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Compared to other goods, buildings have a long lifespan. It is therefore the norm and not the exception that adaptation will be needed at some point in their life cycle to changing environmental conditions, technical progress and new/additional user requirements. The adaptation of existing buildings to future challenges in the form of refurbishment contributes to sustainable development. The proportion of refurbishments is increasing in both absolute and relative terms in the building sector in Europe. It is therefore surprising that the modelling particularities of refurbishment in the context of a life cycle-based environmental performance assessment are still neglected in the ENstandards. The paper deals with these particularities. Specifically, it presents a typology of approaches starting with a distinction between planned refurbishment as B5 and unforeseen refurbishment as an independent design and construction task / next life cycle, as well as the status of the discussion in selected countries. Recommendations for action for the life cycle assessment are given for specific decision-making situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a previous study, the collapse frequencies and associated mortalities of buildings were compiled based on various publications. The investigation showed a considerable scattering of collapse frequencies depending on the countries. In this paper, the collapse frequencies determined for buildings are compared with the results of probabilistic calculations. Such comparisons have already been carried out for bridges, dams, tunnels and retaining walls including the consideration of central estimators and standard deviations. In order to limit the scatter, the probabilities of failure for buildings were subdivided into the different causes of failure, and collapse frequencies were subdivided into different countries and geographical regions. Overall, the comparison shows that the probabilities of failure are on overage larger than the observed collapse frequencies. Furthermore, the comparison shows are large span, which is unusual for other types of structures. Of concern are the high observed collapse frequencies in various developing countries. Human error, lack of training, etc. are often cited as the cause. Should this correspond to the facts, the basic safety concept of modern building standards, which generally excludes human error, would only be applicable in these regions to a limited extent. However, the investigation includes some limitations, such as different safety targets in different standards and different years of constructions, which are not considered. Further work is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sunlight exposure represents one of key parameters of indoor climate comfort. The evaluation of sunlight access into buildings is based on a methodology of European standard EN 17037. The methodology is focused on specification of an insolation time which would comply with requirements for the sunlight expo sure of permanently occupied spaces like houses and residential buildings as well as schools or hospitals. The sunlight exposure evaluation is recommended to be between 1st February and 21st March. The specific date from the interval can be selected for individual evaluations. This is a relatively long period of days in which the insolation could vary meaningfully. The aim of this study is to evaluate how the sunlight exposure might be changed in the recommended standard period in dependence on the geographic locality and climatic conditions in the Central Europe region. It depends on the sunlight time and specific design situations as well as shading obstructions. The review of the sunlight exposure is determined. The review results can perform information about design possibilities for the sunlight exposure in real buildings in the given climatic locality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability of buildings is a complex term which incorporates many individual factors, solutions, and technologies that are implemented in the building. This paper provides mapping research and investigates the evaluation criteria of individual sustainable solutions and technologies. A list of criteria was selected representing each of the three pillars of sustainability: environmental, economic, and social. The importance of the criteria was then evaluated by a panel of real estate experts from the Czech Republic: project managers, sustainability managers, property managers. The analysis determines the most important evaluation criteria for the selection of a sustainable solution which brings the biggest perceived benefit to the investor and owner of the building. In addition, the analysis shows how the experts perceive importance of each of the three pillars of sustainability.