Essay Sample on Process of Renovating and Rehabilitating a Building

Introduction

The process of renovating and rehabilitating a building and redesigning a structure from scratch depends on an array of variables. The two options tend to have their merits and have difficulties as well implying that the best choice is that which serves a bigger picture. It is critical for engineers to compare the costs, requirements, and intended purpose for the decision to become more articulate. Further, designers must meet particular conditions for rehabilitating or redesigning a structure.

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The conditions for designers to design around costly rehabilitation include the fact that they to conduct minimal changes to the defining characteristics of a structure (Mercader-Moyano 35). Mainly, this means that the engineers should not interfere with the historical character of a building while also ensuring that they preserve the original fabric. The engineers are not supposed to make any additions during the rehabilitation that could create a false or altered history. Other conditions include the fact that the building elements need to be repaired rather than replaced. In the event where one cannot repair an element, the materials selected for replacement should be identical in appearance as the original one.

Also, the rehabilitation process should not involve any form of harm to the building and the surroundings. Some common form of harm include the use of harsh treatments for the surfaces, destruction of the archeological resources, and the use of reversible methods for connecting the new additions. In situations where a new work ought to be made, it is to be differentiated from the old while ensuring that the architectural features and scale of the original structure are maintained.

Further, the redesign process has some conditions that must be met. First, engineers ought to measure the usability of an existing structure. Mainly, this can be made possible by carrying out essential tasks that would help in obtaining a baseline for the current system. The second condition would whether the proposed new system would help in specifying the usability requirements unlike the existing structure (Brauer 879). At this step, engineers should identify the type of users, tasks, and the environment. The baseline results for usability could be utilized as a basis for the establishment of the usability requirements.

Moreover, different summative methods that engineers can use to measure the quality in use could be effective in the evaluation of whether the usability objectives have been achieved. In the event when the existing building does not satisfy the usability requirements, it would require the designers to redesign the building (Brauer 880). Thus, this shows that the suability requirements are a condition to be checked for engineers to decide whether or not to redesign a building entirely.

From the conditions given for conducting costly rehabilitation and redesigning a building, one can see that various factors have a role to play in influencing the decision undertaken. Mainly, this means that a person does not just decide to rehabilitate or redesign a building without ensuring that some ethical requirements are considered (Schlossberger 1334). Failure to oblige by the standards would be a violation of the codes governing the engineers and designers. Therefore, these conditions should be well taken into consideration.

Conclusion

To sum this up, one can see that when rehabilitating a building, minimal change ought to be made to the historical aspect of a structure and while redesigning a building various metrics that include usability requirements should be determined. Mainly, these are just a few conditions mentioned in this paper and are stipulated in the code of ethics governing the engineers. The understanding of the ethical requirements for rehabilitation and redesigning is important for an engineer to work ethically and make the right decision while also provide suitable advice to their clients.

Works Cited

Brauer, Cletus. "Just Sustainability? Sustainability and Social Justice in Professional Codes of Ethics for Engineers." Science & Engineering Ethics, vol. 19, no. 3, Sept. 2013, pp. 875-891. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s11948-012-9421-4.

Mercader-Moyano, Pilar. The Sustainable Renovation of Buildings and Neighbourhoods. Bentham Science Publishers, 2015.

Schlossberger, Eugene. "Engineering Codes of Ethics and the Duty to Set a Moral Precedent." Science & Engineering Ethics, vol. 22, no. 5, Oct. 2016, pp. 1333-1344. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s11948-015-9708-3.