Towards Sustainable Renovation

The focus of this dissertation is on existing housing areas: in industrialized western countries, the number of existing buildings that are taken care of, renovated or restructured for other functions is higher than the number of new buildings. This is a review dissertation, based on empirical material and further reflections from previous research projects dealing with Swedish housing renovation: from old single-family housing areas to large housing areas from the 1950s, 60s and 70s. The concepts of careful renovation, environmentally-friendly renovation and sustainable renovation are analyzed as different approaches to housing renovation. The aim is to present an interpretation of sustainable renovation that includes the goals both of careful renovation and of environmentally-friendly renovation as necessary components of sustainable development. This dissertation identifies and analyses the main issues that may be faced during renovation and that have a relevant impact on the environment, the architecture or the inhabitants. It concludes with reflections about positive results, incongruities and challenges that may be found in projects of sustainable renovation.