The Retrofit Of Adelaide Brewery

What if we were to tell you that preventing the demolition of beloved heritage buildings can help us in the urgent fight to lower our greenhouse gas emissions and environmental footprint?

There is a growing body of research demonstrating what many of us have long suspected: demolishing historic buildings is not only terrible for our heritage, it is not good news for the environment, either.

One US study showed that when old buildings are knocked-down and replaced, even when their replacement building is fairly energy-efficient, it can still take decades – in some cases, up to 80 years – for the energy savings from the newer building to cancel-out the emissions and other harmful effects generated by the construction process.

What is the answer? Adaptation and retrofitting – of course!! We can preserve the character and meaning that heritage structures provide to our neighbourhoods – and it is not only likely to be better for the environment, it also tends to be cheaper and quicker!!

A fine local example of this process in action: the conversion of the Adelaide Brewery Building (pictured below) into office-space, which has allowed for the preservation of the iconic red-brick facade and other historic features.

Protecting our Built Heritage IS Climate Action!!