Page 165 - Çevre Şehir İklim İngilizce - Sayı 2

Demet Gülhan

get outdated, is the act of rendering these structures functional again, or
updating the historical structures that still maintain their functions, but have
outdated comfort conditions (Altınoluk, 1998: 22).
The protection of historical through inhabiting them and ensuring their
continuity and turning them into living assets is an impressive and educational
method for society. To this end, it is possible to re-functionalize a structure and
put it to use with a new content through the experience of it by the society
(Altınoluk, 1998: 23).
For this reason, during the reuse studies, to ensure that the value and
characteristic features of the historical structures do not get affected negatively,
first and foremost, the functions should be chosen according to the spatial
vision of the structures, and functions that require heavy interventions in the
interior or the exterior should be avoided (Engin, 2009: 18).

4. Contribution of Adaptive Reuse of Historical Structures to Urban Resilience

It is inevitable for functionally outdated structures that lose their original
functions and get deserted to be demolished. The adaptive reuse of these
structures is expected to contribute to urban resilience. The most important
of these effects is adaptation to current climate change adaptation agenda
through the use of the building in accordance with recycling principles.
Additionally, the greenhouse gas emission to emerge during the construction
of a new building will be neutralized, and as there will be no material
production, the use of extra resources will be prevented. Thus, the reuse
of historical structures through adapting them to current conditions can be
considered a “climate-friendly application” (Gülhan, 2022).
Today, in many developed countries like the USA, Canada and Australia,
adaptive reuse of these structures is adopted as a resilience policies against
climate change. A study implemented in the USA revealed that to rebuild
a structure, 39% of the total amount of energy will be used and 43% of the
total greenhouse gasses will be emitted. Also, considering the environmental
effect of the construction, and the energy amount used in the production
of construction materials, this situation will worsen exponentially. Another
striking study revealed that the energy required for the construction of a
commercial area of 4.500 m is about the same as the energy used by a car
2
that drives for 33.000 kilometer annually over 730 years (WSAHP, 2011).
Overall, the repair and reuse costs of old buildings are estimated to be 50%
to 80% less than the cost of building a new structure (Kaşlı, 2009). In brief,
construction of a new building means energy consumption while preserving
historical buildings and putting them into use will save energy.

151 Journal of Environment, Urbanization and Climate