Risk analyses reduce maintenance
conference paper
In the Netherlands the principles of Sustainable Building are being applied to a considerable
extent. This has led to a large number of sustainable houses with varying success. Although a sustainable house
has got a good comfort and a low energy use, defects are detected, which could have been prevented.
Recently, the Dutch media have frequently reported about these defects, such as the damaged wooden supporting
structure of the balconies (EVA-Lanxmeer project, Culemborg) or rotten wood at window frames (Morrapark
project, Drachten). These kinds of defects are not only found in sustainable houses but also in every other building
method, but the chances of defects are smaller because well-known materials and systems are being used. Not
only defects can be found at the window frames, but also at the installations and brickwork. These reports harm the
image of Sustainable Building. After all, a house is only sustainable if it functions well in time. The principles of
Sustainable Building are being applied with varying success. The cause of this varying success is that there is no
direct relationship between the design and the degree of maintenance during the life span (risk of maintenance ).
One of the solutions for this problem is to form a relationship between the design and the risk of maintenance, in
order to provide qualitative and quantitative insight into the maintenance consequences of design choice.
extent. This has led to a large number of sustainable houses with varying success. Although a sustainable house
has got a good comfort and a low energy use, defects are detected, which could have been prevented.
Recently, the Dutch media have frequently reported about these defects, such as the damaged wooden supporting
structure of the balconies (EVA-Lanxmeer project, Culemborg) or rotten wood at window frames (Morrapark
project, Drachten). These kinds of defects are not only found in sustainable houses but also in every other building
method, but the chances of defects are smaller because well-known materials and systems are being used. Not
only defects can be found at the window frames, but also at the installations and brickwork. These reports harm the
image of Sustainable Building. After all, a house is only sustainable if it functions well in time. The principles of
Sustainable Building are being applied with varying success. The cause of this varying success is that there is no
direct relationship between the design and the degree of maintenance during the life span (risk of maintenance ).
One of the solutions for this problem is to form a relationship between the design and the risk of maintenance, in
order to provide qualitative and quantitative insight into the maintenance consequences of design choice.
TNO Identifier
330747
Source title
Plea2004 - The 21th Conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, 19-22 September
Pages
741-744
Files
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