Adaptive capacity of buildings

Abstract

The subject adaptive construction is already for decades on the agenda of the construction sector. The adaptive capacity of a building includes all properties and qualities that enable the building keeping its (economic feasible) functionality during the technical life cycle, under altered conditions and needs. Meanwhile, the interest in flexible building has increased significantly from a broader perspective than before. This increased interest is caused by the high structural vacancy of buildings, the economic crises and the increased awareness of and interest in sustainability issues and circular economy. The relationship between flexibility and sustainability is explicitly laid. Market developments demonstrate an increased demand for flexibility and sustainability as well as a growing awareness of the necessity of a circular economy in construction. This explicit sustainability constraint ensures a consciously look towards the sustainable efficiency of flexibility measures. These measures are sustainable only if they are actually used during the life cycle of buildings. The Dutch Government, a number of companies and branches of the construction industry started a public-private initiative in 2012 to promote and accelerate sustainable building in the Netherlands with the project called: a method to determine the Adaptive Capacity of Buildings. The cause of the present research is the lack of a widely accepted method with assessment criteria for measuring the potential for adaptation into other possible functions during the life cycle of a building. In this research paper a full report is given of the development of this method to determine the Adaptive Capacity of Buildings (the AC Method), the research methods used and the preliminary results.