Fourth Dimension in Building Strategies for Avoiding Obsolescence (1993) / Chapter Skim
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Appendix C: Workshop on Environmental and Health Regulations as Sources of Facility Obsolescence
Appendix C: Workshop on Environmental and Health Regulations as Sources of Facility Obsolescence
Pages 69-78
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From page 69... ...
Such change may necessitate new or altered materials, building components, and construction procedures, as numerous examples illustrate. Passage of clean air legislation in the 1970s, for example, led to substantial reduction in the incineration of solid waste at individual facilities and, consequently, increased demands on landfill disposal sites.
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From page 70... ...
were invited to discuss the issues of new environmental and health concerns that can lead to obsolescence and, particularly, to address the following questions: · What environmental and health issues or topics are likely to become significant in public policy or in regulation influencing building design or operation during this decade? What will be the asbestos or PCB23 of 22Although not really an example of obsolescence, regulations requinug permits for new construction sometimes have the effect of forcing property Owners to reconstruct rather than demolish and replace older facilities- spending substantially greater amounts in the process to avoid lengthy or politically onerous permitting procedures.
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From page 71... ...
What issues do knowledgeable people foresee as posing threats to health, safety, or environmental quality that may wamat new legislation and regulatory requirements? · What are the stages or processes through which such topics or issues arise, gain professional and public attention, and motivate new legislation, regulation, or other change in public policy?
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From page 72... ...
Participants observed that the source of many of these concerns is the increasing sensitivity and sophistication of procedures that measure trace chemicals and fine particles, that detect physiological changes in laboratory animals and humans, and that mathematically correlate observed environmental and health effects with possible causes. One participant suggested that the newest discoveries in analytical chemistry, in particular, may be a powerful predictor of the environmental or health concerns that will emerge within 3 to 5 years.
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From page 73... ...
Workshop participants asserted that there is no really typical life cycle for the emergence of environmental and health issues, although the sense of crisis that develops around some issues often does mark the beginning of an oftenrepeated cycle of heightening interest, followed, eventually, by increasing 73
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From page 74... ...
On the other hand, when there is a strong emotional element to the issue and a clearly identifiable course of action, and when the costs or other adverse effects of that course have limited distnbution, issues may be resolved more quickly. For example, the issue of asbestos removal in public schools emerged over a short time period because children were affected, We costs of removal were to be borne largely by local government bodies, and only a few private corporations were directly at risk in matters of legal liability.
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From page 75... ...
For example, grounding mechanisms for electric winug have evolved with the introduction of polarized plugs and outlets, but older buildings continue to provide acceptably safe accommodation for users and their new electrical equipment. In those cases where public or regulatory agency concerns motivate regulations or changes in practice, despite a lack of technical information and generally accepted professional consensus on an issue's seventy, the obsolescence impact may develop rapidly.
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From page 76... ...
This special effort involves scanning appropriate sources to detect emerging issues and then assessing those issues' implications for new constriction or for reconfiguration and rehabilitation projects currently in planning or design. Such scanning or screening of emerging issues provides the basis for an assessment, as part of the normal design process, of alternative courses of action for avoiding obsolescence caused by environmental or health concerns.
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From page 77... ...
Some professional and trade groups already have begun efforts that could evolve into such a screening activity. The AIA, for example, has established an environment committee to develop a resource guide for architects, focusing on the environmental implications of various building materials, and the Electric Power Research Institute and the EPA are working together to alert energy engineers to utilities ~n~nagement issues having an impact on the global environment.
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From page 78... ...
References Downs, A
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