A study and analysis on the revival of historical buildings as an approach to protect cultural and historical heritage

Sustainable development necessitates that the construction industry discovers a greener, resilient, and ecologically responsible alternative to the current state. Thus, there is an urgent need to explore and execute a sustainable growth strategy in this sector to change the current paradigm, which is characterized by high environmental degradation and resource consumption. Sustainable development encompasses not only environmental but also economic, social, and cultural factors. Several studies have indicated that the protection of cultural heritage improves environmental, social, cultural, and economic sustainability. Building adaptation comprises a variety of construction actions that enhance current condition and extend the life span of buildings. Architectural adaptation involves refurbishing, retrofitting, restoration, renovation, rehabilitation, adaptive reuse, material reuse, conservation, and preservation, as well as other activities to improve building conditions. In this study, the most relevant definitions, implementations, and ranges of the specified terminologies are examined; on the basis of this classification, a conceptual model is constructed to facilitate accurate categorization of building adaptations and its application in various case studies. The current state of heritage buildings in Erbil (the Erbil Citadel as a World Heritage Site and the buffer zone as cultural heritage) is evaluated. We aimed to investigate their current conservation status and determine whether the Erbil Citadel’s heritage building adaptation has addressed the issue of energy retrofitting to realize green and passive construction. The results indicate that the framework model is an effective assessment tool in the field of conserving heritage buildings. The majority of Erbil’s heritage buildings have been restored and rehabilitated for public interaction; nevertheless, additional interventions are required to improve the buildings’ energy efficiency and conservation for this to be recognized as sustainable heritage development. In the future, academics and practitioners may use the suggested framework to clearly and consistently describe the scope of the work in their building adaptation, thereby eliminating the high costs of correcting code and specification requirements that were not met.

Keywords:

energy retrofitting , heritage building adaptation , sustainability , building refurbishment.