Guest editorial: “Building pathology: the past, new approaches and opportunities”

Citation

Flores-Colen, I. and de Brito, J. (2023), "Guest editorial: “Building pathology: the past, new approaches and opportunities”", International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation, Vol. 41 No. 3, pp. 513-516. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJBPA-06-2023-185

Overview of the special issue

Today's building pathology studies should be oriented to systemize the knowledge from the past, good previous experiences but also focused on the new challenges of construction and rehabilitation industry. There is a growing need for more ready access to available knowledge, based on new technologies and more feedback in a structured and continuous way. The complexity of buildings is increasing and new materials and constructive systems are being applied in new or existent buildings. The monitoring of buildings performance under real exposure conditions should be the basis of new trends in this field.

Nowadays, a new concept of sustainable development, primarily based on the quality of life and lower impacts on the natural environment, increases the importance of having specific intervention criteria and methodologies based on a building pathology knowledge. The early detection of building failures can help in reducing conflicts and costs. Building pathology should have new insights about the Information and Communications Technology (ICT), internet of things, uncertainty and risk analysis, advanced diagnosis techniques and forensic engineering approaches, with a consensual approach in the scientific and technical community.

Building pathology is a very ancient occurrence but it needs new approaches to be dealt with. The building stock has increased exponentially in the last century and there is a need for faster and more efficient ways to inspect, diagnose and maintain/rehabilitate current buildings with pathology problems. The challenge is therefore that of benchmarking and systemizing all procedures linked with building pathology and use advanced tools, knowledge and technologies to improve today's practice, by reaching out to professionals in the field.

The International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction (CIB) is organized in Working Commissions. W086 – Building Pathology (https://cibworld.org/commissions/w086-building-pathology/) is one of the longest-running commissions within CIB “is essentially concerned with learning from past and current building pathology and encouraging the systematic application of that knowledge to the design, construction and management of buildings”.

In order to boost the dissemination of all concepts concerning building pathology, W086 decided to champion a special issue in the International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation, a CIB-encouraged journal, entitled “Building Pathology: The past, new approaches and opportunities” (https://cibworld.org/building-pathology-the-past-new-approaches-and-opportunities/).

Description of the contributions

Nine manuscripts have been submitted, reviewed and accepted for publications in this special issue. Their scope ranges various subjects concerning building pathology, as described next. Both W086 members and non-members contributed to the special issue.

Zul-Atfi Ismail's contribution is entitled “Improving failure risk by better planning and safety for precast beam-to-column connection elements using physical internet-enabled building information modeling technology: a Malaysian case study” (Ismail, 2023). The purpose of this paper is to show that the growing global trend of quality assurance indicates the potential of precast concrete (PC) to improve construction quality and productivity, reduce wasteful construction, achieve design standardization and decrease construction time. However, the current approach of the industry concerning dynamic characteristics, namely in terms of stiffness and displacement on beam-column connection system design, is not effective in achieving the required quality and operational requirements. A novel and sophisticated technique based on physical internet-enabled building information modeling (PI-BIM) is proposed, in order to improve the planning process and safety for PC buildings in Malaysia.

Ayoub Abou Houraira, Abdellah Ouali, Ouafa Elhammoumi and Ahmed Fekri contributed with a paper entitled “Effect of accelerated aging by temperature and moisture variation cycles on the durability of concrete” (Abou Houraira et al., 2023). According to the authors, Morocco is facing climate change, as shown by national studies conducted to date. The purposes of this research work are, on the one hand, to develop an experimental protocol, simulating the Moroccan climate by exposing concrete mixes to accelerated aging in different cycles of temperature variation and relative humidity. On the other hand, the authors intended to determine the effect of exposure to temperature and humidity variation cycles on the durability indicators (of concrete with and without thermal curing). The originality of the work lies in developing an experimental protocol simulating the Moroccan climate.

The next contribution is entitled “The impact of demographical, geographical and climatological factors on building defects in Belgium” (Van Den Bossche et al., 2023), and authored by Nathan Van Den Bossche, Anke Blommaert and Bruno Daniotti. The authors argue that quality failures in the design and construction process can entail significant delays and costs. Databases of building defects have proven to be useful for drawing conclusions on underlying causes of building defects and for identifying potential improvement actions to reduce the occurrence of building defects. A better understanding of the frequency of building defects and factors that contribute to the likelihood are important variables to consider in quality control and prevention.

Younes Ech Charqy, Rachid Radouani and Mohamed Essahli wrote a paper entitled “FE modeling of the effect of conductivity in galvanic corrosion between different types of stainless steel and carbon steel in a structure bolted joint” (Ech Charqy et al., 2023). This study presents a numerical modeling using the finite element method to model galvanic corrosion between the bolt (cathode) and the end plate (anode). The bolt is made of three types of stainless steel: austenitic (SS304L, SS316L), martensitic (SS410, SS420) and duplex (32, 101), and the end plate is made of carbon steel (S235JR). The galvanic corrosion of beam to column bolted joints with end plate, used in steel structures, was studied in order to determine the corrosion rate of the end plate and subsequently to predict the total lifetime of the bolted joint.

A contribution entitled “Pathology and proactive maintenance of floor finishes” (Ventura et al., 2023) was authored by Madalena Ventura, Ilídio S. Dias, Inês Flores-Colen and Ana Silva. This research proposes the study of the pathology in floor finishes, focusing on proactive maintenance strategies to promote the durability of these elements. A model to assess the floorings' performance levels was designed to support decision-making regarding maintenance activities to be carried out, in order to prevent the defects and extend the floors' service life. This work contributes to a development of methodologies to assess floorings' performance levels, to study the behavior of different floor finishes, to propose maintenance strategies to improve their performance in service and adopt better solutions in the buildings' design phase.

Dilruba Yağmur Ertemir and Ecem Edis authored a contribution entitled “Sustaining modern heritage buildings: visual defect categorisation guides for the general condition survey of rendered-painted facades” (Ertemir and Edis, 2023). The authors argue that regular inspection and maintenance is recommended to preserve and sustain built cultural heritage. Systematizing inspection processes and knowledge on defects, and providing pictorial guides for evaluating defects is an approach that may facilitate their condition survey. This study aims at generating pictorial guides for preliminary visual inspection of Modern Heritage buildings with rendered-painted facade concerning two defects (i.e. crack and efflorescence). These guides are thought as aids to determine the defect levels and decide the necessity of advanced examination and/or maintenance. It is also intended to analyze briefly the evolution of crack over time in the inspected buildings under environmental conditions of Istanbul (Turkey). Modern heritage buildings usually have some characteristic features, which may sometimes lead to accumulation of defects at certain locations or may lead to formation of certain defects. Generating visual guides as a start for an initiative for a comprehensive defects catalogue particular for Modern Movement buildings in line with associated cultural heritage standards may contribute to their preservation by easing the condition surveys.

A contribution entitled “Fire safety assessment for older adults in high-rise residential buildings in India: a comprehensive study” (Kumar et al., 2023) was written by Ankit Kumar, Rachna Khare, Sandeep Sankat and Pratyoosh Madhavi. According to the authors, statistics show that older adults have been major fire victims in high-rise buildings. However, the fire safety building codes in most countries are not inclusive and do not reflect provisions for older adults. The research intends to develop a fire risk assessment index system for older adults living in high-rise residential buildings in India. The study further develops a fire rating system to improve fire safety provisions in high-rise buildings in India. It can also assist policymakers in developing fire safety standards that are targeted to the needs of older persons living in high-rise residential buildings during a fire evacuation. While several approaches for measuring fire risk in high-rise residential buildings exist, no such system has been developed specifically for older adults in India.

Manuel Jesus, Ana Sofia Guimarães, Bárbara Rangel and Jorge Lino gave a contribution named “The potential of 3D printing in building pathology: rehabilitation of cultural heritage” (Jesus et al., 2023). This paper seeks to bridge the already familiar benefits of 3D printing (3DP) to the rehabilitation of cultural heritage, still based on the use of complex and expensive handcrafted techniques and scarce materials. It also sets the path for a new application of 3DP in construction, namely in the field of cultural heritage rehabilitation, by identifying some key opportunities, challenges and for designing the process flow associated with the different technologies involved.

A paper entitled “Inspection and structural assessment of traditional timber floors: a practical systematization” (Henriques et al., 2023) was authored by Dulce Franco Henriques, Miguel Pereira Clara and Inês Flores-Colen. This paper addresses the evaluation of traditional wooden floors, based on (1) visual strength grading (VSG) techniques adopted for ancient wooden structures; (2) a new approach to biological damage and (3) structural safety analysis. This assessment includes complex concepts. Therefore, the study presents a highly needed practical tool to help technicians make a preliminary assessment whereby many of the timber elements in our heritage can be saved from removal. The current reality shows that the technicians' lack of capacity for a pragmatic assessment of the timber members’ structural capacity promotes their disinterest in them. To avoid that, this paper presents a process for evaluating wooden floors using a simple and clear approach. This will prevent the demolition of wooden elements and instead encourage their preservation.