engleski

Sustainable Maintenance in Transition Economies

The problem of maintenance has been considered in European and world scientific circles for a long time. This is because structural changes in investment go in hand to hand with economic development and business advances. The level of investment in the construction of new structural projects is constantly decreasing and the level of assets invested in the maintenance of existing buildings rising. Experience shows that usage, maintenance and reconstruction costs far outweigh the cost of initial construction. Much research has been done in this field, but maintenance problems differ from country to country. Differences are particularly noticeable in the average age of the building, its original quality, technological approach and materials used in its construction, climatic characteristics, type of ownership, economy of the country in question etc. Seven years ago, Croatia changed its economic and political system from socialism and a state-run economy to a market economy, thus bringing the problem of sustainable maintenance into the focus of scientific and professional research. The paper reviews the full scope of issues related to the maintenance of buildings in the Republic of Croatia in general, and in its capital, Zagreb, in particular. The districts of Centar, Novi Zagreb, and Trešnjevka have been taken as samples, being historically and architecturally very different. Each district, however, proved to be a very homogeneous sample regarding the main characteristics of buildings, and can therefore represent a model for setting priorities for sustainable maintenance. Analysis of the economic and technical indicators within the life cycle analysis may indicate the unjustifiability of further maintenance or full reconstruction of a building. However, the historical, cultural and architectural values of the architectural heritage of any city must be preserved, and Zagreb all efforts in this respect are being exerted. A new model for maintenance sustainbility is being developed at the Faculty of Civil Engineering which is especially adjusted to the specifics of transition countries, one of which is Croatia.

sustainable maintenance; buildings; transition economies; heritage

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