Alterations And Extensions To Commercial Buildings In The Melbourne Cbd: The Relationship Between Adaptation And Building Attributes

Buildings contribute around half of all greenhouse gas emissions and Australian offices alone account for 12% of all greenhouse gas emissions. As city authorities seek ways of reducing the contribution of cities to climate change and global warming, building adaptation appears to offer a means of reducing current building related emissions by 38%. The 1,200 building program developed by the City of Melbourne aims to adapt or retrofit 1,200 CBD properties before 2020 with sustainability measures as part of their policy to become carbon neutral by 2020. Through an examination of building adaptations in the CBD it is possible to identify the nature and extent of typical levels of adaptation, as well as determining the relationship between different types of adaptation and building attributes. This paper addressed the question; what is the relationship between building adaptation event, classified as ëalterations and extensionsí in the CBD and building attributes? Using the Melbourne CBD as a case study, the research analysed 5290 commercial building adaptation events over a ten year period from 1998 to 2008 and the relationship with specific building characteristics. All adaptation events that occurred during this period are included in the study, 5290 in total, making the study the most extensive and comprehensive analysis of this level of building adaptation undertaken in Australia. The outcomes of this research is applicable on a global basis and relevant to all urban centres where existing commercial buildings can become part of the solution to mitigate the impact climate change and enhance the city.