Environmental Rehabilitation Techniques of Existing Buildings

Abstract

 Abstract —Rapid urban growth of existing cities -especially in developing countries- increases the environmental impacts of urbanization that lead to climate change. This requires a set of strategies to increase the resource management efficiency of buildings and improve indoor environmental quality (IEQ) not only for new constructions but also - and more important - for existing buildings which represent the major percentage of the built environment. The paper discusses the environmental rehabilitation techniques of existing buildings to improve the resource management efficiency of IEQ, and thus, achieve an environmentally friendly building. The research analyses examples of environmentally certified existing buildings to recognize techniques that could be reused in other buildings on the local scale. The paper concludes a set of such techniques that are classified based on application method into three groups; first, by developing or replacing some of the existing building materials with new, more efficient ones; second, by developing the building systems to enhance their performance; and third, by adding new systems to the building to improve its overall environmental efficiency