Environmental sustainability is one of the crucial issues considered by practitioners of environment conservation. One of the major factors which affect the environment is land use management. Consequently, adaptive reuse of industrial vacant buildings has achieved great acceptance among developing countries in recent years, whereas it can provide economic, sociocultural, and ecological benefits to the environment. This research aims to identify the significance of adaptive reuse in sustainability of the environment, especially in neglected industrial areas. The aim is achieved by means of a principle-based approach: defining the meaning of adaptive reuse and its significance in a sustainable environment; then, evaluating sustainability factors among those neglected industrial buildings conserved by adaptive reuse. To gain an understanding of the issue, a “historical interpretation” research method relying on analytical- description techniques was adopted and interviews through questionnaires were conducted with a variety of professors and students. The findings indicate that the concept of environmental sustainability is considered significantly in the adaptive reuse of industrial heritage of Iran. However, ecological aspects are neglected because of the buildings having low energy efficiency and not using renewable energies in the renovation process.