Taking stock on building adaptability research and practice

Abstract

Taking stock on building adaptability research and practice Buildings are a key part of the built environment and they have a significant impact on the economic, social and environmental sustainability of a society. These include: their contribution to the wealth of nations, providing space for economic and social/family activities, defining the culture and heritage of a society, and impacting the natural environment through the use of materials and energy in their construction, operation and use, and the emission of CO 2 and other harmful gases to the environment.Buildings are generally fixed assets with a lifespan of around 25/30 years but which can last for hundreds of years. Over the course of their lifetime, they are adapted to incorporate new performance requirements, cope with the changing needs of owners and users and the pressing challenges that climate change may bring (Thompson et al., 2014). The importance of adaptability is also acknowledged in other disciplines such as ecology, where adaptive capacity is seen as "essential for maintaining the resilience of social-ecological systems and for coping with environmental change" (Fazey et al., 2007, p. 375).The adaptability of buildings is therefore a key lifecycle consideration and is a very important strategy for the sustainable design and construction of buildings (Langford et al., 2002;Webster, 2007;Gosling et al., 2013). The more adaptable buildings are, the better they will maximise their social and economic value (e.g. through extended useful life) and the less their impact on the environment through less consumption of resources to create new buildings. However, like all lifecycle issues, there is usually a trade-off with the initial capital cost of construction and the need for informed decision-making at the design stage is crucial to understand the costs and benefits of such measures (Thompson et al., 2014).The consideration of lifecycle issues in the design and creation of buildings is now well established and various techniques such as whole life costing, designing for facilities management, etc. have been developed to assist with lifecycle analysis. Likewise, adaptability also needs to be considered early on in the design process for new buildings, and at the point when changes to an existing building are proposed. The availability of appropriate tools and techniques that will allow relevant stakeholders to make informed decisions about the adaptive capacity of new and existing buildings will make an invaluable contribution to the creation of more adaptable buildings.This special issue on building adaptability is an attempt to take stock on current research and practice in the adaptability of buildings. It comprises of eight papers and a book review, which draw mainly from research in the UK, but also from Australia, Iraq, Italy and Hong Kong. With respect to building sectors, it includes heritage buildings, retail, civic, social care and sport (Olympic construction).The first paper by Heidrich et al. is a literature review of developments i...