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Abstract: Building adaptive reuse plays a critical role in emissions reduction and supports global climate protection. Thus, the designing of future buildings with embedded adaptive reuse potential is a useful criterion for sustainability. This paper describes the development of a new rating tool known as adaptSTAR, which offers holistic and unified design criteria suitable for assessing the adaptive reuse potential of future buildings. The findings show that criteria can be identified and weighted according to physical, economic, functional, technological, social, legal and political categories to calculate an adaptive reuse star rating. In addition, this paper reports on the first stage of the research methodology used in the initial development of the rating tool and concludes with some preliminary observations from 12 selected successful case studies in New South Wales (NSW) and Melbourne, Australia. The use of adaptSTAR in designing future buildings will lead and help promote low carbon built environments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In facilitating the progress towards low-carbon cities, there is no lack of available green technologies, planning techniques, economic tools, social development strategies, etc. These technologies, strategies and techniques have, in fact, long been deployed in many cities and communities around the world. However, the outcomes have been somewhat slow and less than expected. This is also manifested in the lower-than-expectation outcomes of the formation of a meaningful global climate change treaty so far. The barriers have clearly been unveiled as disconnection among the triple bottom lines (TBL) in the approach. By linking the concept of low-carbon cities to sustainable development (informed by the TBL), the paper highlights the implication of misinterpretation of a popular TBL diagram, leading to fragmented, compromised approach to LCC. Cases in point are isolating and excluding social and economic activities that are not environmental friendly, and trading-off environmentally-friendly activities that are not profitable in economic sense. Re-interpretation the popular TBL diagram literally from a three-dimensional lens offers an alternative approach, presented in an integrated framework towards low-carbon cities. The vital factors in the framework are safeguarding the positive dynamic interconnectivities of the three bottom lines, aligning their core values (in contrast to the isolating and excluding exercise), amplifying their common interest (instead of trading-off activities), and deploying strategies from planning, renewable technologies, education and policy making to address multiple and interconnected issues reciprocally. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: It is well acknowledged that low carbon emissions is one of the key factors contributing to sustainable urban development and effectively tackling climate change. Adaptive reuse of buildings is a form of sustainable urban regeneration, as it extends the building''s life and avoids demolition waste, encourages reuses of the embodied energy and also provides significant social and economic benefits to the society. Thus, it embraces the different dimensions of sustainability. However, the debates over which sustainability factors are key, and how to address them all in practice, remain unresolved. This study begins with an intensive literature review of the factors that contribute to the goal of sustainable development in the conservation of built heritage. This is followed by in-depth interviews with practitioners who have participated in adaptive reuse projects in Hong Kong. These interviews confirm the reliability of the shortlisted sustainability factors. More importantly, this paper examines the challenges in incorporating a sustainability framework into adaptive reuse projects. The authors stress that the framework for achieving sustainable, low carbon adaptive reuse should be viewed more holistically, integrating social, economic, environmental, urban and political policies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]