Conserving Heritage Buildings & Districts: A Case for Economic, Social, and Environmental Resiliency- REGULAR | Royal Architectural Institute of Canada

 

Conserving Heritage Buildings & Districts: A Case for Economic, Social, and Environmental Resiliency- REGULAR

SKU: CE2023CONF14

Conserving Heritage Buildings & Districts: A Case for Economic, Social, and Environmental Resiliency

This webinar is part of the RAIC 2023 Conference on Architecture, now available to stream!

Topics: Climate Justice and Resilience, Sustainability, Adaptation and Mitigation

Length: 1 hour | What's Included: Video, Quiz, and Certificate of Completion 

While single bottom line economics has historically been the modus operandi of most economic activity in North America, the advent of the environmental and sustainability movements resulted in a paradigm shift. A simplistic approach to conducting business is no longer acceptable when the toll on our social fabric and environment has been dismissed as externalities. Advocates of heritage conservation have been and continue to be active at the forefront of this emerging evolution as related to responsible urban redevelopment and the transformation of the construction industry. The presentation of the research and analysis from this project demonstrates the monetized values related to economics, social fabric, and environmental factors related to conservation of existing built heritage areas. Through our economic analysis, we discovered additional monetized value attributed to effects we are calling Heritage Premium and Heritage Halo effects. Regarding social benefits, a survey conducted, we found citizens of Calgary were willing to pay to continue to benefit from the sense of place inherent in heritage areas.
 
The environmental value related to embodied energy and carbon as well as reduction or elimination of landfill waste was identified and monetized. The retention and reuse of buildings represent an opportunity toward mitigating negative environmental impacts and toward economic, social, and environmental resiliency. The challenges faced by owners, design professionals, and constructors associated with upgrading existing, including heritage, building stock to achieve current energy and building code compliance, is not insurmountable and requires creative and innovative approaches to redevelopment. Additional complexities are associated with unfamiliarity with historic construction techniques, timelines, and trade skillsets which may be foreign to contemporary project team members. The presentation will start with an analysis of four particular heritage areas and will demonstrate how this approach can be applied to any area of significant existing building infrastructure. As regulatory policy related to environmental resiliency is introduced, building owners will be seeking viable options to retain and upgrade their existing buildings. In the second half of the presentation, we will explore the factors which can lead to environmental resiliency through the lens of our research on Calgary’s heritage commercial areas.
 

Learning Objectives:

By the completion of this session, participants will be able to:

  • Customize the presented heritage conservation tools and strategies to their own situation based on their particular municipal governance, bylaw, and policy structures.
  • Communicate to building owners the monetized value of existing infrastructure through the lens of triple-bottom-line valuation.
  • Present to Authorities having jurisdiction factual strategies and approaches confirming that conservation of heritage buildings is able to meet sustainability goals as well as address current building and energy code requirements.
  • Communicate that heritage conservation, as a critical aspect of appropriate urban revitalization, contributes significantly to economic, social, and environmental resiliency.

Subject Matter Expert:

Mr. Mark Chambers


OAA
Director of Conservation Architecture, Lemay

Mark Chambers plays a key role in the development of heritage project strategies within Lemay. With a passion for architecture stemming from a childhood working with his father, a designer and builder, his interest in heritage conservation results from growing up in a small rural Alberta town with a largely intact Main Street from the 1890s and early 1900s. His passion for conservation has grown into understanding how contemporary uses and interventions can coexist with historic conditions in a mutually beneficial environment. Mark taught as a part-time sessional instructor with Mount Royal University and the University of Calgary. He is a former President of The Alberta Association of Architects and is currently a registered architect in Alberta and British Columbia. Mark was inducted as a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada in 2014 and is a member of Canadian Association of Heritage Professionals.

Mrs. Grace Coulter Sherlock


B.A., M.Arch
Principal, Regional Director, West at Lemay

As Principal and Regional Director for Lemay Western Canada, Grace Coulter Sherlock oversees all stages of the design process, providing the team with guidance, creative direction and support. An exceptional design strategist and communicator, she is often called upon to lead and inform the development of challenging typologies, inspiring the creation of sustainable and human-focused places. Grace’s practice of architecture is centered on the research and dialog surrounding inclusive design models. Grace is an Assistant Adjunct Professor at the University of Calgary, School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape and is currently serving as the Alberta Association of Architects representative on the SSRC Partnership Project: Quality in Canada’s Built Environment (2022-2027). She is a registered practitioner in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Pricing A-La-Carte 

$50.00
List price: $75.00
Member Price: 
$50.00