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Nowadays it is typical that the precise use of a building becomes clear during construction. Current building processes do not support this in Finland. The objective of this study is to present a novel systematic management of the design process for flexible construction projects, from the project programming stage through to overall design, detailed designs, procurement, and handover, in a situation where the final use of the building becomes clear only during construction.

The development work included a constructive search for solutions to the problems presented above. The process developed in this study is illustrated with two case projects analysed retrospectively.

According the open building principle, buildings should be divided into two parts: a permanent base building; and modifiable interior spaces. This division should apply throughout the building's entire life cycle, starting from the beginning of the construction project. The start of the project is the time when goals should be set for the flexibility of the building. The first step in this goal‐setting procedure is to define the flexible modifiable spaces, and the second step is to dimension the permanent base building. A design procedure for this open building procedure has also been developed in the study. The study concludes that traditional boundaries and the content of design packages must be changed. These boundaries should be compatible with the appropriate bid packages and should support implementation of the construction work. The bid packages should follow the division to base building and spaces too.

The procedure proposed forms guidelines for flexible programming, basic principles for design and procurement processes. In addition, it is the starting point to transforming the Finnish standard scope of work for design corresponding to the open building approach.

It is important to provide building performance feedback to the designer as early as possible in the design process. However, many aspects of building performance are significantly affected by the design of the building’s technical systems (e.g., heating, airconditioning), which are typically configured in detail only in the later stages of design. The challenge is thus to find a method to use detailed simulation tools even during the early stages of design when values for many of the variables for the building’s technical systems are not yet available. In this paper, we demonstrate how this problem can be partially solved by use of differential representation for building and technical system, homology‐based automatic mapping of relevant information from the building to the technical system representation, and generative design agents which, with a minimal user‐input, can design and model the technical system. We conclude the paper with illustrative examples of detailed performance analysis of complex buildings and their heating, ventilation, and air‐conditioning systems, performed in early stages of design.

Flex−buildings are buildings which are literally designed to change. A flex−building must be able to accept different infills and its users must be able to easily adapt their surroundings.

Flexibility is defined as the capacity of a building to undergo modifications and accept changes of function with limited structural interventions. More than 40% of the activities housed in a flex building can continue to function during modification.

Studies into flex−buildings (commissioned by the Dutch Government) have elicited a number of insights. These are not hard−and−fast conclusions but more in the region of statements and reminders for those involved with flex−buildings.

These studies show that it takes more than civil engineering to successfully realise such buildings. Aspects of use and management are at least as important. Besides, it requires designers who are willing to let go of their design after it is finished. For the result is not a completed ‘architectural’ product but a continually changing object.

Following insights (among others) will be illustrated with built and unbuilt projects in the Netherlands.

• The façade design, for example, figures prominently in designing flexible buildings. It makes special demands on the design’s presentation during the design process, as the building can assume different appearances over time. The double facade is a promising concept that allows for expressive and/or open facades in flexible buildings. It can also help to reduce a building’s energy consumption.

• Also by deliberately incorporating excessive space and construction a building has the necessary leeway to accommodate future developments. A building’s flexibility is enhanced by oversize in structure as well as space.

• A big multi−use building in Rotterdam (H. A. Maaskant / W. van Tijen (1951)) and recent projects of RUIMTELAB are presented as case−studies. These are an inspiration for architects and planners looking for design tools to help achieve an open architecture.

Open Building and IFD (Industrial Flexible Demountable) building are philosophies that aim to create high quality buildings with increased flexibility and better environmental characteristics. However, a successful adoption of IFD principles has not yet occurred because of concerns for the types of connections that are needed between building components. Therefore, this paper describes PhD research at the University of Twente that has the objective of designing a typology of flexible interfaces for IFD building that can be widely applied in the construction industry and aims to standardize connections, at the various levels of technical composition of a building, to create compatibility between building products from different suppliers. Such a typology of interfaces will increase the re-use and recycling of building parts, resulting in the increased sustainability of the building process. Furthermore, it will help accelerate the industrialization of the housing industry and mass customization of housing. A preliminary case study, in which a sustainable, flexible bathroom is designed, illustrates the various types of interfaces that can be applied, based on existing research. The paper illustrates the importance of interfaces, and aims to increase environmental benefits of buildings (less construction waste), improve the social aspects (higher user satisfaction in buildings) and achieve economical advantages (lower overall costs) by designing new interfaces.

The purpose of this study is to identify and evaluate the primary constraints that quantity surveying firms in Nigeria encounter while integrating indoor environmental quality (IEQ) principles into building designs.

The study used a quantitative approach by administering a well-structured questionnaire to 114 quantity surveyors. The collected data were analyzed using methods such as frequencies, percentages, mean item scores, Kruskal–Wallis test and exploratory factor analysis.

The top five ranked constraints were limited access to funding or financing options, limited availability of green materials, limited availability of insurance for sustainable buildings, limited availability of sustainable design resources and limited diversity and inclusivity within the design profession. Based on the factor analysis, the study identified six clusters of constraints: structural-related constraints, technical-related constraints, financial-related constraints, capacity-related constraints, legal-related constraints and culture-related constraints.

This study has several practical implications for quantity surveying firms, policymakers and industry stakeholders involved in building design and construction in Nigeria. The findings of this study can also inform future research on the integration of IEQ principles into building designs.

By identifying and structuring the clusters of constraints faced by quantity surveying firms in Nigeria when implementing IEQ principles, this study provides a novel approach to understanding the challenges associated with IEQ implementation in the building sector. This understanding can guide policymakers, industry stakeholders and quantity surveying firms in developing effective strategies to overcome these constraints and promote IEQ principles in building design and construction.

There is a renowned interest in adaptability as an important principle for achieving circularity in the built environment. Circular building adaptability (CBA) could enable long-term building utilisation and flexible use of space with limited material flows. This paper identifies and analyses design strategies facilitating CBA to propose a framework for enhancing the implementation of the concept.

Interviews were conducted with professionals experienced in circular building design to explore the questions “How do currently applied design strategies enable CBA?” and “How can CBA be implemented through a conceptual design framework?”. The interviews encircled multi-residential building examples to identify currently applied circular design strategies. The interviews were analysed through qualitative content analysis using CBA determinants as a coding framework.

The results show that all ten CBA determinants are supported by design strategies applied in current circular building design. However, some determinants are more supported than others, and design strategies are often employed without explicitly considering adaptability. The design strategies that enable adaptability offer long-term solutions requiring large-scale modifications rather than facilitating low-impact adaptation by dwelling occupants. The proposed conceptual design framework could aid architects in resolving these issues and implementing CBA in their circular building design.

This paper’s contribution to CBA is threefold. It demonstrates design strategies facilitating CBA, proposes a conceptual design framework to apply the concept and identifies the need for a more comprehensive application of available adaptability strategies.

Traditionally, buildings are designed in accordance with prescriptive building and fire codes. Rapid urbanization causes an increase in urban population and commercial activities, and an increase in demand for large and complex buildings. Buildings that have been constructed in accordance with the old prescriptive requirements may not have the same fire safety level as the standard enforced today, even if all fire safety items are maintained at the original design standard. It is the usual practice that any upgrading or alteration works to be carried out in an existing building are required to comply with the requirements currently enforced. The demand for using a performance‐based approach for designing large complex buildings as well as alteration works in existing or historical buildings is increasing. The paper aims to discuss the issues involved

This paper presents a brief comparison of the use of performance‐based fire safety design in three locations and presents the use of a system dynamics model to examine how the technological investment will affect the use of performance‐based fire safety design.

The model predicts that increased investment by the Hong Kong authorities would see a rise in the number of building projects using a performance‐based approach within a few years.

The research in this paper provides guidance to the building control regime in Hong Kong on how to achieve an increase in the use of a fire‐engineered approach to enhance fire safety design in buildings.

This exploratory study, a Ph.D. dissertation completed at the University of Western Ontario in 2013, examines the materially embedded relations of power between library users and staff in public libraries and how building design regulates spatial behavior according to organizational objectives. It considers three public library buildings as organization spaces (Dale & Burrell, 2008) and determines the extent to which their spatial organizations reproduce the relations of power between the library and its public that originated with the modern public library building type ca. 1900. Adopting a multicase study design, I conducted site visits to three, purposefully selected public library buildings of similar size but various ages. Site visits included: blueprint analysis; organizational document analysis; in-depth, semi-structured interviews with library users and library staff; cognitive mapping exercises; observations; and photography.

Despite newer approaches to designing public library buildings, the use of newer information technologies, and the emergence of newer paradigms of library service delivery (e.g., the user-centered model), findings strongly suggest that the library as an organization still relies on many of the same socio-spatial models of control as it did one century ago when public library design first became standardized. The three public libraries examined show spatial organizations that were designed primarily with the librarian, library materials, and library operations in mind far more than the library user or the user’s many needs. This not only calls into question the public library’s progressiveness over the last century but also hints at its ability to survive in the new century.

The efficient application of building information modeling (BIM) methodology in the sustainable building design process, known as green BIM, provides ideal leverage to significantly enhance multidiscipline team collaboration. However, the practical execution of green BIM is characterized by issues such as duplication of work, information silos and poor cross-party coordination. Besides, there are limited studies on the specific components that are critical to driving green BIM collaborative design. This study aims to establish the critical components of green BIM collaborative design to enable the multidiscipline team to effectively use diverse software to collaboratively exchange accurate information, thus ensuring informed decision-making in the sustainable building design process.

Data were obtained by using a questionnaire to survey 360 respondents comprising mainly architects and engineers (civil, mechanical and electrical) in Malaysia. Subsequently, data were analyzed via confirmatory factor analysis. Afterward, a measurement model was established and used to test the 11 hypotheses of this study.

A covariance-based structural equation model of the critical components for successful BIM-based sustainable building design collaboration was established.

The research findings will guide the multidisciplinary team to collaboratively exchange accurate information in green BIM practices.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first attempt in the literature to provide a pragmatic approach for practitioners to combine the established critical components of green BIM to collaboratively exchange heterogeneous sustainability criteria and efficiently design buildings with high sustainability performance, particularly in emerging countries like Malaysia.

The purpose of this study is to focus on identifying building elements with design defects and established the relationship between design defects and difficulties in carrying out maintenance works.

A total of four cases have been selected covering primary‐ and secondary‐level for both National and National‐type schools (commonly known as vernacular schools). Interviews with school management were carried out throughout the study to assess the common design defects in the buildings.

A list of the design defects that have caused high maintenance cost was tabulated. It could be concluded that the most common design defects are building façade and missing slot underneath the floor slab which led to more defects.

Only four schools in Penang, Malaysia were involved in this study. Data were gathered from the school management and maintenance personnel. No data have been obtained from the designers because difficulties in tracing the designers record since the school age are more than 20 years.

The study recommended that expert maintenance personnel shall be employed in the design stage to minimize design defects in school projects which in turn minimize the cost of building maintenance.

Safety and health of the students could be affected if there is no accurate measures being adopted to overcome the issue.

A very limited study has been carried out with regards to design maintenance for school buildings in Malaysia.