Maintainability and Green Buildings
August 12, 2008
I'm Dan Hounsell, editor of Maintenance Solutions magazine. Today's topic is, maintainability and green buildings:
Managers increasingly are involved in conversations that involve the
topic of sustainability. Among their challenges in these conversations
is ensuring that building designs with features promoting
sustainability also are maintainable.
Tim Pennigar, project manager for structural systems with engineering
and operations group at Duke University Health Systems, offers some
lessons learned in recent years overseeing his organization's expansion
with sustainability in mind.
Pennigar says some lessons have been hard won at the cost of
significant labor and financial resources diverted to chronically
leaking buildings. All of these lessons reflect a belief that
high-performance, durable buildings are the product of thoughtful and
deliberate intent.
On the subject of building exteriors, he says, "Duke Medicine began
taking greater interest in exterior-wall design upon realizing many
chronic roof leaks actually resulted from wall defects. A manager can
have a bad roof removed and replaced by a more durable roof, but a
poorly designed or poorly constructed building facade cannot simply be
replaced. More building owners would take an active role in reviewing
exterior designs if they realized how much of their annual maintenance
budget and labor are consumed by less-than-exemplary original design
and construction."
On the subject of construction drawings, Pennigar says, "In some cases,
skin-construction drawings are too generic, incomplete, often
unrealistic, and provide little or no help integrating critical
elements on the building skin. The final product is seldom as durable
as it should be, and the manager receives a new building that is prone
to a lifetime of chronic moisture and leak problems."
The goal here, Pennigar says, "is not to attempt to dissuade green
cynicism or champion the views of green proponents. Instead, the goal
is to convince managers the green, sustainability movement is creating
a rare opportunity to enhance the performance and maintainability of
facilities."
Next
Read next on FacilitiesNet
