Green Thinking Review
Edition 86
Build Less. Use More.
Do We Always Need Another Building?
Before commissioning another building, look again at what already stands. This edition explores renovation, adaptive reuse and practical ways to help existing buildings serve people better and for longer.
Edition cover · web-ready PDF availableWhy this edition matters
A question with consequences.
Every existing building represents materials, energy, labour and space already committed. Retaining, repairing or adapting it may meet a need that first appears to require new construction. Reuse still needs evidence: condition, safety, suitability, whole-life costs, environmental impact and effects on people should guide the choice. Jaekel House in Lagos brings that conversation home through a building’s successive changes of purpose.
Inside GTR 86
A complete conversation, in one focused edition.
Seven ways to get more from what we have
Five questions before we demolish
Jaekel House: a house, another life
2040: the city we already built
Cover story
The Building We Need May Already Be Standing
The next sustainable building may already be standing.
Ideas become useful when they meet a real place, a real challenge and the people shaping what comes next.
GTR reflection · Shareable thought
“Getting more from a building means helping it serve life better.”— Green Thinking Review, Edition 86
How to cite
Reference this edition.
Green Thinking Review. “Build Less. Use More.: Do We Always Need Another Building?.” GTR 86, 9 October 2026. https://www.greenthinking.sheltagroup.com/issues/build-less-use-more
Permanent edition linkOriginal edition published by Green Thinking Review. Page summary and reading links are provided for discovery and accessibility.
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