Aimée L Felton 2012

23 Awareness of the need to utilise historic buildings, has led to the growing concept of conservation as a mode to manage change, not only of the fabric but in broader terms including managing the relevant economic, practical and philosophical requirements of both the building(s) and the owner. Avrami et al (2007, as cited in Worthing, D and Bond, S. 2008:p47) suggested that conservation should not have the fabric as the nucleus of the ideology but it should rather be the values embodied by the heritage and the aim is to preserve these. English Heritage at a conference in 2007 (as cited inWorthing, D and Bond, S. 2008:p2) stated that ‘change in the historic environment is inevitable, whether caused by natural processes, through use or response to social, economic and technical advances’. In opposition to this argument, the legacy of what we- the current generation- leave for the future generations to encounter has to be considered with the approach to adapting the existing narrative of historic buildings. Rather than eradicating the previous layers of history, our contribution should be able to contribute to the multiple narratives (Schofield, J. 2009, as cited in Gibson, L and Pendlebury, J. 2009:p109), illustrating the whole past of the building, not just the edited highlights. Whilst there is a clear and undisputed correlation between building conservation and sustainability (Dann, N and Cantell, T. 2007, as cited in Forsyth, M. 2007:p186), the connection does not lie just within the realms of environmental sustainability. Maintenance of historic fabric helps to secure and enhance not only social sustainability by safeguarding the security TWO Two•Five Environmental Contribution Chapter Two - Context Aimee Felton