Building Transformation articles Future Façades | Page 10

STRATEGIC FAÇADE MANAGEMENT
What is ‘Strategic Façade Management™’?
Strategic façade management is a more holistic, proactive, client service
driven solution specifically designed to support sustainability targets whilst
helping commercial property owners, investors and managers to protect
their property investments. It focuses primarily on proactively inspecting
and managing in-situ building façades, assessing and protecting the
condition throughout the external building skin, optimising each opportunity
within a traditional cleaning and maintenance programme to take greater
action and deliver greater value.
As the level of construction investment grows, it’s never been so important
to ensure that those in charge of managing buildings and budgets are
aware of the external building fabric condition along with the associated
risks of aggressive weathering, especially on tall buildings. Traditionally
there is very little information provided to building owners and managers
on the condition of their external façade unless they have specially asked
for it. There is little understanding of how high level building materials and
curtain walling weather and decay, material life expectancy is not always
as it was initially intended with the reality and exposer to more constant or
extreme weathering conditions reducing the performance and lifespan of
the material.
Without key information, understanding and valuing when to take action
or make investments in preventative façadeinspections or maintenance
becomes unconsidered and unclear, resulting in the external building skin
and fabric seeing very little in the form of holistic inspections or action to
maintain or prolong the performance of the substrate. The diagram below
demonstrates the relationship between weathering patterns and the impact
it plays on façade decay over time: utilised, retrofitted or managed to help
deliver a more sustainable future.
“A proactive and holistic solution
for protecting façade performance
and enhancing the lifespan of the
existing built environment.”
R. Wood, Building Transformation, 2015