Too much money is spent in maintaining and repairing old buildings, some people think they should be knocked down and give way to modern building. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Maintenance and reparation of old

buildings

have been an issue that governments have allocated a budget to it. While there is an argument that these

buildings

should be replaced by modern ones, I believe that it is a two-sided sword and depends on the value On the one hand, tearing down an edifice may have two main drawbacks.

Firstly

,

this

would result in a huge amount of wasted embodied

energy

.

This

energy

has been consumed by factories to make building

materials

such

as concrete, brick or cement.

Therefore

, if a building knocks down without any recycling, the new material should be made from the raw

materials

which result in a big number of disposals.

Secondly

, some of these old

buildings

are tourist attractions. Many people are fond of historical structures, especially if they are built in a specific era and architecture.

As a result

, if governments invest in maintaining and repairing these

buildings

, the expenditure will pay back by increasing the numbers of tourists over time.

On the other hand

, replacing these

buildings

with new modern ones would positively affect building

energy

consumption reduction and safety. Many

materials

have been developing in recent years.

For example

, Low-E glass could reduce heat transfer simultaneously with allowing daylight penetration that

consequently

reduces cooling and lighting

energy

consumption.

Moreover

, these

materials

have become safer in the case of natural disasters

such

as earthquakes and fires. Constructing with light pre-fabricated

materials

not only decreases the building weight in the case of seismic but

also

accelerates the construction process. In conclusion, pulling down an old building or paying for maintenance is likely to depend on the building's value and in my opinion, both of these options could be favourable.