Guest editorial: “Building pathology: the past, new approaches and opportunities”

Abstract

Overview of the special issue Today's building pathology studies should be oriented to systemize the knowledge from the past, good previous experiences but also focused on the new challenges of construction and rehabilitation industry. There is a growing need for more ready access to available knowledge, based on new technologies and more feedback in a structured and continuous way. The complexity of buildings is increasing and new materials and constructive systems are being applied in new or existent buildings. The monitoring of buildings performance under real exposure conditions should be the basis of new trends in this field.Nowadays, a new concept of sustainable development, primarily based on the quality of life and lower impacts on the natural environment, increases the importance of having specific intervention criteria and methodologies based on a building pathology knowledge. The early detection of building failures can help in reducing conflicts and costs. Building pathology should have new insights about the Information and Communications Technology (ICT), internet of things, uncertainty and risk analysis, advanced diagnosis techniques and forensic engineering approaches, with a consensual approach in the scientific and technical community.Building pathology is a very ancient occurrence but it needs new approaches to be dealt with. The building stock has increased exponentially in the last century and there is a need for faster and more efficient ways to inspect, diagnose and maintain/rehabilitate current buildings with pathology problems. The challenge is therefore that of benchmarking and systemizing all procedures linked with building pathology and use advanced tools, knowledge and technologies to improve today's practice, by reaching out to professionals in the field.The International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction (CIB) is organized in Working Commissions. W086 -Building Pathology (https://cibworld.org/ commissions/w086-building-pathology/) is one of the longest-running commissions within CIB "is essentially concerned with learning from past and current building pathology and encouraging the systematic application of that knowledge to the design, construction and management of buildings".In order to boost the dissemination of all concepts concerning building pathology, W086 decided to champion a special issue in the International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation, a CIB-encouraged journal, entitled "Building Pathology: The past, new approaches and opportunities" (https://cibworld.org/building-pathology-the-past-new-approaches-andopportunities/). Description of the contributionsNine manuscripts have been submitted, reviewed and accepted for publications in this special issue. Their scope ranges various subjects concerning building pathology, as described next. Both W086 members and non-members contributed to the special issue.