IB W070 2006 Trondheim International Symposium: Meetin

Citation

Haugen, T.I. (2007), "IB W070 2006 Trondheim International Symposium: Meetin", Facilities, Vol. 25 No. 3/4. https://doi.org/10.1108/f.2007.06925caa.001

IB W070 2006 Trondheim International Symposium: Meetin

About the Guest Editor

Tore I. Haugenholds a position as Professor in Architectural Management and Facilities Management at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).

He finished his doctoral degree and graduated as a civil engineer at NTNU, combined with residences at the University of California, Berkeley and at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, for the purposes of study and research. His main professional interest lies within project management and facilities management. He has been active as member and chairman for a number of international conferences, and has had many positions of honour in ISO, CIB and EuroFM.

In 2001 Haugen established the Norwegian Centre for Real Estate and Facilities Management at NTNU (see www.metamorfose.ntnu.no/). This is a multi-disciplinary centre for education and research in the area of real estate and facilities management, based on cooperation between several faculties within NTNU and SINTEF. The activity has led to the development of two new master programs offered at NTNU from 2005 within the area of facilities management and real estate.

Since October 2005, Tore I. Haugen has been full-time Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Fine Art at NTNU.

CIB W070 2006 Trondheim International Symposium: Meeting Changing User Demands through Adaptability

This issue of Facilities is based on a selection of papers from one of the major topics at the CIB070 2006 Trondheim International Symposium, held on 12-14 June 2006 in Trondheim, Norway. The research symposium ran in parallel with a NordicFM-network symposium, and the participants were able to walk between research and practice sessions.

Facilities management and modernization has developed greatly from the first CIB W070 symposium in the 1970s focusing on technical and operation issues related to modernization and maintenance. Over the years the focus of CIBW070 has developed to a broad range of facilities management topics and activities. Operation and maintenance have been linked to economical issues as well as service management. A broad definition of facilities management has developed to handle issues from strategic to a tactic and operational level within an organization.

The challenge today is to manage effectively the great economical values our built assets represent, as well as focusing on efficient use and operation of facilities over time. Users’ and tenants’ needs are more and more in focus. This reflects the background for the CIB W070 2006 Trondheim International Symposium “Changing User Demands on Buildings – Needs for Lifecycle Planning and Management”.

Meeting changing user demands raises questions on how to design and manage adaptable buildings and structures over time. Issues concerning flexibility of structures, functionality of buildings and workplaces in a life-cycle perspective are important.

Adaptability is used as a common term for a combination of the terms “flexibility”, “generality” and “elasticity”. Building flexibility is the ability of meeting the changing functional demands through changing characteristics, i.e. the possibility of changes of the building and structure at minimal cost and interruption in operation and use. Generality indicates the building’s ability to meet different functional needs without considerable physical changes of the building and structure. Elasticity is the possibility of growth by increasing the usable area or decreasing the area of use by partition.

Changing user demands affects facilities in the short-term, mid-term and long-term perspectives. The short-term perspective represents daily, weekly and monthly changes in workplace layout. These changes are caused by users moving within an organization or the installation of new equipment for core activities or support services. Flexible layout and standardization of equipment are used to create efficient and functional solutions.

The mid-term perspective with high demands to adaptability represents a change of tenants or a major organizational change due to strategic and business changes. This cycle can be 2-5 years or longer, creating a need for facilities that can adapt to other organizational and business needs.

In the long-term perspective, 20 to 50 or 100 years, buildings and infrastructure become obsolete and no longer usable. The specific functions they were built for are no longer relevant due to technical developments in industry, or the buildings become outdated as they do not fulfil the functional and technical requirements set for housing or workplaces. Still, buildings, villages and urban areas represent great values in a historic and cultural perspective. In most cases abandoned and run-down buildings and urban areas can be modernized and transformed into new facilities in an economically sound way compared to the demolition of existing areas and new construction.

The selected papers in this issue of Facilities focus on meeting changing user demands through adaptability in the long-term perspective. Research and case studies are presented, exploring the needs and possibilities for modernization, transformation and reuse of existing buildings, infrastructure and urban renewal areas. Transformation and reuse are also seen in relation to the conservation of historic buildings.

The 13th CIB W070-NordicFM joint symposium brought together more than 160 participants from 20 different countries. The 69 research papers presented covered the following main topics:

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  building conservation and refurbishment;

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  sustainability in FM and design;

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  operation and service management;

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  adaptability and flexibility in buildings;

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  workplace management; and

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  usability of buildings and FM in health care.

In addition results from the NordicFM network (see www.nordicfm.com) were presented, representing the latest developments within areas such as the Nordic FM market, service level agreements, public private partnerships (PPP) and FM education in Nordic countries.

The Centre for Real Estate and Facilities Management (see www.metamorfose.ntnu.no) at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) organized the symposium in cooperation with the CIB W070 network and the NordicFM network.

Tore I. HaugenGuest Editor