
On behalf of Buildings’ Journal, as Chair of this Webinar, I would like welcome all the colleagues joining this event. Today, we have three worldwide experts on buildings’ maintenance. Together, we are going rethink the maintenance of buildings and their components. The concept of maintenance emerged initially in the industrial and mechanical engineering sector. It is generally acknowledged that maintenance activities in the construction sector, have been seen over the past decades as a necessary nuisance. Most of the maintenance actions in the construction sector are still reactive, with the selection of a given maintenance action to minimize costs, regardless of the risks whilst sacrificing the users’ interests and the buildings’ performance. Frequently, maintenance policies as have been adopted present several limitations, such as: the implementation of strategic procedures is often poor or non-existent; the information regarding the durability and performance of buildings is neglected; the risk of failure over time is not considered; the global costs associated with repairs are not adequately addressed. Fortunately, such approaches have increasingly been replaced and, currently, real estate managers recognize that appropriate maintenance is the only way to ensure the long-term durability of constructed assets, in the most economical way, and without compromising their reliability or safety. The success of this Webinar depends on the participants, and all of you are welcome to discuss ideas and raise all the questions you feel relevant for the topic. You are all welcome to submit a paper for our Special Issue. Finally, I would like to thank all of the Webinar participants and to the invited speakers for sharing their precious knowledge with all of us.
Date: 2 June 2022
Time: 3:00 pm CEST | 9:00 am EDT | 9:00 pm CST Asia
Webinar ID: 843 5183 7515
Webinar Secretariat: buildings.webinar@mdpi.com
On Thursday, 2 June 2022, MDPI and the Buildings Journal organized the 1st webinar on Buildings, entitled " Rethinking Buildings Maintenance ". The introduction was held by the Chair of the webinar, Dr. Ana Silva. The first speaker was Dr. Michael A. Lacasse with his presentation " Adaptation of buildings to the anticipated effects of climate change ". The second presentation was held by Prof. Dr. Andrés Prieto with his presentation " Digital methodologies to evaluate functional service life of buildings in Chile". The last presenter was Prof. Dr. Carles Serrat Piè with his presentation " BRAIN: A Multiscale Strategic Predictive System for the Conservation of the Built Urban Front ". The presentations were followed by a Q&A and a discussion, moderated by the Chair Dr. Ana Silva.
The webinar was offered via Zoom and required registration to attend. The full recording can be found below. In order to stay updated on the next webinars on Buildings, be sure to sign up for our newsletter by clicking on “Subscribe” at the top of the page.