Abstract
Façades, as the most external building envelope component, are subject to different ex-ternal environmental loads, such as: Temperature, precipitation, damp, and wind. Therefore, the contribution of environmental actions to the occurrence of defects in façades claddings is an important subject of study since these actions strongly affect the degradation process and natural ageing of these components during their service life. In this study, a methodology to support decision-makers in the process of selecting a façade cladding system and the maintenance strategy to implement is presented and discussed. This methodology covers the performance of four façade claddings (ceramic tiling systems (CTS), natural stone claddings (NSC), external thermal insulation composite systems (ETICS), and architectural concrete façades (ACF)) over time, according to three environmental exposure variables (exposure to damp, distance from the sea, and orientation). The databases were established based on the diagnosis of the degradation condition of these claddings in-service conditions, in Portugal. The results reveal that the environmental exposure variables have a significant impact on maintenance requirements and costs. For all the categories of the environmental exposure condition variables, under all scenarios, ETICS is the least favorable constructive solution while CTS is the most advantageous solution. Furthermore, the results show that properly implemented maintenance activities enhance the performance level of building components, which positively affects their degradation behavior over time.
Highlights
Façades are crucial to buildings’ overall performance [1] and are expected to meet aesthetic, comfort, safety, and durability requirements [2]
The fit of the degradation process to the historical data was performed through a degradation model based on stochastic Petri nets, in which the choice of the best probability distribution that describes the degradation process is performed through the maximization of the logarithm of the likelihood [17]
As the present study reveals, environmental exposure variables have an influence on maintenance requirements and costs
Summary
Façades are crucial to buildings’ overall performance [1] and are expected to meet aesthetic, comfort, safety, and durability requirements [2]. The façades, being external walls [2], are part of the building envelope, the barrier that separates the external environment from the interior [3,4]. In this sense, façades are designed with the purpose of protecting the inside of the building from undesirable climate influence [5]. The façade cladding material is often less durable than the structure of the building, it is expected to promote the overall durability of constructions, when properly maintained or refurbished [2]
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