Optimisation of future building adaptive reuse design criteria for urban sustainability

Building adaptive reuse is a proven strategy for mitigating climate change and global warming. Thus, Australian cities are actively promoting building adaptive reuse to support their carbon-neutral cities programme. Since the built environment is the largest user of energy and emitter of greenhouse gases, incorporating adaptive reuse potential in the design of future buildings can help achieve greater sustainability. However, there are no clear criteria for future building adaptive reuse and there is a lack of consensus on how best to maximise adaptive reuse potential. This paper discusses the development, validation and application of a new rating tool known as adaptSTAR, in particular the results of an anonymous online practitioner survey to weigh previously identified design criteria. The significance of adaptSTAR is argued as an integral part of future decision-making processes in urban sustainability and architecture.