Flexistorey
Basic information
Project Title
Flexistorey
Full project title
Connectable and subdividible intergenerational housing
Category
Shaping a circular industrial ecosystem and supporting life-cycle thinking
Project Description
An efficient circular economy needs plan templates that can be readily subdivided by an ageing demographic. There is a common problem throughout the EU of a growth in floor area per capita. Ireland has a average growth rate of 1.5% over the last 14 years with regulated floor area of 23 growing to to 49 sqm/capita which creates an avoidable demand of 15000 homes for every 100000 homes. Flexistorey is a digital planning tool for a sufficiency-efficiency-renewable decarbonisation strategy.
Geographical Scope
Cross-border/international
Project Region
CROSS-BORDER/INTERNATIONAL: Ireland, Slovakia
Urban or rural issues
It addresses urban-rural linkages
Physical or other transformations
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
EU Programme or fund
No
Description of the project
Summary
The IPCC have requested plan templates that can readily adjust down in size in the 2022 report. Flexistorey offers a planning tool to support a more efficient circular economy in residential floor area. The digitalised plan templates offer three town-door homes, one for each generation. There is an internal staircase with three doorways which can be opened or closed to create six home sizes of studio, 1-bed, 2-bed, 3-bed, 4-bed and 5-bed. Home sizes could adjust to changing household size within the four walls for Sufficiency-Efficiency-Renewable (SER) decarbonisation. Generating a more efficient circular economy could be simplified by one scalable block at least cost to prompt a blend of co-design and competition.
The key technical tool is the "doorway-valve". This is a structured doorway in a fire compartment wall that can be opened up to join two or more homes or can be blocked up to provide for non-intrusive connection and therefore easy subdivision for lifetime size adaptability.
The sustainability goal to help reduce the floor area per capita in the G7 economies of the EU from an average of 47 sqm/capita to 30 sqm/capita by 2060. This offers a scalable sufficiency-efficiency-renewable decarbonisation strategy on a rapid schedule.
The aesthetic aim is to express inclusion of all generations, all income and types of tenure. This pattern could improve the supply-demand balance to reduce the severity of the housing price cycles.
The first specific objective was to provide scalable floor plan templates that are affordable to build. This objective has been achieved by planning permissions described in the White paper on Connectable and sub-dividable inter-generational homes which is attached.
The expected impact is rapid and affordable decarbonisation through systemic material efficiency.
The key technical tool is the "doorway-valve". This is a structured doorway in a fire compartment wall that can be opened up to join two or more homes or can be blocked up to provide for non-intrusive connection and therefore easy subdivision for lifetime size adaptability.
The sustainability goal to help reduce the floor area per capita in the G7 economies of the EU from an average of 47 sqm/capita to 30 sqm/capita by 2060. This offers a scalable sufficiency-efficiency-renewable decarbonisation strategy on a rapid schedule.
The aesthetic aim is to express inclusion of all generations, all income and types of tenure. This pattern could improve the supply-demand balance to reduce the severity of the housing price cycles.
The first specific objective was to provide scalable floor plan templates that are affordable to build. This objective has been achieved by planning permissions described in the White paper on Connectable and sub-dividable inter-generational homes which is attached.
The expected impact is rapid and affordable decarbonisation through systemic material efficiency.
Key objectives for sustainability
There are four key objectives for sustainability.
1. Plan templates that can reduce homes in size to match reducing household size over a lifetime.
2. Each of the homes in a block would be offered ease of access to a solar roof area.
3. A planning tool for a sufficiency-efficiency-renewable (SER) decarbonisation strategy.
4. A household tool of the doorway-valve to help make it simple to subdivide existing homes.
Future generations could co-design homes to be connected and subdivided at a target adaptation cost of under €10,000. This cost level can help create value during the use phase by adapting to changing market conditions within the four walls.
The three-storey structure enables ease of access to the roof for each household to maintain and upgrade solar panels. Individual property titles and tenures could gain greater control over the balance of energy supply with demand.
The IPCC and the International Resource Panel (IPR) have advised the G7 to reduce floor area from 47 to 30 sqm/capita by 2060 to remain under 1.5 degrees C. Both organisations advise that sufficiency should be considered as a first priority in a sufficiency-efficiency-renewable (SER) strategy in order to follow scientific advice.
The doorway valve could also be retrofitted in existing homes as an intergenerational co-design tool to optimise the use of existing floor area in accordance with the international standard in circular design is ISO 20887: 2020 which could be used for both new and old homes.
Planned subdivision enables a release of under-occupied floor area into the marketplace to improve the balance of supply and demand to help moderate the severity of housing price cycles in a planned manner. Affordability and sustainability could form two sides of one coin to encourage rapid decarbonisation towards a low energy demand scenario of 30 sqm/capita by 2060.
1. Plan templates that can reduce homes in size to match reducing household size over a lifetime.
2. Each of the homes in a block would be offered ease of access to a solar roof area.
3. A planning tool for a sufficiency-efficiency-renewable (SER) decarbonisation strategy.
4. A household tool of the doorway-valve to help make it simple to subdivide existing homes.
Future generations could co-design homes to be connected and subdivided at a target adaptation cost of under €10,000. This cost level can help create value during the use phase by adapting to changing market conditions within the four walls.
The three-storey structure enables ease of access to the roof for each household to maintain and upgrade solar panels. Individual property titles and tenures could gain greater control over the balance of energy supply with demand.
The IPCC and the International Resource Panel (IPR) have advised the G7 to reduce floor area from 47 to 30 sqm/capita by 2060 to remain under 1.5 degrees C. Both organisations advise that sufficiency should be considered as a first priority in a sufficiency-efficiency-renewable (SER) strategy in order to follow scientific advice.
The doorway valve could also be retrofitted in existing homes as an intergenerational co-design tool to optimise the use of existing floor area in accordance with the international standard in circular design is ISO 20887: 2020 which could be used for both new and old homes.
Planned subdivision enables a release of under-occupied floor area into the marketplace to improve the balance of supply and demand to help moderate the severity of housing price cycles in a planned manner. Affordability and sustainability could form two sides of one coin to encourage rapid decarbonisation towards a low energy demand scenario of 30 sqm/capita by 2060.
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
The aesthetic theme is inclusion. The aesthetic can be expressed as homes that are blind to tenure where single people, owners and renters can be accommodated within one block that looks like one normal house.
The experience of inter-generational co-design for connection and subdivision of homes could help community cohesion by rightsizing in place.
The experience of renters could be improved by developing greater security of tenure over a lifetime. Renters could propose to landlords that homes could be subdivided to adapt to a reduced household size or income. Blended families could be offered homes that connect to form larger households while retaining individual tenures.
Elderly people could offer intermittent carers independent accommodation while maintaining privacy. Homes could be connected at any time depending on frequency of support care required. Elderly people could plan for secure pensions by part rental with privacy.
Young people could rent part of the residence to assist with mortgage repayments. Households could be in a better position to negotiate with banks during periods of high interest rates to sell or rent part of the property to reduce financial burdens.
Families could plan for inheritance in a predictable and tax efficient manner and maintain family ties in the area.
Social landlords could accommodate changes in household sizes over a lifetime while optimising the use of limited floor area.
The three-storey aesthetic would be relevant in both urban and rural areas. Traditional one-off homes in rural areas could be planned as a small community of homes to share transport and land resources. One cultural benefit is that higher densities of between 35 to 100 dwellings per hectare can be maintained over a lifetime to help support public services. Local project architects could adapt the aesthetics to the location.
The cultural benefit could be that households could have more lifetime control over the optimal use of floor area.
The experience of inter-generational co-design for connection and subdivision of homes could help community cohesion by rightsizing in place.
The experience of renters could be improved by developing greater security of tenure over a lifetime. Renters could propose to landlords that homes could be subdivided to adapt to a reduced household size or income. Blended families could be offered homes that connect to form larger households while retaining individual tenures.
Elderly people could offer intermittent carers independent accommodation while maintaining privacy. Homes could be connected at any time depending on frequency of support care required. Elderly people could plan for secure pensions by part rental with privacy.
Young people could rent part of the residence to assist with mortgage repayments. Households could be in a better position to negotiate with banks during periods of high interest rates to sell or rent part of the property to reduce financial burdens.
Families could plan for inheritance in a predictable and tax efficient manner and maintain family ties in the area.
Social landlords could accommodate changes in household sizes over a lifetime while optimising the use of limited floor area.
The three-storey aesthetic would be relevant in both urban and rural areas. Traditional one-off homes in rural areas could be planned as a small community of homes to share transport and land resources. One cultural benefit is that higher densities of between 35 to 100 dwellings per hectare can be maintained over a lifetime to help support public services. Local project architects could adapt the aesthetics to the location.
The cultural benefit could be that households could have more lifetime control over the optimal use of floor area.
Key objectives for inclusion
The key objectives of the planning tool include:
1. Include all generations and income bands in a circular value chain for new homes.
2. Accessibility to under-occupied floor area by subdivision of existing homes.
3. Affordability by controlled cost reduction through an efficient circular economy.
Ireland has a stock of over 2 million homes. A system of retrofitting doorway valves could simplify the subdivision of 1.5% of existing homes with the potential to deliver 30,000 units per year to match the 30,000 new homes. The number of new homes could be doubled by planning studios and 1-bed homes within the existing new home supply capacity of 3.6 million sqm. The simplicity of connecting and subdividing these small cellular homes is the key to minimising the costs for the end user to create value in the circular supply chain.
Accessibility to the Flexistorey suite of plan templates is offered throughout the EU by copyright licences in a blockchain for Public Housing Authorities, social housing providers and homebuilders. Flexistorey is relevant in both urban and rural areas from Ireland to Slovakia.
The linear model of fixed-home design, which encourages extensions but not subdivisions, is possibly one of the core reasons for the housing affordability crisis (see page 3 of the White paper on Connectable and Sub-dividable Inter-generational Housing. Attached). In summary, the infrastructure of fixed-size homes is not elastic enough to address the variable demand within the four walls.
An inclusive economic principle of adding value during the use phase could substitute for the exclusive economics of value retention during the use phase. A default economic strategy of value retention is an inevitable consequence of design of fixed size homes for the linear economy. Value retention has inflated property prices as an unintended consequence from over-sizing to compensate for under-occupancy.
Flexistorey offers an example of an inclusive governing system.
1. Include all generations and income bands in a circular value chain for new homes.
2. Accessibility to under-occupied floor area by subdivision of existing homes.
3. Affordability by controlled cost reduction through an efficient circular economy.
Ireland has a stock of over 2 million homes. A system of retrofitting doorway valves could simplify the subdivision of 1.5% of existing homes with the potential to deliver 30,000 units per year to match the 30,000 new homes. The number of new homes could be doubled by planning studios and 1-bed homes within the existing new home supply capacity of 3.6 million sqm. The simplicity of connecting and subdividing these small cellular homes is the key to minimising the costs for the end user to create value in the circular supply chain.
Accessibility to the Flexistorey suite of plan templates is offered throughout the EU by copyright licences in a blockchain for Public Housing Authorities, social housing providers and homebuilders. Flexistorey is relevant in both urban and rural areas from Ireland to Slovakia.
The linear model of fixed-home design, which encourages extensions but not subdivisions, is possibly one of the core reasons for the housing affordability crisis (see page 3 of the White paper on Connectable and Sub-dividable Inter-generational Housing. Attached). In summary, the infrastructure of fixed-size homes is not elastic enough to address the variable demand within the four walls.
An inclusive economic principle of adding value during the use phase could substitute for the exclusive economics of value retention during the use phase. A default economic strategy of value retention is an inevitable consequence of design of fixed size homes for the linear economy. Value retention has inflated property prices as an unintended consequence from over-sizing to compensate for under-occupancy.
Flexistorey offers an example of an inclusive governing system.
Results in relation to category
The EU Commission presented a guidance document for the Circular Economy: Principles for Building Design (2020). The three principal outcomes required are Durability, Adaptability and Reducing waste and facilitating high-quality waste management.
Flexistorey offers a practical model of the three outcomes of co-design for a circular economy.
Durability can be predictable with plan templates for early finance at pre-planning stage.
Adaptability is converted into a precept for volume planning of connectable and sub-dividable homes.
Reducing waste is a matter of reducing under-occupancy and therefore demand. High quality waste management would be facilitated by reducing lifetime under-occupancy.
The results, outcomes and expected impacts of Flexistorey are reported in greater detail in the attached White Paper on Connectable and Sub-dividable Intergenerational homes.
A summary of the results are as follows:
- Planning permission for two housing schemes.
- Construction cost reduction of up to 20% compared to apartments by simple construction and eliminating common areas.
A summary of the expected impacts:
- Life cycle cost reduction.
- Rapid decarbonisation.
- Potential to double the new housing supply within the same footprint to match real household size.
- A more efficient circular economy in square metres.
Sufficiency in housing is a national competence whereas energy efficiency and renewables are competencies of the EU commission. The expected impact of Flexistorey is to help aggregate SER decarbonisation.
Architects that foresee opportunities in adapting to the circular economy could become indirect beneficiaries by blending competition and/or developing the co-design template.
Flexistorey offers a blockchain supply chain technology to support disciplined co-design between generations to serve the idea of lifetime sufficiency in residential floor area per capita. The impact depends on the rate of public procurement.
Flexistorey offers a practical model of the three outcomes of co-design for a circular economy.
Durability can be predictable with plan templates for early finance at pre-planning stage.
Adaptability is converted into a precept for volume planning of connectable and sub-dividable homes.
Reducing waste is a matter of reducing under-occupancy and therefore demand. High quality waste management would be facilitated by reducing lifetime under-occupancy.
The results, outcomes and expected impacts of Flexistorey are reported in greater detail in the attached White Paper on Connectable and Sub-dividable Intergenerational homes.
A summary of the results are as follows:
- Planning permission for two housing schemes.
- Construction cost reduction of up to 20% compared to apartments by simple construction and eliminating common areas.
A summary of the expected impacts:
- Life cycle cost reduction.
- Rapid decarbonisation.
- Potential to double the new housing supply within the same footprint to match real household size.
- A more efficient circular economy in square metres.
Sufficiency in housing is a national competence whereas energy efficiency and renewables are competencies of the EU commission. The expected impact of Flexistorey is to help aggregate SER decarbonisation.
Architects that foresee opportunities in adapting to the circular economy could become indirect beneficiaries by blending competition and/or developing the co-design template.
Flexistorey offers a blockchain supply chain technology to support disciplined co-design between generations to serve the idea of lifetime sufficiency in residential floor area per capita. The impact depends on the rate of public procurement.
How Citizens benefit
The Flexistorey innovation has responded to feedback from delivering over 2000 homes in Ireland as an architect. The project partner Revelia Ltd in Slovakia is an architectural practice that has delivered over 50 homes in response to client instructions and foresees a demand for Flexistorey in Slovakia.
One anecdotal case of the impact of under-occupancy is of a homeless middle-aged woman in Dublin. She lived in a one-bed social apartment and her father lived in a 3-bed social apartment in the same area. Her father became ill and she gave up the tenure of her 1-bed unit to care for him. He subsequently died and she was evicted from the three-bedroom apartment due to an unsecure tenure generated by an oversized apartment. Homelessness proved to be an unintended consequence of an unadaptable infrastructure which cannot respond in real-time to variable demand. This consequence would have been avoided if the homes were originally co-designed with the Flexistorey model.
Citizens have been invited to comment on Flexistorey through the survey link on the www.flexistorey.com website. It is expected that greater awareness of the Flexistorey model could drive people to the website to record a wider response. The anecdotal response from citizens who have been offered verbal explanations of Flexistorey is that they can readily visualise how it would work for their own family and friends by matching each stage of their family story to a building storey.
The two main benefits for citizens are:
- A low-cost method to create value during the use phase and generate income.
- The option to maintain the whole life carbon footprint close to 23 sqm/person.
In layman’s terms, Flexistorey and the retrofitting of doorway-valves to existing homes offers a direct method for civil society to address affordability and sustainability.
Citizens could readily understand that affordability and decarbonisation are two sides of the one coin of systemic material efficiency.
One anecdotal case of the impact of under-occupancy is of a homeless middle-aged woman in Dublin. She lived in a one-bed social apartment and her father lived in a 3-bed social apartment in the same area. Her father became ill and she gave up the tenure of her 1-bed unit to care for him. He subsequently died and she was evicted from the three-bedroom apartment due to an unsecure tenure generated by an oversized apartment. Homelessness proved to be an unintended consequence of an unadaptable infrastructure which cannot respond in real-time to variable demand. This consequence would have been avoided if the homes were originally co-designed with the Flexistorey model.
Citizens have been invited to comment on Flexistorey through the survey link on the www.flexistorey.com website. It is expected that greater awareness of the Flexistorey model could drive people to the website to record a wider response. The anecdotal response from citizens who have been offered verbal explanations of Flexistorey is that they can readily visualise how it would work for their own family and friends by matching each stage of their family story to a building storey.
The two main benefits for citizens are:
- A low-cost method to create value during the use phase and generate income.
- The option to maintain the whole life carbon footprint close to 23 sqm/person.
In layman’s terms, Flexistorey and the retrofitting of doorway-valves to existing homes offers a direct method for civil society to address affordability and sustainability.
Citizens could readily understand that affordability and decarbonisation are two sides of the one coin of systemic material efficiency.
Physical or other transformations
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
Innovative character
The main problem addressed is the default growth in floor area per capita with adverse economic and environmental impacts. This systemic waste of material occurs due to the rigid residential infrastructure within the four walls. The innovative character enables end users to adapt to changing market conditions within the four walls.
The simple household tool of the doorway-valve can be replicated throughout the EU in new and second-hand homes to help address the two issues of affordability and sustainability as two sides of the one coin. The white paper identifies a potential saving of €250 billion over twenty years in Ireland by planning new connectable and sub-dividable homes and subdividing existing homes.
The existing planning of new fixed size homes generates an average demand for 15,000 homes for every 100,000 built over a twenty-year period. This ensures a repetition of the housing crisis cycles and an over production of materials that is unsustainable.
To characterise the innovation in three words “Rapid affordable decarbonisation”.
Mainstream fixed-size housing aggregates into a rigid infrastructure which historical evidence shows that it invites severe price cycles and the unsustainable over production of materials that do not match changing market conditions. The path dependence on fixed size housing is deeply rooted in the legacy education of the supply chain. It is therefore challenging to suggest to seasoned practitioners that the fixed size model can never resolve the opposing economic principles of predictability and flexibility within a short time frame.
The short time frame proposed by the EU for decarbonisation therefore invites innovation for a rapid transition to an adaptable infrastructure within existing regulatory structures.
Subdivision of existing homes is a separate domain to new housing since it requires an elective engagement by homeowners. The doorway-valve offers an innovation for the homeowner.
The simple household tool of the doorway-valve can be replicated throughout the EU in new and second-hand homes to help address the two issues of affordability and sustainability as two sides of the one coin. The white paper identifies a potential saving of €250 billion over twenty years in Ireland by planning new connectable and sub-dividable homes and subdividing existing homes.
The existing planning of new fixed size homes generates an average demand for 15,000 homes for every 100,000 built over a twenty-year period. This ensures a repetition of the housing crisis cycles and an over production of materials that is unsustainable.
To characterise the innovation in three words “Rapid affordable decarbonisation”.
Mainstream fixed-size housing aggregates into a rigid infrastructure which historical evidence shows that it invites severe price cycles and the unsustainable over production of materials that do not match changing market conditions. The path dependence on fixed size housing is deeply rooted in the legacy education of the supply chain. It is therefore challenging to suggest to seasoned practitioners that the fixed size model can never resolve the opposing economic principles of predictability and flexibility within a short time frame.
The short time frame proposed by the EU for decarbonisation therefore invites innovation for a rapid transition to an adaptable infrastructure within existing regulatory structures.
Subdivision of existing homes is a separate domain to new housing since it requires an elective engagement by homeowners. The doorway-valve offers an innovation for the homeowner.
Disciplines/knowledge reflected
The IPCC has identified a latent knowledge field in plan templates that can adjust down in size to match reducing household sizes. The specific discipline addressed by Flexistorey is the Value Hill for Industrialised Housing Construction (page 4 of the White Paper on Connectable and Subdividable Housing). This discipline brings forward a focus on design for non-intrusive refurbishment and adaptability from late in the use phase to the start of the design process in what is called Step A0.
The review paper “The Housing Flexibility Problem: A Review of limitations and Solutions” by Sabine Ritter De Paris and Carlos L. Lopes, 2018 identifies the challenges.
The architectural challenge is how to limit and align the four design domains of sizing, function, physical and procedure over a lifetime to make it simple for multiple types of end users to connect and subdivide homes. The floor area in Ireland has grown from 23 to 49 sqm/capita at a rate of 1.5% per annum due to the complexity of electing limits to align the four design domains over a lifetime.
Representatives of each discipline in the value chain could elect to use the Flexistorey system to halt and reverse the growth in floor area per capita. Planning policymakers could improve lifetime density to avoid compensatory planning and excessive land use. Project architects could agree limits to adaptability with clients at the pre-contract stage. Home builders could reduce hard costs at high density. Auctioneers could adapt to changing demands from all market sectors. End users could co-design the future home mix with the future generations and negotiate with landlords to ensure full lifetime occupancy.
The doorway valve could be a useful household tool for existing homeowners to subdivide homes at the appropriate time.
The discipline of file-sharing platforms could enable elective aggregated action between different stakeholders in different jurisdictions within current legislation.
The review paper “The Housing Flexibility Problem: A Review of limitations and Solutions” by Sabine Ritter De Paris and Carlos L. Lopes, 2018 identifies the challenges.
The architectural challenge is how to limit and align the four design domains of sizing, function, physical and procedure over a lifetime to make it simple for multiple types of end users to connect and subdivide homes. The floor area in Ireland has grown from 23 to 49 sqm/capita at a rate of 1.5% per annum due to the complexity of electing limits to align the four design domains over a lifetime.
Representatives of each discipline in the value chain could elect to use the Flexistorey system to halt and reverse the growth in floor area per capita. Planning policymakers could improve lifetime density to avoid compensatory planning and excessive land use. Project architects could agree limits to adaptability with clients at the pre-contract stage. Home builders could reduce hard costs at high density. Auctioneers could adapt to changing demands from all market sectors. End users could co-design the future home mix with the future generations and negotiate with landlords to ensure full lifetime occupancy.
The doorway valve could be a useful household tool for existing homeowners to subdivide homes at the appropriate time.
The discipline of file-sharing platforms could enable elective aggregated action between different stakeholders in different jurisdictions within current legislation.
Methodology used
The design methodology standard used is the ISO 20887: 2020: Design for disassembly and adaptability – Principles, requirements and guidance.
This ISO standard is normally considered in terms of disassembly of physical components however the methodology has been applied to property titles by Flexistorey. It is submitted that this approach can amplify the rate of decarbonisation through planned and elective sufficiency.
The hard evidence of the need for this approach is provided by the Dutch Government that have planned to subdivide up to 160,000 existing homes.
The approach to this project is from bottom-up experience in planning affordable housing at high density. A solution was arrived at on one site that highlighted (by default) a latent infrastructural deficit in the way we design homes. The impact of designing high density homes can diminish over a lifetime due to systemic under-occupancy due to an ageing demographic.
Most people over a certain age would prefer a low cost option for rightsizing in place.
The complexity of rightsizing in place also places a significant financial burden on younger generations which is unsustainable.
The approach therefore was to translate an architectural service into a technology product of a supply chain in a blockchain of information for rapid scalability within current legislation. This information could then become ingrained within the architecture that would be readily understandable to both the specialist and the non-specialist.
The Flexistorey product offers elective limits for aligning lifetime adaptability for a fragmented new home industry. The offer of elective limits enables fellow architects to blend co-design with normal competition to better serve the circular economy.
Planners, ESG funds and home builders could plan decarbonisation strategies with pre-planning copyrighted plan templates.
The use of doorway-valves in existing homes is not copyrighted due to variable plans.
This ISO standard is normally considered in terms of disassembly of physical components however the methodology has been applied to property titles by Flexistorey. It is submitted that this approach can amplify the rate of decarbonisation through planned and elective sufficiency.
The hard evidence of the need for this approach is provided by the Dutch Government that have planned to subdivide up to 160,000 existing homes.
The approach to this project is from bottom-up experience in planning affordable housing at high density. A solution was arrived at on one site that highlighted (by default) a latent infrastructural deficit in the way we design homes. The impact of designing high density homes can diminish over a lifetime due to systemic under-occupancy due to an ageing demographic.
Most people over a certain age would prefer a low cost option for rightsizing in place.
The complexity of rightsizing in place also places a significant financial burden on younger generations which is unsustainable.
The approach therefore was to translate an architectural service into a technology product of a supply chain in a blockchain of information for rapid scalability within current legislation. This information could then become ingrained within the architecture that would be readily understandable to both the specialist and the non-specialist.
The Flexistorey product offers elective limits for aligning lifetime adaptability for a fragmented new home industry. The offer of elective limits enables fellow architects to blend co-design with normal competition to better serve the circular economy.
Planners, ESG funds and home builders could plan decarbonisation strategies with pre-planning copyrighted plan templates.
The use of doorway-valves in existing homes is not copyrighted due to variable plans.
How stakeholders are engaged
At the household level, existing homeowners could retrofit doorway valves to enable future subdivisions. Flexistorey makes connection and subdivision simple for new homes by engagement through copyright licence
Architects and home builders could benefit from a tool that could tailor home sizes during the planning and construction phase. The Flexistorey Excel spreadsheet template links all stages of the value chain to help optimise the circular economy.
At the local level, the planning authorities have granted planning permission for over
80 Flexistorey homes.
At a local level home builders have been served by the model, and they welcome feasible cost levels for construction at higher densities.
Flexistorey has submitted the White Paper to the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland (RIAI) and housing research bodies commissioned by the Irish Housing Agency. In the field of architecture, Flexistorey offers a co-design tool in the form of plan templates for architects to mix and match with site-specific design of layouts, elevations and construction details without restriction.
The concept of lifetime adaptable homes has been included in the Irish National Planning Framework as a planning objective since 2018, however, it has rarely been executed due to the absence of simple architectural solutions. A submission by Flexistorey to the Irish Government on the draft Sustainable and Compact Settlements: Guidelines for Planning Authorities offers evidence of stakeholder engagement.
European ESG Funds could comply with the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulations by confirming at the pre-planning stage that their investment model conforms to a sufficiency-efficiency-renewable (SER) decarbonisation strategy.
At the European level, national governments in the G7 have been offered advice from the IPCC and IRP to the G7 to reduce floor area towards 30 sqm/capita. Flexistorey can assist in implementation of that advice from the climate scientists.
Architects and home builders could benefit from a tool that could tailor home sizes during the planning and construction phase. The Flexistorey Excel spreadsheet template links all stages of the value chain to help optimise the circular economy.
At the local level, the planning authorities have granted planning permission for over
80 Flexistorey homes.
At a local level home builders have been served by the model, and they welcome feasible cost levels for construction at higher densities.
Flexistorey has submitted the White Paper to the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland (RIAI) and housing research bodies commissioned by the Irish Housing Agency. In the field of architecture, Flexistorey offers a co-design tool in the form of plan templates for architects to mix and match with site-specific design of layouts, elevations and construction details without restriction.
The concept of lifetime adaptable homes has been included in the Irish National Planning Framework as a planning objective since 2018, however, it has rarely been executed due to the absence of simple architectural solutions. A submission by Flexistorey to the Irish Government on the draft Sustainable and Compact Settlements: Guidelines for Planning Authorities offers evidence of stakeholder engagement.
European ESG Funds could comply with the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulations by confirming at the pre-planning stage that their investment model conforms to a sufficiency-efficiency-renewable (SER) decarbonisation strategy.
At the European level, national governments in the G7 have been offered advice from the IPCC and IRP to the G7 to reduce floor area towards 30 sqm/capita. Flexistorey can assist in implementation of that advice from the climate scientists.
Global challenges
The global challenge is the growth in floor area per capita within the G7 jurisdictions.
The challenge of optimising systemic material efficiency in a fragmented industry within a short time frame is amplified since it falls between regulatory domains of planning, architecture and lifetime household choices in rightsizing.
Flexistorey offers a local solution to optimise the lifetime use of floor area by helping to bridge the gaps between those domains of control in the planning and lifetime use of floor area.
The Flexistorey model for new homes combined with potential retrofitting of doorway valves could be combined to offer each jurisdiction a technical methodology of aggregating results within a short time frame.
In layman's terms Flexistorey highlights a simple granular solution that could help measure and therefore manage the common problem of rising floor area per capita for both specialists and non-specialists.
A smooth transition between the linear economy and the circular economy is highly challenging within a short time frame. Regulation to support connectable and sub-dividable homes could change within a ten to twenty year time frame however however public procurement could possibly change within a shorter time frame.
It is unlikely that the private sector would embrace the precept of connectable and sub-dividable new homes unless the public sector demonstrates the way forward.
Public procurement of housing for the circular economy in property titles therefore offers optimal replicability by copyright licences.
There is a separate global challenge to subdivide existing homes. A widespread retrofitting of doorway valves could enable a logical sequence between part rental (with shared services) and part resale with separate services.
The Doorway-valve offers an opportunity for policy makers to introduce hard and soft supports for subdivision of existing homes to promote greater competition in the housing supply market.
The challenge of optimising systemic material efficiency in a fragmented industry within a short time frame is amplified since it falls between regulatory domains of planning, architecture and lifetime household choices in rightsizing.
Flexistorey offers a local solution to optimise the lifetime use of floor area by helping to bridge the gaps between those domains of control in the planning and lifetime use of floor area.
The Flexistorey model for new homes combined with potential retrofitting of doorway valves could be combined to offer each jurisdiction a technical methodology of aggregating results within a short time frame.
In layman's terms Flexistorey highlights a simple granular solution that could help measure and therefore manage the common problem of rising floor area per capita for both specialists and non-specialists.
A smooth transition between the linear economy and the circular economy is highly challenging within a short time frame. Regulation to support connectable and sub-dividable homes could change within a ten to twenty year time frame however however public procurement could possibly change within a shorter time frame.
It is unlikely that the private sector would embrace the precept of connectable and sub-dividable new homes unless the public sector demonstrates the way forward.
Public procurement of housing for the circular economy in property titles therefore offers optimal replicability by copyright licences.
There is a separate global challenge to subdivide existing homes. A widespread retrofitting of doorway valves could enable a logical sequence between part rental (with shared services) and part resale with separate services.
The Doorway-valve offers an opportunity for policy makers to introduce hard and soft supports for subdivision of existing homes to promote greater competition in the housing supply market.
Learning transferred to other parties
Flexistorey can be replicated by insured copyright licence offered to the land owner to protect the integrity of the property title.
The methodology for replication is to simplify each step in the supply chain for comprehensive cost reduction.
The process technology for replicability is a common blockchain technology generated by default in file sharing platforms. The blockchain is generated by recording the date and email address of distributed users to record the blocks of information used in the supply chain. The time stamped record distinguishes between the background copyright of Flexistorey and the foreground copyright of project architects. This enables separate professional indemnity insurance policies.
Blockchain technology enables a replicable adaptable infrastructure.
The process for optimising replicability will be by referred distribution through architectural engineering construction AEC software providers. This application for the New European Bauhaus (NEB) prize could potentially assist in building credibility in the idea that adaptability requires competitive elective limits for easy implementation by future generations of end users.
Competing architects could elect their own specific limits and/or develop the templates.
The rate of replicability could be driven by reducing the cost of decarbonisation by placing lifetime sufficiency as the first priority for each link in the value chain, including the end user.
The financial process is to offer ESG funds a compliance tool with the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulations. ESG funds could confirm to their investors that they are prioritising investment in a Sufficiency-Efficiency-Renewable Decarbonisation strategy. Flexistiorey can help halt the growth and subdivision of existing homes can reverse the growth in sqm/capita.
The most important learning could be that existing homeowners could compete in the housing supply market by subdivision for part-rent and part resale.
The methodology for replication is to simplify each step in the supply chain for comprehensive cost reduction.
The process technology for replicability is a common blockchain technology generated by default in file sharing platforms. The blockchain is generated by recording the date and email address of distributed users to record the blocks of information used in the supply chain. The time stamped record distinguishes between the background copyright of Flexistorey and the foreground copyright of project architects. This enables separate professional indemnity insurance policies.
Blockchain technology enables a replicable adaptable infrastructure.
The process for optimising replicability will be by referred distribution through architectural engineering construction AEC software providers. This application for the New European Bauhaus (NEB) prize could potentially assist in building credibility in the idea that adaptability requires competitive elective limits for easy implementation by future generations of end users.
Competing architects could elect their own specific limits and/or develop the templates.
The rate of replicability could be driven by reducing the cost of decarbonisation by placing lifetime sufficiency as the first priority for each link in the value chain, including the end user.
The financial process is to offer ESG funds a compliance tool with the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulations. ESG funds could confirm to their investors that they are prioritising investment in a Sufficiency-Efficiency-Renewable Decarbonisation strategy. Flexistiorey can help halt the growth and subdivision of existing homes can reverse the growth in sqm/capita.
The most important learning could be that existing homeowners could compete in the housing supply market by subdivision for part-rent and part resale.
Keywords
Adaptable
circular
sustainable
inclusive
rapid
