סמינר ירושלים באדריכלות

עיצוב ירוק // מתאוריה למעשה

25-27.01.2009

דוברים

Dr. Elma Durmisevic

Associate professor at the University of Delft Netherlands, associate professor at the University Twente Netherlands, and head of the 4D Architects office in Amsterdam. Dr. Durmisevic proposes new ways of bridging the current gap between demolition and disassembly. Durmisevic indicates that Dynamic changes in use of buildings coupled with growing issues related to effective use of materials in construction will require fundamentally different way of design and construction in the future. Durmisevic's vision is one in which homes become extensively transformable, and disassembly and reconfiguration is possible at all construction levels, spatial as well as material.

Her design portfolio includes urban planning studies, multifunctional sports facilities, multifunctional public buildings, offices, villas, and development of flexible building systems. Durmisevic advocates life cycle design approach to design of buildings and building systems and argues that current ideas regarding the performance and technical composition of both buildings and construction materials need to be revised.

Durmisevic has set up a regional development programme for the multidisciplinary working group within a Dutch Innovation Platform “Industrial Sustainable and Flexible buildings”.

Durmisevic has initiated new research, educational and innovation projects in the Netherlands, such as a new master track “Building system’s design” with focus on green design and engineering of buildings and systems, at the Industrial Design Department of faculty of Engineering Sciences, a research platform in the Netherlands on Smart and Transformable structures, a International Design Studio for development of multifunctional and cradle to cradle buildings at University Delft.

Durmisevic is author and editor of number of books, scientific papers and articles, and invited speaker on series of public lectures, international conferences and universities.

Green Design and Assembly of Buildings

Background
The exponential increase in population and contemporaneous increase in standard of living for many, will mean that the demand for essential goods & services (transportation, cars, planes, but also housing, materials, water, food) will increase by at least a factor 2 in the next few decades. Many scientists speculate that if 9 billion people have a western life style we would need 6 Earth’s to provide the necessary resources to sustain such a population. In many fields the limits of what Earth can sustain have already been reached (Fokkema 2007). If the need to support an additional 3 billion people and effect of increased per capita consumption is added it is clear that there is only one option: we need better and sustainable solutions to treat material resources

One can argue that conventional construction methods are in large part responsible for the degradation of the environment, due to the tones of waste materials that become burdens to society. Demolition in general can be defined as the process whereby the building is broken up, with little or no attempt to recover any of the constituent parts for reuse. Most buildings are designed for such end-of-life scenario. They are designed for assembly but not for disassembly and recovery of components. Different functions and materials comprising a building system are integrated (during construction) in one closed and dependent structure that does not allow alterations and disassembly. The inability to remove and exchange building systems and their components results not only in significant energy and material consumption and increased waste production, but also in the lack of spatial adaptability and technical serviceability of the building.

One long-standing conviction held by many is that buildings last longer when made of more durable materials. However, everyday demolition practice proves the opposite. Buildings are designed to last 70 -100 years yet , today buildings with an age of 15 years are demolished to give a way to new construction. Developers and real estate managers warn that there is a miss-match between the existing building stock and the dynamic and changing demands with respect to the use of buildings and their systems. 50% of investments in building construction in the Netherlands are spent on adaptation and 42% of new construction is due to the replacement of demolished buildings. Besides, European building industry accounts for 40% of the waste production 40% of the energy consumption and CO2 emissions and 50% of material resources taken from the nature are building related (CSB 2007).

If the building sector is to respond to global environmental and economic challenges it needs to adopt new ways of construction. The questions are:

Why not design building structures for remanufacturing and reconfiguration in place of demolition and down-cycling?

Why not design buildings and systems that can serve multiple purposes?

Why not design buildings that can be utilised as a resource pool for a new construction?

Why not consider waste and demolition as a design error?

Rather than destroying structures and systems while adapting building to fit into new requirements, it should be possible to disassemble sections back into components and to reassemble them in new combinations. This means that we must consider how we can access and replace parts of existing building systems and components, and accordingly, how we can design and integrate building systems and components in order to be able to replace them later on. (figure 1)

Towards re-configurable building structures The key question is how to develop a design strategy able to replace existing fixed building structures that are not designed for disassembly, adaptability, and material recovery, with open/dynamic structures that can be reconfigured and whose parts can be easily disassembled. The moment when buildings start to transform is the moment when structures can be reconfigured and reused, or simply demolished and sent to waste disposal sites. At that moment, the nature of the technical composition of building is crucial for the life cycle of buildings and materials. It is not only a type and durability of material(s) but more importantly an arrangement of materials that determines the life cycle of buildings and their products.

The aim of green design and building assembly should be a design of transformable building structures made of components assembled in a systematic order suitable for maintenance and reconfiguration of variable parts. (figure 2) This concept affects design of all material levels that are accounted for technical composition of buildings and accentuates interdependent relation between transformation process and disassembly technologies. Considering this, one can say that this concept introduces three dimensions of transformation in the buildings namely spatial, structural and material transformation. The key to each dimension of transformation and ultimately towards a three dimensional transformable building, is disassembly. By adoption of the concept of design for disassembly(DfD), spatial systems of a building become more amenable to modifications and change of use. New steps in exploitation of structure by reuse and reconfiguration can be achieved, and conscious handling of raw materials through their reuse and recycling is stimulated.(Durmisevic 2006)

Main characteristics of such buildings are (i) Separation of material levels, which correspond to independent building functions, (ii) creation of open hierarchy of distinct sub assemblies, (iii) use of independent interfaces as intermediary between individual components, (iv) application of parallel instead of sequential assembly/disassembly processes, and (v) use of dray - mechanical connections in place of chemical connections.(figure Hilversum)

In order to achieve this a fundamental change in architect’s perception of buildings is needed in terms of :

Conceiving building not as a static but a dynamic and open structure that can easily adopt to the changing requirements

Extending the transformation capacity of buildings and systems by considering the whole life cycle of the building and building systems.

Treating building materials as a long-term valuable assets through their whole life cycle by utilising reconfiguration, reuse and remanufacturing options on building, system and material level

Considering waste and demolition as a design error

Decupling fixed function-material relationship in buildings by design of re-configurable systems

Involving construction industry into the whole life cycle of the building and building systems

Design considerations with respect to DfD for high Transformation capacity involve:

Setting the boundary conditions for transformation and specification of the long and short term use scenarios. (figure 3)

systematisation of elements according to the functional groups and their use life cycle,

formation of a hierarchy of components that fits into a desired functional decomposition,

definition of types of connections that support desired functional, and technical decomposition, and

life cycle coordination that respects disassembly sequences, technical, and functional decomposition.

Conclusions
A typology of physical integration of a building is a measure (indicators) of building sustainability. A major shift towards greed design and engendering involves shift from design of close building systems and assemblies towards design of open and dynamic building assemblies made of independent and exchangeable building components and systems. Different use requirements correspond to different arrangement and hierarchy of building components. Therefore different sub-assemblies are independent from each other and are connected via base element of the assembly, similar to the composition of computer programs made of independent modules that can be independently upgraded, reconfigured, and added to the existing software. Such a concept allows for future alterations to external screening, and to internal partitioning. It allows for services to be independent of the fabric, to provide for accessibility, servicing, and alteration. It creates the precondition for reuse and recycling and opens the way for designs of greater diversity and richness of architectural expression. (figure 4)

References:
CSB 2007: Center for Building Statistics in the Netherlands – Bouwvergunningen, huur-en koopwoningen, 2007

Durmisevic 2006: E.Durmisevic, Transformable buildiong structures, Design for Disassembly as a way to introduce sustainable engineering to the building design and construction, PhD theses, TU Delft February 2006, Nederland

Fokkema 2007: Speech Dias Natalis January 12 2007 Rector of delft University of Technology, Prof.dr.ir. Jacob Fokkema, 2007, Delft

Elma Durmisevic

Multifunctional Sport-cultural complex in Mostar. Building under construction (completion 2011)

1999 modular house Bilthoven Netherlands designed for disassembly for biro Evelein