Robert Sroufe et al, "The Power of Existing Buildings" (Island Press, 2019)

May 12, 2020

The Power of Existing Buildings

Save Money, Improve Health, and Reduce Environmental Impacts

Robert Sroufe, Craig Stevenson and Beth Eckenrode

Hosted by Tricia Keffer

Summary

Your building has the potential to change the world. Existing buildings consume approximately 40 percent of the energy and emit nearly half of the carbon dioxide in the US each year. In recognition of the significant contribution of buildings to climate change, the idea of building green has become increasingly popular. But is it enough? If an energy-efficient building is new construction, it may take 10 to 80 years to overcome the climate change impacts of the building process. New buildings are sexy, but few realize the value in existing buildings and how easy it is to get to “zero energy” or low-energy consumption through deep energy retrofits. Existing buildings can and should be retrofit to reduce environmental impacts that contribute to climate change, while improving human health and productivity for building occupants. In The Power of Existing Buildings: Save Money, Improve Health, and Reduce Environmental Impacts (Island Press, 2019), academic sustainability expert Robert Sroufe, and construction and building experts Craig Stevenson and Beth Eckenrode, explain how to realize the potential of existing buildings and make them perform like new. This step-by-step guide will help readers to: understand where to start a project; develop financial models and realize costs savings; assemble an expert team; and align goals with numerous sustainability programs. The Power of Existing Buildings will challenge you to rethink spaces where people work and play, while determining how existing buildings can save the world.

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Tricia Keffer

Tricia Keffer has a BA in Psychology and an MLA in Landscape Architecture. The arc of her career path took her from beach portraits in Destin, FL to the parks in Paris, France. Her photography has been published in Delta Sky Magazine, BAE Defense Contractor Calendar, and two ADDY (Advertising) awards for Dale E. Peterson brochures. Her vacation portrait concept was featured on Good Morning America. She is working on her next adventure with her landscape design business Plants People Love Designs in Florida. In her spare time during the pandemic, she picked up an additional degree BA in Art and a certificate from Master Artist David Chang’s Portrait and Figurative Studio at FIU.

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