Building reuse and the land ethic

This thesis is about applying the land ethic, which was developed by ecologist Aldo Leopold, to the practice of reusing buildings, in order to determine if this practice is social, environmentally, and economically sustainable. The land ethic is developed, and three guiding principles of this ethic are outlined. These three principles are in turn applied to three in-depth case study building reuse projects around the United States. Supporting case studies are offered in less depth for comparison and contrast. After looking at these case studies, suggestions are made for best practices in the field of building reuse in order to provide social, environmental, and economic sustainability to future urban development.