5 ms·
Some places regulate the use of coated rebar to reduce corrosion risk. We could also use stainless rebar. The real problem is that there is not many incentives
by brutusborn 4y ago
Some places regulate the use of coated rebar to reduce corrosion risk. We could also use stainless rebar. The real problem is that there is not many incentives to construct things to last, the implicit assumption is that we will want something different in <100 years, so why build it to last? You could do lots of things to increase building life, but fundamentally people want things built cheaper and faster with the latest stuff, and don't care about long term implications. Although I wish people would care about these things, the truth is that it is the minority who do.
- littlestymaar 4y ago> Although I wish people would care about these things, the truth is that it is the minority who do. Actually, most layman do care about it, but short-term KPI-driven management (in the private and public sector alike) don't, because as you say they don't have the proper incentives.
- brutusborn 4y agoMaybe we just know different people. In my experience laymen may care about it in the sense of “I wish my apartment building wasn’t falling apart” but not in the sense of “I want to build a house that my great grandkids can live in” because that’s hard and costs lots more money (upfront). Part of the problem is information, in that it’s hard to know how long things will last. But I think this is secondary to most people being short term focused. I’d love to see a building company offering special materials for an extra long design life, but I doubt many people would be interested.
- loxs 4y agoMost laymen would not and do not pay for lasting buildings.
- throw_pm23 4y agoThey would not pay because they would not trust that the contractors actually did the thing which made the building last more. There is an information asymmetry which creates a market of lemons. If I would build with my own hands I would use the best that money can buy.
- littlestymaar 4y agoWe routinely pay for many vanity stuff that are far more expensive than lasting buildings, and we do so because we have no idea.
- bondarchuk 4y agoIn practice they don't, but is it because they don't want to or because the current building and social/financial infrastructure just doesn't offer it as a possibility? It's overly reductive to assume that anything that happens happens because people want it that way. By the way, laymen did and do pay for buildings made out of brick which can last for 100s of years.