Design for sustainability and innovation: A kansei engineering evaluation of the adaptive reuse of old buildings

Abstract

The aim of our study was to use Kansei Engineering Evaluation to examine the renewal of old buildings with sustainability and innovation by comparing to new buildings. First, we conducted a questionnaire survey, with 84 participants, on 18 buildings from Asian and European countries; the survey used 16 adjectives. Second, we studied the characteristics of new and renewed old buildings in terms of the elements crucial to sustainable and innovative design. The results suggest that the adaptive reuse of old buildings in more sustainable than constructing new buildings. Further, the adjectives preferred by the survey show that the adaptive reuse of old buildings has higher influence with character of “creative” from the innovation viewpoint. This paper presents a project to address sustainability and innovation of adaptive reused of old building at a later stage. This study contributes to the renewal of existing infrastructure to improve its longevity and chance of future reuse, and to ensure environmental sustainability for future society.