Sustainability Analysis of Reused Industrial Buildings in China: an Assessment Method

The sustainable development of old industrial buildings is in line with the national construction strategy and has an important impact on current urban renewal. Only by achieving a unified balance among economic, social, and environmental factors can reused industrial buildings be considered sustainable. However, there are no relevant sustainability assessment indicators and methods for reused industrial buildings in China. The purpose of this study was to provide a reasonable and effective method for assessing the sustainability of reused industrial buildings. First, this study analysed the factors influencing reused industrial building sustainability through a project investigation. Second, based on the assessment indicator setting procedure, the sustainability assessment indicator system for reused industrial buildings was optimised. Moreover, a multi-level sustainability assessment model based on extenics was established to identify the correlation functions of indicators with different attributes. Finally, a case was considered to verify this assessment method. The results showed that this assessment method in good agreement with the actual state of the case was validated to be more effective and practical. The assessment method could provide a basis for decision-making to improve sustainability and could be adopted by relevant rating agencies to determine the sustainability level of reused industrial buildings.