Flexibility in Tipology, Technology, Construction and Performances: an Innovative Approach for an Open Construction Kit

In recent years, the topic of flexibility has been widely investigated, but the prediction of performances for flexible construction systems was hardly addressed. Research works mainly focused on the issues related to typology, technology and construction, with the aims of rational use of resources and cost optimisation. The concept of flexible performances was limited to the possible variations of the energy transmission and reflection characteristics of the building envelope. In particular, the possibility of controlling and predicting the environmental and energy performances of a modular construction system has not yet been considered. The aim of this paper is to show how, using simplified assessment tools, it is possible to estimate the energy performance of a modular construction system in the preliminary design phase. First, the paper shortly describes the proposed construction system, which is modular, but with a large degree of adaptability as concerns: structural grid, envelope, internal partitions and building services. Then the paper presents the methodology for the estimation of the energy and environmental performances according to the basic design parameters (orientation, floor plan, window to wall ratio, U-values and shading system) and to the boundary conditions around the building (obstructions). Finally, the simplified tools developed at Politecnico di Milano – BEST Department for the preliminary design, the integration and the optimisation of the performances of both building fabric and services are presented. These tools have been developed in a research programme with TIS Innovation Park – Cluster Edilizia, Bolzano, Italy.