Urban resilience: building protection

Tough questions

4 July 2018

In the second of her articles on urban resilience, Sara Wilkinson outlines the important questions surveyors need to ask themselves and their clients to ensure buildings are protected

Resilience is a complex concept, with multiple attributes and levels of interpretation. However, we can get a better understanding of it by asking ourselves the following 5 questions.

  • Who determines what is desirable for an urban system or building? Whose resilience is prioritised, and who is included or excluded?
  • What should the system or building be resilient against? What networks or sectors are included in the urban system, and is the focus on generic resilience or resilience to a specific threat?
  • When – is the focus on rapid or on slow-onset disturbances; on short-term or long-term resilience; and on the resilience of existing generations or future ones?
  • Where are the boundaries of the urban system? Is the resilience of some areas prioritised over that of others, and does building resilience in some areas affect others?
  • Why is there a need for resilience? Is the focus on the intended outcome, or on the policies and strategies used to achieve this?

These questions are a good framework to inform decision-making and professional advice. A built environment’s physical, institutional, economic and social capability to keep adapting to existing and emergent threats means the focus is on coping with dynamic changes, so we must keep asking these questions throughout a building’s lifecycle.

Typically, there are no right, or easy, answers, but it is imperative that we understand and debate these issues as we endeavour to develop resilient cities and buildings.

Advice to clients

Building surveyors’ skills lie in numeracy, communication and problem-solving, and we also have a deep understanding and knowledge of building technology, pathology and management, to name a few qualities.

We can advise clients throughout the whole property lifecycle on matters relating to adaptation, repair and maintenance, and risk, at building and portfolio level. Importantly, at key stages in the lifecycle, we advise clients in respect of the numerous ways buildings could, and should, be built or adapted to be resilient.

Public clients value advice on improving amenity for the community, and this may be of greater value than the actual capital expenditure. Commercial clients, on the other hand, want advice to add economic value and minimise risk and loss throughout the building lifecycle.

Understanding the value of resilience sits well with our professional knowledge base and skill set as building surveyors. Being able to comprehend, identify and communicate the options for a particular building in terms of adaptation for resilience, and to consider both initial costs and the ongoing long-term maintenance and lifecycle costs of potential resilience measures, are both skills we possess.

There is a major role for building surveyors in property management and advising clients about existing buildings, to ensure that measures to provide greater resilience to future events are considered during retrofitting. We can also advise clients that inaction could lead to lower property values and higher maintenance and repair costs.

Eight resilience issues

Eight key issues for London are identified in the Rockefeller Foundation 100 Resilient Cities Network (see Building Surveying Journal May/June, pp.18–19), though some will apply to other cities in the UK and beyond.

We can raise clients’ awareness of the role of building services as a disease vector in buildings. Opportunities arise during regular maintenance and refurbishment to recommend new and innovative air conditioning systems and to consider prudent maintenance and upgrades for existing systems, particularly commercial office applications where environments are densely occupied.

  1. Coastal and tidal flooding

    We should consider coastal and tidal flooding when providing environmental due diligence services. Using information in flood mapping data, we can raise the issue with clients and consider appropriate measures in the building and on the site to mitigate water damage, thereby ensuring a swifter return to operation after future flooding.

    Design and build requirements need to be improved in coastal areas to address potential inundation, and we can also advise clients on the risks and opportunities to retrofit measures to reduce potential flood damage.

    RICS can advocate for action at government level as well. With coastal or riverine flooding, sea walls, where they are provided, are the last barrier protecting buildings and structures from coastal erosion. Inspection of such sea walls should form part of a maintenance regime to ensure that erosion is not washing away their foundations, which affects their structural integrity.

    We can recommend measures ranging from better building and site lighting, use of cameras and CCTV technology to engagement of an on-site concierge or security personnel. Such measures are applicable to residential and commercial property and implementation will be influenced by costs, as well as possibly by insurers and the potential severity of the issue.

  2. Crime and violence

    We can recommend measures ranging from better building and site lighting, use of cameras and CCTV technology to engagement of an on-site concierge or security personnel. Such measures are applicable to residential and commercial property and implementation will be influenced by costs, as well as possibly by insurers and the potential severity of the issue.

  3. Disease outbreak

    We can raise clients’ awareness of the role of building services as a disease vector in buildings. Opportunities arise during regular maintenance and refurbishment to recommend new and innovative air conditioning systems and to consider prudent maintenance and upgrades for existing systems, particularly commercial office applications where environments are densely occupied.

  4. Infrastructure failure

    We may be providing building maintenance services, so should consider infrastructure as part of strategic planned preventative maintenance, lifecycle costing and planning as well. We can advise on project design, and note potential impacts on property value. Where possible, designs that take buildings partially or fully off the grid of energy or water services will be more resilient to infrastructure failure.

  5. Lack of affordable housing

    This needs direction from government, for example to set affordable housing quotas, but we can offer advice on technologies that reduce operational and maintenance costs and on security measures that may lower insurance costs. RICS can lobby government on the need to provide a certain percentage of affordable housing in developments to encourage more diverse, inclusive communities.

  6. Poor air quality

    Given the ageing population it is likely that more people will spend more time indoors, increasing the risk of exposure to poor-quality air, which will affect their health. Some environmental assessment tools include air quality on a voluntary basis, and we can advise clients to raise their awareness and perception of risks.

    In areas where housing affordability is a particular issue, there is likely to be undocumented overoccupation of property. By this I mean that a building is designed based on predicted occupation levels of, say, 4 people per flat, but due to subletting as many as 12 may be living there. Clearly, window design is based on a certain number of air changes per hour for a given number of people, which may be greatly exceeded in such situations.

    For commercial property, recommending end-of-trip facilities such as showers and bike storage will discourage use of polluting vehicles and contribute to better external air quality.

  7. Rainfall flooding

    This can lead to inundation of lower and ground floors in properties, and we can raise client awareness of this risk at all points the property lifecycle. Measures that ameliorate rainfall flooding include increased on-site collection of water to reduce inundation of the public sewers and this can be used for watering garden areas, lowering occupier water bills.

  8. Terrorist attack

    We can advise clients on ways to make properties safer and more resilient to acts of terrorism. At city scale, advice on planning of retail, social and venue space where people meet in crowds is required, with more separation from traffic and fewer large open spaces. At building scale, consideration of lighting, access and use of CCTV will be necessary.

Key role

Resilience is an issue that clients will need to take into account to protect people and investments. Building surveyors have a key role in this process. For instance, the above list of issues is not exhaustive and I am sure you will be able to add to it, which shows how much we have to offer to clients.

Understanding the value of resilience sits well with our professional knowledge base and skill set

To give you an idea of how relevant London’s issues are to other cities, the Rockefeller Foundation 100 Resilient Cities lists 26 metropolises facing the same problems, ranging from Melbourne to Melaka and from Boston to Bangkok. We need a long-term view and a broad perspective when advising clients. For example, we must look at refurbishments specified to withstand future weather events, particularly rainfall flooding.

There will be times when it is not immediately commercially viable to invest in resilience measures for a building, and professionals need the relevant knowledge, skills and understanding of risk assessment and probability to advise clients when this is the case, and how long they might defer action.

We have to be proactive. With our deep understanding of technical, legal and planning issues relating to property as well as building pathology and value, we are in a strong position to guide and advise on resilience.

Sara Wilkinson is Associate Professor, School of Built Environment at the University of Technology Sydney

Further information

Download a complete “Urban resilience: building protection” PDF