Adaptive Reuse Playbook: Turning Obsolescence into Value By: Shahbaz Ghafoori Buildings and structures often outlive their original purpose. Adaptive reuse transforms this obsolescence into value—preserving embodied energy, maintaining cultural resonance, and giving new life to underused or abandoned assets. As land becomes scarcer and sustainability imperatives tighten, the adaptive reuse playbook offers methods to breathe new life into existing built fabric using creative design, community engagement, and strategic policy support. Why Adaptive Reuse Matters Demolition involves waste—both material and cultural—and significant carbon emissions. Reuse mitigates these impacts by retaining structural shells, architectural elements, and site history. Projects like old factories turned into galleries or warehouses into mixed-use housing exemplify how adaptive reuse can preserve memory, generate social value, and reduce environmental cost. Reuse is not a fallback...
Green AI: Making Machine Learning Environmentally Responsible By: Shahbaz Ghafoori Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming every industry, including architecture, urban planning, and environmental design. Yet, behind the promise of automation and data-driven innovation lies a hidden cost: energy-intensive computations. Training large-scale AI models often requires massive processing power, consuming megawatt-hours of electricity and emitting substantial carbon. As cities and design practices seek sustainability, the paradox of AI’s environmental footprint is impossible to ignore. “Green AI” has emerged as a response, advocating not only for intelligent algorithms but also for responsible ones that minimize their ecological impact. In the built environment sector, where sustainability is a core priority, Green AI offers a roadmap for aligning machine learning advancements with climate goals. The Environmental Impact of AI Training a single state-of-the-art ...