From lifespan to useful life, towards a new paradigm of durability for sustainable construction

Abstract

Evaluating the environmental sustainability of a building, its “lifespan” (total or part or component) and “durability reliability” raises awareness of how the concept of service life itself has evolved towards a “new paradigm of durability”. It is no longer just a qualitative reference to the expected performance over time of a material or product’s conservation, but an assessment of the duration that examines the building’s interactions with the environmental context and climatic loads, pursuing the principles of the circular approach to design. It is a new concept of durability that, through the definition of “transversal” requirements, makes it possible to put together three factors: performance, use of resources, and time.