A Simplified Toolbox for the Operability Assessment of the Built Environment in Middle School Buildings

The paper aims to propose a simplified set of tools to support the “ex ante” operability review of the built environment within the framework of new educational projects for themiddle schools. The starting hypothesis is that the educational projects should be developed in close connection with a forecast of the characteristics and performances that will be required for the built environment in order to optimally achieve the educational objectives. In order to identify a set of possible tools to be adopted for the above-mentioned process, the paper develops an analysis of the available models that are used in different areas such as, for instance, quality planning and value analysis. Two methods are investigated in detail in the paper and described as possible tools for the operability review: the QFD model (quality function deployment) and the FBS technique (function breakdown structures). A proposal is put forward in the paper in order to define key concepts and parameters to be used for adopting the QFD and FBS techniques within the scope of middle school educational projects. The proposed tools are also tested in a case study developed within amiddle school based in Milano with the aim of assessing the usability of the proposed tools by the teachers engaged in the set up of the new educational projects and educational proposal of the school.