Moving Operations and Maintenance Practices of Existing Buildings beyond Sustainability: A Case Study of the LENSES Framework during Post Occupancy

ABSTRACTThe Living Environments in Natural, Social and Economic Systems (LENSES) Framework is a tool intended to facilitate building professionals’ ability to look beyond sustainability to more regenerative approaches regardless of the building’s current phase of life. The purpose of this case study is to utilize the LENSES Framework to evaluate the degenerative, sustainable and regenerative (DSR) effects of the operations and maintenance (O/M) of an existing building. The building selected for this case study was Building 41, which is owned and operated by the General Services Administration in Denver, Colorado. Results of this study indicate that Building 41 is most regenerative through the actions of its occupants, most sustainable through its critical systems and technological upgrade integrations, and most degenerative through its original construction measures. DSR differences are found in individual component’s levels’ of agreement when contrasting original design and construction (D/C) measures wi...