Post-construction issues

Matching occupancy and use of the building to the original plans and assumptions is not always automatic or smooth. It can pose problems that may result in serious owner and/or occupant dissatisfaction. Building programmers and designers formulate requirements and solutions to respond to defined needs for space and occupancy. In the process, they make many assumptions and decisions that predetermine what the finished product is and is not capable of. The design of a building evolves over time, and early design decisions can sometimes preclude later refinement that may result in a better building. Future users and operators of the building are seldom aware of the assumptions made in the design and the limitations that may be inherent in the building as built; they often try to use or operate the building in a way it cannot and they do not understand its limitations and the reasons. Such problems are only augmented when ownership and the use of the building change.

The same is true of integrated façade systems. They are typically complex systems and their proper function depends on their proper use and operation, timely maintenance and a thorough understanding of how they work in dealing with problems and malfunctions. If the integrated façade system consists of a combination of components that were built by different manufacturers (sometimes for different purposes) and assembled as a “first of” or a unique system, the understanding of how they properly work together may require quite an effort. The average building occupant, building operator or manager often needs to be educated about how not to interfere with the system’s proper function.

Integrated façade systems (or any other part of the building) sometimes do not work as expected because of component substitution during construction. The designed and specified system components may not be timely available, or alternatives may cost less; substitute components are used without consideration that they may not perform the way the original is supposed to. This can result in serious erosion of system performance that is hard to trace if the component is small and difficult to reach. To avoid such problems, one should commission any integrated façade system before delivering the building for occupancy, as should be the case with any other important system in the building.

Without measurement of system performance one can never be certain how well a given system is working. This is particularly true of integrated façade systems; since relatively few have been installed and monitored to date, too little empirical knowledge about them is available to be universally useful. To fully understand how such a system is working, it is necessary to measure and monitor the performance of the system. This requires decisions on what to measure and monitor that will define the performance in view of the original system performance goals; it requires instrumentation, monitoring equipment and staff to do the work. Consequently, such activity requires a budget that must be planned for as part of the original building construction budget.

Question/Information: eslee@lbl.gov