to a society. Recent research points to the fact that buildings with a good SAVE value are seldom demolished. In this paper Adaptive Reuse in American Universities is explored with a perspective to decision processes. At University Campi the percentage of buildings with good SAVE value is high, however buildings are still being demolished. Through two case studies a mapping of the decision process and thereby the arguments for adaptive reuse and refurbishment as well as demolition is demonstrated. Through 17 semi structured interviews the ideas and preferences amongst decision makers are exposed and discussed, revealing arguments for demolishing one listed building, while preservation another.