Functional Obsolescence Research Articles

Dynamics of the E-Waste Behavior Globally

Objective: To demonstrate the implications of the growth of e-waste, within the traditional conception of the Linear Economy, over time, and to deduce the potential reaction of society, by defining the model of its time of impatience. <br/> Method: For the development of the research, the logistic model of differential equations (Verhulst, 1838) and a theoretical model of finite difference equations associated with an empirical model of log-linear regression were used to analyze the growth prospects of e-waste, over time, when technological advances are estimated, as well as the potential reaction of society.<br/> Main results: The results show that there is a point of impatience in society that can be measured, as long as the specificities of each type of e-waste are known; and that the volume of e-waste grows exponentially over time, being influenced, in part, by the evolution of technology, considering the electronic products made available to society as a proxy, which is driven to consume, among other motivations, by functional obsolescence.<br/> Relevance/Originality: The results are important because they indicate that if there are no more rigid, efficient and effective regulatory measures, and if there is no paradigm shift in the production system, from extraction to final destination, there is likely to be a collapse in drainage systems, treatment and final disposal of e-waste on a global scale, with severe consequences for ecosystems, health, economic and social systems, greatly increasing our ecological footprint, thereby threatening the maintenance of life on Earth.<br/> Theoretical/methodological contributions: The study contributes to the understanding of the behavior of e-waste and the influence of technology on its growth, as well as to the logical deduction of the society's point of impatience regarding the use of the materials that generate e-waste, reinforcing the originality of the research and promoting a deeper understanding of the topic.

A methodological approach to the evaluation of obsolescence of residential buildings

The co-authors have proven that the analysis of values of obsolescence indicators applicable to buildings and other facilities in the urban environment allows to make resource-saving decisions in terms of their integrated renovation.At the same time, the need to develop a methodology for evaluating the functional obsolescence of a residential building is also substantiated, as it is the most important component of the concept of comfort of a residential building. A brief analysis of the concepts of “comfort” and “accessibility” in relation to residential buildings is performed. The characteristic of comfort is proposed to be defined using the consolidated indicator of functional obsolescence and physical deterioration of a building. A specific mathematical formula for calculating the parameters of comfort is provided, depending on the consolidated characteristics of indicators of physical deterioration and obsolescence of a building.The proposed analysis of principal obsolescence evaluation methods, applicable to residential buildings, allows toidentify the main weaknesses of currently used methods.As a methodological approach to evaluating the obsolescence of a residential building, a systematic approach is proposed that allows a comprehensive, structural and quantitative assessment of obsolescence indicators through the use of mathematical methods, including the method of expert assessments and a modified verbal-numerical scale, initially developed by Harrington.A systematic hierarchical relationship between general and specific indicators of obsolescence of a building is identified. A systematic approach is employed to develop a procedure for identifying the integral obsolescence of a building with regard taken of the hierarchical relationship between its specific and general indicators.Pie and bar charts are used to analyze alternative building obsolescence evaluation methodologies. A detailed description of the proposed option is provided in the form of specific examples.
 Acknowledgement. This research was supported by Project No. 3.1.1.1 within the 2021–2023 Plan of Fundamental Research of the Russian Academy of Architecture and Civil Engineering and Ministry of Civil Engineering and Public Utilities of the Russian Federation.

The double Obsolescence of the Farnsworth House

Rarely does architecture reach its functional obsolescence. The usual is disenchantment: an obsolescence of enthusiasm that reveals the emotional exhaustion of its inhabitants, of a cultural group, or a whole society. Given the narratives that describe obsolescence as a stage prior to that of re-founding, one might think about it as a state of multiplicity that results from the coexistence of lives projected around the same built object. To revert one of these obsolescences may suppose ending the existence of the other. From this perspective it is possible to devise a non- binary project strategy to pose a more complex and asymmetric coexistence. In the case that we are presenting here, the living years of the Farnsworth House, this possibility emerges from the conception of a soft architecture, subversive and critical, capable of embracing the complexity of its own exhaustion and constant reinvention.

Towards flexible housing: basic design principles

In times of radical social transformations, the demand for flexibility of space can be identified as one of the strategic priorities of maintaining the urban environment. In the context of social, economic and environmental sustainability, housing must imply an integrated ability to respond to programme changes, which can be achieved through the concept of flexibility. By identifying and applying certain design principles, it is possible to prevent the problem of functional obsolescence and unsuitability of the living environment that modern cities are facing. The apartment as an immediate living environment is the most direct indicator of the degree of adaptability of the physical surrounding to modern human needs. The analysis of basic design principles, using an example of flexible apartment, examines the spatial correlations and laws of the relationship between elements of the plan, which provides the basis for the authors to draw the conclusions about the reality of applying this concept in practice.

Old, small and unwanted: Post-war housing and neighbourhood socioeconomic status

Post-war neighbourhoods across the USA have declined in socioeconomic status over the past few decades. Over this same time period, the relative status of many of these neighbourhoods has dipped below that of older neighbourhoods. With the characteristics of post-war housing being arguably undesirable by current standards, extant literature claims the functional obsolescence of post-war housing is contributing to low and declining neighbourhood socioeconomic status. What remains unclear is whether the effect observed is due to housing age – post-war housing is vulnerable to physical depreciation given its age – or if there is a true post-war vintage effect influencing neighbourhood socioeconomic status beyond what age alone would predict. Using a panel model spanning 1990 to 2010, three main findings emerge. First, the presence of greater shares of post-war housing in neighbourhoods is associated with a small but significant decrease in neighbourhood status. Second, this effect varies across and within urban and suburban neighbourhoods. Third, there exists substantial heterogeneity in the effect across metropolitan areas that differ by housing supply growth and price. Together, these results imply that policymakers should consider the negative effects of functional obsolescence on top of the ills associated with ageing homes within certain spatial contexts.

Quantification of financial consequences of buildings' ageing: analysis of panel building-level data from the Polish office space market

PurposeRelying on a unique proprietary Polish office market space database, the paper attempts to quantify the impact of buildings' age on the financial performance of real estate assets.Design/methodology/approachPanel econometric modeling was utilized to disentangle the impact of buildings' functional obsolescence and technical deterioration on their long-term financial performance.FindingsIn line with casual empiricism, our findings show a negative associative link between properties' age and potential lease revenue. The concomitant stickiness of service charges presages a possible long-term deterioration of financial outcomes of real estate investments. While older buildings generally have higher occupancy rates, the absorption rates are found to be negatively affected by the properties' age. On the bright side, the elasticity of vacancy rate with respect to rental rates is found to decrease as buildings get older. Further, the rent differential is confirmed to be more pronounced in higher age properties hinting at an existing potential for price discrimination, which may at least partially compensate for stagnant rents.Originality/valueOur empirical results confirm the properties' age to be a statistically significant factor in shaping the long-term performance of real estate assets, which should be better accounted for in financial projections for real estate developments.

Hibernation of mobile phones in the Netherlands: The role of brands, perceived value, and incentive structures.

Mobile phones contain valuable and rare earth minerals. At the end of their useful life, these phones are little reused or recycled since most of them are stored at home, a phenomenon also known as hibernation. Accurate hibernation rates per country or region do not exist but are assumed to be low, making end-of-life mobile phones an interesting waste stream to improve on waste recovery. This paper presents the results of a survey on the end-of-life mobile phone behavior in the Netherlands taken place in June 2019 amongst 296 participants. In so doing, it considers earlier addressed empirical concerns regarding the drivers of hibernation behavior, recycling and replacement. The hibernation rate turned out to be 61%. In line with earlier studies on mobile phone hibernation, technical and functional obsolescence are confirmed to be the main drivers of mobile phone replacement. Moreover, study results confirmed that the majority of mobile phones are replaced within three years and that using the old phone as a spare is the major reason for hibernation. This article advances several novel insights. First, the willingness to recycle appears to be inversely proportional to the perceived value of the discarded phone and proportional to the age of the mobile phone owner. Secondly, the perceived duration of ownership, a characteristic also reported in many previous studies, is incorrectly remembered by many respondents when gauging their responses against the actual mobile phone release date. Thirdly, financial incentives are shown to be the best driver to increase the intention to recycle.

Identifying building obsolescence: towards increasing buildings' service life

PurposeObsolescence is a decline or loss of utility of an object, building or product. Different types of building obsolescence decrease buildings’ utility and shorten their service life. The purpose of this paper is identification of building obsolescence types and the relevant factors that affect buildings to become obsolete. It is also intended to categorise building obsolescence types to provide a contribution towards increasing building service life and delivering sustainability.Design/methodology/approachA systematic literature review is applied to conduct this research. It follows five steps: (1) formulating the research question; (2) locating studies; (3) selecting and evaluating relevant studies; (4) analysing the findings; (5) reporting and making use of the results.FindingsVia this study, it is revealed that there are 33 types of building obsolescence. They are clustered in 10 categories regarding their conceptual and causing aspects and are presented based on their recurrence in the literature. According to the findings, economic obsolescence (including economic, financial and market obsolescence types) and functional obsolescence (including functional, use and utility obsolescence types) are the most remarkable categories.Originality/valueInvestigating the literature makes it clear that building obsolescence types have been studied intermittently with infrequent profound exploration of the relationship between them. This paper presents a comprehensive identification of building obsolescence types and introduces obsolescence categories that classify connected obsolescence types. It is a new framework for further studies on building obsolescence to find more effective prevention strategies to mitigate social, economic and environmental consequences of building obsolescence.

Mapping stakeholder perception on the challenges of brownfield sites’ redevelopment in waterfronts: the Tagus Estuary

ABSTRACT With the emergence of the third technological cycle, we have witnessed the gradual functional obsolescence of large industrial complexes inherited from the second industrialization, some of which located on waterfronts. Given their particularities, regeneration processes of these brownfield sites face complex challenges, in addition to those placed upon the regeneration of first generation port/industrial areas. Based upon the case study of brownfield sites in the Tagus Estuary (Portugal), this article aims to understand, systematise and discuss the challenges and barriers facing the regeneration of these areas, through the perception of the stakeholders involved in this process. The results obtained showed that 20 challenges/barriers are involved in understanding the difficulties of brownfield regeneration. These can be classified into six categories: governance (i.e. inconsistency of political vision, inadequacy of the intervention concept, inadequacy of the institutional model, inadequacy of institutional coordination, instability of the institutional model, lack of promotion and marketing); infrastructure (i.e. undefined structural projects, lack of accessibility); territorial (i.e. size of the intervention areas, location of the intervention areas, metropolitan territorial model, land ownership issues); finance (i.e. lack of investment, financial liabilities, financial crisis, property market crisis); culture (i.e. industrial tradition, industrial stigma); environment (i.e. environmental liabilities, climate change effects).

Estimating Housing Rent Depreciation for Inflation Adjustments

U.S. inflation measures, such as the Consumer Price Index, are adjusted for an aging-bias based on estimates of the average rent depreciation. This study analyzes the characteristics of rent depreciation using novel, market-based data on rental contracts in Las Vegas, NV. We find that the estimated annual depreciation rate for new properties is 0.9% for single-family residences and 1.5% for condominiums. The higher depreciation rate for condominiums is due to higher functional obsolescence instead of physical deterioration. Rent depreciation rates are lower for older and smaller structures and vary significantly across neighborhoods. Our results suggest that local inflation rates are biased downward where new and large units increased since the last update to the official rent depreciation estimates but upward where the housing stock became older. From an asset pricing perspective, failing to account for initially high depreciation results in an overvaluation of new properties and an undervaluation of old properties.

Large Scale Monitoring System for Existing Structures and Infrastructures

Most of the key structures of highways and railways systems in Europe and North America has been built after Second World War during the economic boom that took place between the 50s and the 70s of the last century. This heritage of existing infrastructures and building of the “Western World” is nowadays subject to a natural and gradual aging process, induced by the progressive deterioration and the age of the structures, which causes a consequent functional obsolescence. This process develops with continuity and therefore can be controlled over time and can become foreseeable in most cases. Adequate scheduled maintenance can then be applied to keep the safety levels and the performance of the structures aligned with standards requirements. The best way to control ageing and deterioration is the implementation and installation of diagnostic systems for the estimation of constructions safety levels and operating conditions. This monitoring systems are known and used since many decades, but have never been toughly applied as a standard in civil engineering works as it has happened for instance to the automotive field. Traditional monitoring systems of infrastructures require careful assessment of the current state of the artefacts, through detailed and targeted surveys, expensive laboratory instruments and highly skilled labour. This article presents two diagnostic systems based on an innovative, affordable and minimally invasive monitoring, able to provide the user with real-time information on the state of health of the structure. The system is composed of low-cost sensors, capable of monitoring various physical quantities, and connected to each other with different technologies for data transfer and sensor power supply. The recorded data are initially processed directly on board, then sent to the cloud, where they can be further processed or made available for subsequent processing or for a comparison with the expected response calculated using mathematical models of the structure.

Religion, science and secularization: a consumer-centric analysis of religion’s functional obsolescence

PurposeThis paper aims to offer a marketing perspective to the multidisciplinary debate on whether religion is expanding, declining or resurging in contemporary and allegedly secular society. Specifically, it examines the “secularization hypothesis”, which predicts that religion tends to lose its central role in people’s lives as secular reasoning spreads and scientific knowledge accumulates.Design/methodology/approachBorrowing from psychology literature, the authors identify the psychological and social needs satisfied by religion and in doing so uncover its functions. They then discussed whether religion can be claimed to be functionally obsolete.FindingsThe authors identified four functions of religion: explanatory, relieving, membership and moral. The content of religious doctrines offers consumers of religion unambiguous knowledge, absolute morality and promises of immortality, immanent justice and centrality in the universe. Religion also provides a social identity, through which people can build meaningful connections with others in the community and with their own history.Originality/valueA change in the role of religion would be highly relevant for consumer research because religious ideologies shape consumption practices, social relations, products and brands. The authors observe that the content of religious answers is so well-crafted around human psychology that the explaining, relieving and moral functions of religion have not lost reliability. However, cultural change has weakened religion’s ability to gratify human psychology through social identity and meaningful socialization, which led to the marketization of religion, the rise of spirituality and the intensification of socialization around consumption.

Predicting the extent of functional obsolescence of information systems based on extrapolation of fuzzy expert estimates

Predicting the extent of functional obsolescence of information systems based on extrapolation of fuzzy expert estimates

The reuse of load-bearing components

Load-bearing systems of buildings are poorly valued when they reach functional obsolescence. Still, they contribute the most to the material weight and embodied impacts of buildings and infrastructures. The reuse of structural components therefore offers great potential to save materials, energy and resources. While historic and contemporary projects highlight the environmental, time or cost benefits of building with reclaimed elements, many technological challenges remain. This paper gives an overview of buildings that efficiently reuse structural components as well as a review of current research efforts addressing structural reuse. The first case study is the design process of an elastic gridshell made from reclaimed skis. This project demonstrates the potential of ensuring structural performance while working with uncharacterized and heterogeneous materials. In general, designing structures from a stock of reclaimed elements entails reversing the conventional structural design process. The synthesis of structures has to follow the availability of elements and their mechanical and geometric properties. Developed tools that facilitate such design from reused elements while minimizing embodied environmental impacts are presented in this paper. A second case study demonstrates the relevance of such tools through a conceptual train station roof made from electric pylon elements. Lastly, some key challenges related to the design of structural systems from reused elements are presented. These research initiatives constitute a first step to understand and support the design of load-bearing systems from reused elements and hence to bring the construction industry closer to circular economy.

Metropolización y organización funcional de sistemas urbanos intermedios. Gran La Serena, Concepción y Puerto Montt

En Sudamérica existe un consenso relativo que asocia la expansión y la profundización del sistema neoliberal con la metropolización urbana, los sistemas polinucleares, impulsados por la tercerización de las economías urbanas, y la formación de nuevos centros de consumo y negocios fuera de los centros tradicionales, mientras estos últimos evidencian señas de obsolescencia funcional. Dicha visión compartida, surgida a partir del estudio de las capitales nacionales, suele extrapolarse a las ciudades intermedias, ocultando posibles singularidades que escapan a una cuestión de tamaño o estadio evolutivo. En el presente artículo se abordan tres sistemas urbanos intermedios chilenos: Gran La Serena, Gran Concepción y Gran Puerto Montt, los cuales han tenido procesos desiguales de metropolización, para dar cuenta, por medio del análisis de series cartográficas simplificadas de localización de servicios, de la distancia entre los supuestos y consensos establecidos para las capitales y las ciudades intermedias.

Obsolescence of Large Household Appliances in Germany

AbstractEven though the duration of usage of large household appliances is found to be an average of 13 years in Germany, the data also shows that the proportion of large household devices which are already defective within the first five years has increased in the last decade. Material, functional, psychological and economic obsolescence are defined and discussed to explain this behaviour. The aim of this study is to identify consumer behaviour and motivation in the use and disposal of two major household appliances. Furthermore, whether the devices were disposed for reasons of economy, functionality or defect will be determined. A survey of 1,972 respondents was run online and on paper to collect quantitative data about consumer behaviour regarding the disposal of household appliances such as washing machines and dishwashers throughout their lifecycle in Germany. The data gathered will help to clarify if there is a connection between the disposal principle and the device price category and age. It was found that the main reason for disposal of a device is a defect, which is mostly not repaired because of additional costs which might be higher compared to a new purchase when the lifecycle is considered.

Renewed landscapes: Obsolete airfields as landscape reserves for adaptive reuse

Over the past century, the world has built thousands of airports and airfields, which has had a significant impact on the landscape. Given the history of the rapid growth of air travel, but also due to the expansion of cities, many airports have become obsolete. Many have been abandoned, either because they are too small, in the wrong place, or because of the functional obsolescence of the structures. Landscape architects have engaged in the transformation of airports, mitigating and remediating the adverse environmental impacts as well as designing new landscapes. This article explores relevant projects that conceive airfields as renewed landscapes through four strategies: transform, recycle, regenerate, and on-hold. These operative strategies could help to reimagine and redesign the redevelopment of airport sites with a diverse range of scenarios.

Evolution of Spaces between Buildings in Polish Mass Housing Estates in the Eyes of the Inhabitants

The author investigates into the state of public and semi-public spaces in the Polish housing estates erected in the times of mass housing projects (1960 - 1980). The character of these estates is special. On the one hand, the buildings were accompanied by lavishly designed open spaces with elaborate material infrastructure: urban design followed the ideas that time – and strict regulations – that, in theory, prevented creation of substandard spaces. Provision of affordable housing was given a priority in the centrally controlled economy, so vast greenfield areas were devoted to housing. Moreover, the estates often stay under one management of housing cooperatives for years. The assets are relatively modern and usually conveniently located within the city/town infrastructure. This gives the areas advantage over contemporary housing schemes affected by constraints imposed by prior development and commercial approach to the provision of housing. On the other hand, technical wear and tear, functional obsolescence, years of underinvestment, natural demographic changes in local communities, changing ownership structure, and weakening social bonds make the large housing estates with their too lavishly designed public areas an ungrateful object of management.Recent availability of the European Union funds for modernization of public spaces increases the numbers of municipal projects and individual initiatives to activate communities by improving public and semi-public spaces. A question arises whether the money and effort is spent reasonably. Do people actually use the new facilities? Are they encouraged to affect the form and function of their surrounding? Does the public space change according to some passing fancies, or according to the changing needs?To juxtapose the development of technical condition of infrastructure and functions offered by the space between buildings with the expectations of users, the author repeatedly views the scene and conducts structured interviews with the inhabitants of the estates. The paper presents the results of two interdisciplinary surveys, held five years apart in the same estate, and based on the same questionnaire. Its results confirm that user expectations evolve. The interest in the development of green areas, and availability of recreational facilities in the proximity of home is growing as people observe that changes are possible. Some people declare some form of active participation in improvements. Preferences towards functions and accessibility of the areas reflect changes in the demographic structure. Surveys of this kind may be regularly used in defining guidelines for further improvement measures, and raising user awareness of the personal responsibility for the condition of the neighbourhood.

INNOVATION SCENARIOS FOR THE TECHNOLOGICAL DESIGN OF THE OPERATING SUITE: DESIGN CRITERIA AND METHODS

Today the operating suite is considered, together with the diagnostic unit, the functional area that is more subject to profound changes, resulting in an increased technological complexity. The road paved by the new approaches to care and illness imply that the coming years will be characterized by a profound and radical change of the medical-scientific knowledge and even more so of the diagnostic and therapeutic methodologies. This paper analyses the characteristics of existing healthcare facilities, with respect to the needs created by the new role of the hospital, as well as the impacts on the more complex and rapidly changing sectors. The identification of the problems and the definition of the number of needs will allow to outline the strategies to adopt for the design of a modern operating suite, defining the basic requirements for an optimum supply of the service. The objective will be to define useful design criteria and methods to favour the inclusion process of innovative factors, so that the building unit can promptly respond to any evolution of needs, overcoming the now consolidated spatial and functional obsolescence that has characterized it lately.

Unwanted or Just Old? Postwar Housing and Neighborhood Decline

Many postwar neighborhood across the United States are exhibiting signs of decline previously only observed in older central cities. With the characteristics of postwar housing being arguably undesirable by current standards, extant literature claims this functional obsolescence is contributing to levels of distress and decline. What remains unclear is whether the effect observed is due to housing age - postwar housing is vulnerable to physical depreciation given its age - or if there is a true postwar vintage effect influencing household sorting beyond what age alone would predict. Such a distinction between age and vintage has not yet been operationalized at the neighborhood level within the literature. Using a panel model spanning 1990 to 2010, I show neighborhood level household income sorting within a metropolitan area is predominately associated with the aging of housing within the neighborhood and not the amount of postwar housing that exists. However, heterogeneous effects exist when looking across metropolitan areas that face variation in new housing supply growth and demand. More postwar housing within a given neighborhood is associated with lower levels of income in metropolitan areas with high housing supply growth and low prices (e.g. Atlanta). Conversely, in metropolitan areas with restricted new supply and high prices (e.g. Washington D.C.), more postwar housing within a given neighborhood is associated with higher levels of income. These results have implications for housing policy targeting aging homes.