Which is better to renovate or to design a new building? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? What role can digitalisation play in these?
Should we keep or demolish it?
In Hungary, 80% of buildings are new, and only 20% are renovated. In Germany, the ratio is the opposite. In Budapest, there are many unused, abandoned buildings, such as industrial sites or derelict historic buildings in the city centre, where the revival or reuse of old vacant buildings can contribute to a positive image and a complete revitalisation of the neighbourhood.
However, old buildings can only compete with new modern buildings after major upgrades, and these investments require serious preparation and thought. These projects typically entail many risks, as assessing the proper condition of certain structures is often not sufficiently accurate due to unfavourable conditions. For example, a given roof structure may be in good condition at one point of inspection and in poor condition at another point and in need of replacement. These are difficult to predict and cost.
Why is it worth keeping these buildings?
On the one hand, old buildings have many architectural values. By renovating them, we can preserve the images of historic streets or the particular shapes and spaces of old industrial buildings. The demolition of these buildings, in most cases, represents a substantial extra cost. On the other hand, new buildings and their construction processes generate much higher carbon emissions and require much more significant investment and expenditure in the various stages of construction. Experts estimate that 35% of the greenhouse gas emissions over the life cycle of a new office building are generated before it is occupied. This can be even higher for residential buildings, at around 50%. In general, renovations have a much lower environmental impact than new construction. (See table)
The role of digitalisation in renovation
The first step in renovation is to survey old buildings, but this can often be problematic because many people still work with traditional analogue methods, which is very time-consuming and expensive. A proper professional survey and documentation of these buildings, often listed or with complex industrial forms, is essential. In this case, digitisation can be of great help in preparing the renovation of old buildings. Today, specialised building documentation tools are available that can speed up the process, and in many cases, save more money during the renovation of a major building. One such tool is the laser scanner, which is a quick and easy 3D digital laser mapping of shapes and surfaces. This tool can be used in all cases:
- where parts of the building are not illuminated
- difficult to access
- have a very fragmented façade (listed building)
- have many industrial pipes and wires inside
- too large to use manual tools.
This can be complemented by drones as well, in cases where the building is difficult to access, or for example, on roofs where the roof’s condition is difficult to predict and can be dangerous. The images taken by drones are used to reconstruct the external mass, facade or even internal complex spaces. In each case, these solutions treat the point cloud generated from the survey and transform it into a 3d model, in the process producing a 4-sided, scaled orthophoto of the building’s external mass, roof structure, façade. From these, the subsidence of the building or roof, for example, can be estimated, and various structural damages can be assessed more accurately, thus significantly reducing the risks associated with the renovation mentioned above.
Unfortunately, even outside the crisis, the construction sector is still performing extremely poorly, with digitalisation taking place at a very slow pace, despite the impact of COVID. Many design offices are still designing in 2D, and the use of 3D modelling still needs constant promotion. The use of digitisation tools is therefore often not yet known, and their potential is not exploited. As new buildings are built in the city, often out of character with the streetscape, it becomes increasingly essential to motivate investors to preserve and renovate old buildings.
Image source: https://furaysolutions.com/epuletfelmeres-esettanulmany/
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2021/07.18
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