Rehab it: making the most of existing resources.

WHEN people envision green buildings, they typically think of state-of-the-art, energy-efficient, shiny, new buildings. Existing building stock is written off as inefficient, only good for demolition or recycling, and best left to heritage planners and architectural conservationists. Things are starting to change though. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System recognizes the tremendous amount of energy embodied in existing building stock. It awards credits to those who reuse existing building structures. An entire rating system, LEED for Existing Buildings, is now being used in the US, and its entry into Canada isn't likely far behind.

There are very good reasons to reuse existing buildings. We are faced with 200 years of existi...

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