by Jean Carroon

Existing buildings in the United States today consume almost 40% of our total energy use, and contribute nearly the same percentage of total carbon emissions. As professionals it is our duty to preserve and retrofit these buildings to lessen their impact. Jean Carroon, in her new book Sustainable Preservation: Greening Existing Buildings, will take us through an in-depth look at adaptive reuse and how we can utilize this to reach our goal of sustainability. She does this through a careful look at design techniques, operational issues, and green building certification programs, to provide a holistic view of the preservation process.

For those of us that require real-world examples, she doesn’t disappoint in highlighting numerous examples of projects all over the country, fifty in total. These range from schools and houses, to museums and government buildings. You’re bound to find a project listed that is similar to one you may be working on right now. The way our economy and the building industry are going, more emphasis will be placed on the building stock already around us. In the words of Ms. Carroon’s friend Carl Elefante, “The greenest building is...one that is already built.”  Let Sustainable Preservation guide you in utilizing your existing materials and infrastructure to build a true example of sustainability.