Rethinking Automation in the Sustainable Building

Since the first ISARC conference in 1984 and the formation of IAARC in 1990 there has been much development of interest in and understanding of automation and robotics in construction. The ‘intelligent building’ [1] [2] and the ‘learning building’ [3] are conceptual examples. Yiu and Yau [4] have published a ‘learning model of intelligent home’. At the same time there has been growing interest in the need for ‘sustainability’ as witnessed by the work of for instance Robert and Brenda Vale and demonstrated in their ‘autonomous house’ in the 1970s and as defined by the Brundtland Commission in 1989. The UK Building Research Establishment built in 1998 its ‘Integer House’ (Intelligent and Green’) bringing together these strands of thought. ‘MEGA house’ [5] and AMIGO [6] are examples of further developments. The need to create efficient buildings, including from existing buildings, is greater than ever. This will require buildings that are easily and intelligently maintained. This paper reviews and rethinks maintenance in the developing ‘landscape’ and leads to a suggestion that user needs should be considered more closely.