Analysis of the Impact of Input Data on the Planned Costs of Building Maintenance

The aim of the article is to analyze the method of determining the maintenance costs of buildings based on the method proposed in Polish legal regulations. The analysis of the sensitivity of the method shows that the assumed number of product use cycles during the calculation period has the greatest impact, while the adopted warranty period has the lowest impact. A multi-functional building combining housing, office, service and commercial was analyzed in order to obtain a broader picture of the model’s operation. The results of the analyses allow us to conclude that despite the higher price of materials, the most durable solutions, which are the most expensive to purchase, turn out to be the most advantageous in the entire life cycle of the building. The method proposed in Polish law regulations has certain limitations. In order to level them, it was proposed to extend the method by using NPV (Net Present Value) for calculations and extending the life cycle of the building to 80 years.

Degradation Assessment of Natural Stone Claddings over Their Service Life: Comparison between Tehran (Iran) and Lisbon (Portugal)

Now more than ever, the construction sector is aiming to adopt more sustainable solutions. To achieve this purpose, more durable solutions must be adopted, making rational decisions at the design and maintenance stages regarding the conditions of environmental exposure and use. In this sense, knowledge regarding the service life of building components is crucial. This knowledge should not be a general concept, or a standard value, and adapting practices from one country to another is extremely challenging. In this sense, this study analyses the service life of natural stone claddings. We adopt a methodology initially proposed for Lisbon (Portugal), intending to evaluate its applicability to other geographical contexts, in order to perform a more reliable service life prediction of stone claddings located in Tehran (Iran). An estimated service life of 65 years was obtained for a sample of 162 stone claddings directly adhered to the substrate, located in Tehran, which were analysed by in situ inspections. The impact of different conditions (e.g., type of stone and environmental exposure conditions) on the service life of stone claddings in Tehran was quantified, which revealed that the exposure to environmental agents, such as wind, rain and pollutants, is the main cause of degradation of the natural stone claddings.

Surviving the Anthropocene: How evaluation can contribute to knowledge and better policymaking

We live in the Anthropocene in which human impact on Earth is the dominant force. At the same time, humans are very much part of the ecosystem. This close interdependency is brought home by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as by anthropogenic climate change. Ecosystem health and human health are closely interlinked. Transformational change is required to avoid further catastrophes caused by the three environmental crises that human actions have caused: climate crisis; nature crisis; and pollution and waste crisis. Evaluation can contribute to finding durable solutions based on sound science and experiences from the field, but to do so evaluation must broaden its vision. Theory-based approaches will remain central, but they must be open to the full human and natural systems in which the intervention that is the evaluand operates. Evaluations must also pay attention to unintended consequences of all interventions to the environment, to social and power relations, to women, indigenous peoples and vulnerable groups. I identify three principles for evaluation in the Anthropocene, at the nexus of human and natural systems, and illustrate them using examples from evaluations from the Global Environment Facility: (a) integrating human and natural systems; (b) geographical approaches; and (c) addressing the drivers.