Abstract
Materials production dominates the total Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the
construction industry. On the other hand, most existing building stocks are expected to last for
the next 30 years, which can contribute to increasing resource efficiency, reducing environmental
impact, and creating social, cultural, and economic values for society. Therefore, it becomes vital
to investigate the environmental impacts of adaptive reuse of existing buildings using a life cycle
approach. The objective of this study is to explore the environmental performance of adaptive
reuse of an industrial heritage building compared to new construction using a life cycle
assessment (LCA) method. The environmental impacts of the selected case study are evaluated
using four scenarios, with two adaptive reuse scenarios, a warehouse or an office building and
two new construction scenarios, a new warehouse or a new office building. One-Click LCA is
used as an LCA tool, and the scenarios are compared by total carbon footprint, life cycle models,
GHG emissions per building elements and material types. The results show that among the four
scenarios, the adaptive to warehouse scenario is the best adaptation option with considerably
lower environmental impact, followed by the adaptive office scenario. This paper highlights that
adaptation of existing industrial heritage buildings, with the least materials replacement option,
is worthwhile. The further evaluation needed for the study’s limitation is also highlighted for
data efficiency and potential for further research. Keywords: Adaptation reuse; Case study;
Circular economy; Industrial heritage building; Life cycle assessment; Norway.
construction industry. On the other hand, most existing building stocks are expected to last for
the next 30 years, which can contribute to increasing resource efficiency, reducing environmental
impact, and creating social, cultural, and economic values for society. Therefore, it becomes vital
to investigate the environmental impacts of adaptive reuse of existing buildings using a life cycle
approach. The objective of this study is to explore the environmental performance of adaptive
reuse of an industrial heritage building compared to new construction using a life cycle
assessment (LCA) method. The environmental impacts of the selected case study are evaluated
using four scenarios, with two adaptive reuse scenarios, a warehouse or an office building and
two new construction scenarios, a new warehouse or a new office building. One-Click LCA is
used as an LCA tool, and the scenarios are compared by total carbon footprint, life cycle models,
GHG emissions per building elements and material types. The results show that among the four
scenarios, the adaptive to warehouse scenario is the best adaptation option with considerably
lower environmental impact, followed by the adaptive office scenario. This paper highlights that
adaptation of existing industrial heritage buildings, with the least materials replacement option,
is worthwhile. The further evaluation needed for the study’s limitation is also highlighted for
data efficiency and potential for further research. Keywords: Adaptation reuse; Case study;
Circular economy; Industrial heritage building; Life cycle assessment; Norway.