BUILDING, USER and ENVIRONMENT

BUILDING, USER and ENVIRONMENT

Post 117 ⇒  by Gautam Shah ➔

Buildings, are more often designed to be inhabited by unspecified users. Many buildings in urban areas see increasing change of ownership. With every change in ownership the building is altered in various measures. The changes are extensive in older buildings surviving in upgraded or rejuvenated neighborhoods.

Style Buildings

Buildings conceived for style considerations are designed irrespective of their environmental settings. Such building’s have innumerable and excessive capacity systems to meet environmental anomalies. The systems are either irrelevant, or highly potent for many of the users.

Air Handling unit

New owners of a building (or its section) have several choices to procure systems that are permanent, replaceable as a whole or partially up-gradable. The technological up-gradation of the building as a system occurs through replacement by an efficient system. There could be elimination of several sub systems by adoption of a comprehensive system. Integration of several systems by spatial rearrangement, rescheduling, segregated or comprehensive control. New owners, if aware would want greater use of passive systems instead of active systems, as it is long term economic relief and meets the environmental concerns. Reliance on sensing mechanisms, control elements, decision elements, connecting elements, distancing elements, converters, etc. leads to lesser chances of failure, quicker detection of problems, and faster replacement of failed system. New occupants have their own perception of safety and security, depending on their family profile and lifestyle. Similarly internal arrangements or space planning requirements must match the needs of the family, and this is an area of worry for the new occupant and also associated with every major change in the body of the family.

Left or Right orientation for Kitchen is one of th major causes of change > Flickr Image by

peapod labs

Changes in buildings are Intentional such as: functional, technological upgrading, styling. Changes are Circumstantial such as: due to ageing, wear and tear of use, overuse, under-use, non use, and misuse. Environmental changes are adoptive ones, where the new user customizes the building by self-help, but changing only the familiar and easily removable subsystems, etc. For altering partially integrated or coordinated subsystems, one needs the services of crafts-persons or specialists. 

Security Devices

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