With today’s focus, as well as this convention's focus, on green and growing beyond green, preservationists can only scratch their heads at the rest of the world’s apparent failure to recognize that historic preservation—the rehabilitation, preservation, and reuse of our enormous stock of existing buildings—is the ultimate act of sustainability. For years bumper stickers in North Carolina have been proclaiming that “Historic preservation is the ultimate recycling!”

   Learning objectives:

• Explain the concept of adaptive use as an act of sustainability
• Demonstrate the advantages of preservation in a sustainable practice to benefit the firm and serve as a teaching aid in architecture schools
• Identify and quantify the financial benefits to be derived from adaptive use and rehabilitation