RetroFirst: The Greenest Building is the One that Already Exists

A staggering 50,000 buildings are demolished every year. Fossil fuel-hungry materials like cement and steel are gobbled up as they are erased and replaced with shiny new structures. Shockingly, this wasteful system is encouraged by the planning rules and a system of VAT which makes demolition and rebuild cheap and refurbishment and retrofit expensive.

But what if we reform this approach to reuse existing buildings wherever possible? That is what’s proposed by the Architects’ Journal’s RetroFirst campaign, which has widespread industry support. After all, the greenest building is the one that ALREADY EXISTS!

Credits:
Voiced by George Clarke
Film by Jim Stephenson