Skip to main content

MCC Daily Tribune Archive

Adaptive Reuse: Environmental Responsibility through Preservation Lecture TOMORROW


The Leroy V. Good Library (Brighton campus) will be hosting a lecture this Wednesday, September 24, 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm. Katie Comeau, Advocacy Coordinator at the Landmark Society of Western New York, will speak on “Adaptive Reuse: Environmental Responsibility through Preservation.” Ms. Comeau has a bachelor’s degree in Humanities from Yale University and a master’s degree in Historic Preservation from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to joining the Landmark Society, she worked at a historic preservation consulting firm in Washington, D.C. The lecture will be held on the fourth floor of the library, outside of room 2-452.

The Green/Sustainability Movement stresses responsible use of our environment, but most of the architectural focus is on new, LEED-certified buildings. But what about the older buildings that comprise most of our country’s current building stock? Isn’t the most environmentally friendly building one which already exists? Come find out!

Some chilling facts, courtesy of the National Trust for Historic Preservation:
It takes a lot of energy to construct a building – for example, building a 50,000 square foot commercial building requires the same amount of energy needed to drive a car 20,000 miles a year for 730 years.

We are much too inclined to think of our buildings as disposable, rather than a renewable resource. A 2004 report from the Brookings Institution projects that by 2030 we will have demolished and replaced 82 billion square feet of our current building stock. Since it is estimated that there are about 300 billion square feet of space in the United States today, that means we anticipate demolishing nearly 1/3 of our building stock in the next 20-25 years.

If we were to rehab even 10% of this 82 billion square feet, we would save enough energy to power the state of New York for well over a year.

Construction debris accounts for 25% of the waste in the municipal waste stream each year. Demolishing 82 billion square feet of space will create enough debris to fill 2,500 NFL stadiums.

If you have any questions, please contact Lori Annesi, Reference/Special Collections Librarian ( "mailto:lannesi@monroecc.edu").

Lori Annesi
Library
09/23/2008