Faced with pressure on resources, building to last is becoming a major challenge. The construction sector is rethinking its practices: extending the performance of materials, designing adaptable spaces and making the most of existing materials are all ways of ensuring the durability of buildings. SPOTLIGHT Building to last ENHANCING MATERIAL PERFORMANCE OVER THE LONG TERM Better formulated materials that are less sensitive to temperature variations, humidity, or mechanical stress reduce the need for frequent maintenance and replacement. Construction chemicals have a central role to play: extending service life, maintaining thermal and mechanical properties, and preventing premature deterioration. Extending the life of materials means reducing the extraction, processing, and transportation of virgin resources. LONG-LASTING BUT ADAPTABLE A building designed for a single purpose is a fragile building. Needs evolve in step with social, economic, and demographic changes. Building to last means anticipating change. Reversibility of spaces, structures capable of accommodating new programs, adaptable technical systems: the ability to evolve is becoming a major criterion for durability. Transforming a building rather than demolishing it saves a considerable amount in materials and energy, while extending the building’s useful life. CIRCULARITY AND TRACEABILITY: CONSERVING EXISTING MATERIAL In a world where some essential resources are becoming scarce, every building must be designed as a reservoir of materials ready to be reused. Preserving existing buildings, recovering components, recycling materials: circularity is becoming an essential lever when building to last. It requires better traceability of building components in order to determine their origin, performance, and potential for reuse. Conserving resources is not just about reducing future consumption. It is also about making the most of what is already there, rather than systematically starting from scratch. Making buildings and infrastructure that last has never been more difficult. The threats to their longevity are increasing: extreme weather events, demographic pressures, obsolescence of uses, economic constraints. Caught up in this tension, the construction sector is changing fundamentally to prevent each weakened building from generating new resource consumption throughout its life cycle. WITHSTANDING CLIMATE SHOCKS WITHOUT OVERCONSUMPTION The resilience and adaptation approach to climate hazards makes it possible to design buildings that can absorb shocks, remain operational in the event of a disaster, and suffer minimal damage. Every disaster prevented and every instance of damage contained avoids costly repairs that consume resources and emit carbon, while extending the life of the building and reducing pressure on raw materials. THE VALLE D’AOSTA UNIVERSITY (ITALY) was created from the conversion of the former Testafochi barracks complex and is an example of the successful transformation of a heritage building into a contemporary university campus. The site was redeveloped in 2024 to accommodate efficient teaching spaces adapted to current uses. 102
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