Editing IPCC:AR6/WGIII/Chapter-9 (section)

=== 9.2.2 Building Components and Construction Methods ===

<div id="h2-3-siblings" class="h2-siblings"></div>

An understanding of the methods for assembling various materials, elements, and components is necessary during both the design and the construction phase of a building. A building can be broadly divided into parts: the substructure which is the underlying structure forming the foundation of a building, and the superstructure, which is the vertical extension of a building above the foundation.

There is not a global classification for the building components. Nevertheless, Figure 9.1 tries to summarise the building components found in literature ( [[#Mañá%20Reixach--2000|Mañá Reixach 2000]] ; [[#Asbjørn--2009|Asbjørn 2009]] ; [[#Ching--2014|Ching 2014]] ). The buildings are divided in the substructure and the superstructure. The substructure is the foundation of the building, where the footing, basement, and plinth are found. The superstructure integrates the primary elements (heavyweight walls, columns, floors and ceilings, roofs, sills and lintels, and stairs), the supplementary components (lightweight walls and curtain walls), the completion components (doors and windows), the finishing work (plastering and painting), and the buildings services (detailed in [[#9.3|Section 9.3]] ).

<div id="_idContainer012" class="Basic-Text-Frame"></div>

[[File:d98f1eea1726750eb4edc5a3ef8b40b7 IPCC_AR6_WGIII_Figure_9_1.png]]

'''Figure 9.1 | The main building components.'''

At a global level, from historical perspective (from the Neolithic to the present), building techniques have evolved to be able to solve increasingly complex problems. Vernacular architecture has evolved over many years to address problems inherent in housing. Through a process of trial and error, populations have found ways to cope with the extremes of the weather. The industrial revolution was the single most important development in human history over the past three centuries. Previously, building materials were restricted to a few manmade materials (lime mortar and concrete) along with those available in nature as timber and stone. Metals were not available in sufficient quantity or consistent quality to be used as anything more than ornamentation. The structure was limited by the capabilities of natural materials; this construction method is called on-site construction which all the work is done sequentially at the buildings site. The Industrial Revolution changed this situation dramatically, new building materials emerged (cast-iron, glass structures, steel-reinforced concrete, steel). Iron, steel and concrete were the most important materials of the nineteenth century ( [[#Wright--2000|Wright 2000]] ; [[#De%20Villanueva%20Domínguez--2005|De Villanueva Domínguez 2005]] ). In that context, prefabricated buildings (prefabrication also known as pre-assembly or modularisation) appeared within the so-called off-site construction. Prefabrication has come to mean a method of construction whereby building elements and materials, ranging in size from a single component to a complete building, are manufactured at a distance from the final building location. Prefabricated buildings have been developed rapidly since the Second World War and are widely used all over the world ( [[#Pons--2014|Pons 2014]] ; [[#Moradibistouni--2018|Moradibistouni et al. 2018]] ).

Recently, advances in technology have produced new expectations in terms of design possibilities. In that context, 3D printing seems to have arrived. 3D printing may allow in the future to build faster, cheaper and more sustainable ( [[#Agustí-Juan--2017|Agustí-Juan et al. 2017]] ; [[#García%20de%20Soto--2018|García de Soto et al. 2018]] ). At the same time, it might introduce new aesthetics, new materials, and complex shapes that will be printed at the click of a mouse on our computers. Although 3D printing will not replace architectural construction, it would allow optimisation of various production and assembly processes by introducing new sustainable construction processes and tools ( [[#De%20Schutter--2018|De Schutter et al. 2018]] ). Nevertheless, what is clear is that 3D printing is a technology still in development, with a lot of potentials and that it is advancing quite quickly ( [[#Hager--2016|Hager et al. 2016]] ; [[#Stute--2018|Stute et al. 2018]] ; [[#Wang--2020|Wang et al. 2020]] ).

<div id="9.2.3" class="h2-container"></div>

<span id="building-services"></span>