Action Steps

The restoration team should provide operations staff with a maintenance plan and guidelines appropriate to the specific finishes. Special finishes or other measures used to preserve historic elements may also require special operations and maintenance procedures.

Some elements may require special protection during construction.  In cases where only a portion of a building is undergoing construction, special attention should be paid to isolating the otherwise clean or occupied areas and protecting the retained elements from dust and contamination.

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Draft a narrative describing your approach to building reuse, including the selection of elements preserved, and any outstanding project features.

At the end of construction, the architect revisits the preliminary calculations to confirm that the percentage of reused building elements is above the 50% threshold required for the credit.

The architect and construction manager work with the restoration contractor to establish appropriate demolition and restoration activities.

Confirm that construction and demolition drawings highlight clear distinctions between the elements being restored and elements that will be taken down.

Architects should incorporate restoration specifications into the construction documents.

Consider tradeoffs when reusing certain elements. Retaining existing interior partitions, for example, is a simple strategy which can help to attain this credit. However, depending on the placement of the existing walls, this must be weighed against the possible loss of daylighting and views. It should also be balanced against trade-offs related to energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality, too.