Building context
Functional economy and the construction sector

By its very nature, the built environment is a product with a long life cycle, even if in recent years this has tended to shorten from a century to a few decades. Energy concerns have also led to the realization that our living environment is a vast thermodynamic machine whose operating performance is extremely important. As a result, the notion of construction obsolescence, i.e. the degradation of a building's expected results, is now a parameter that is taken into account, counteracting the mere heritage value.

Finally, it is now accepted that the purpose of construction is to provide the community with support for its residential, tertiary and cultural activities. The quality of our living environment is measured by its ability to meet the needs of its users.

This being the case, it seems hard not to examine, from an entrepreneurial point...