Holistic Carbon Accounting: Extending the design life of the existing commercial scale building stock.

This study critically examined the carbon accounting method designers use when considering how to interact with New Zealand's existing commercial buildings as they end their design life. A comparative carbon analysis was carried out using Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) of a commercial scale case study. This study aimed to establish the efficacy of refurbishing a commercial building at the end of its design life. The overarching question sought to identify whether a low-carbon new building would be more sustainable than increasing the design life of existing high-carbon commercial-scale buildings