The sustainability of old buildings

An interesting short article on green futures states that:

Our historic buildings need not be unsustainable. What’s more, we can still learn a lot from their many examples of innovative technology …. underpinned by the old wisdom of self-sufficiency.

I go a step further in that I see old buildings and the process of renovating them as an unmissable opportunity to take fantastic old structures with their durable, natural and attractive materials and through marrying these with new technologies & materials providing comfortable, sustainable and healthy living environments. In effect we can erase much of the post-war nastiness in house building by coupling the best of the past with the best of the present.

Not only can our old buildings be sustainable, but they can lead the way toward better, more sustainable future housing.