Service life of building envelopes: A critical literature review

The importance of knowing the service life of buildings and their components is recognized. Several studies have been developed, in different countries, to address this research topic. In some situations, the existing knowledge/ information is easy to understand, but only offers absolute and standard values, which do not provide relevant information on the real service life of the elements. In real-world situations, the decision-makers usually face time-constraints in searching for service life data and apply service life values obtained from normative guidelines or a limited number of studies. This study thus fills an existing gap, identifying and synthesizing the relevant research on service life prediction of elements of the building envelope (exterior claddings in facades and pitched roofs, and window frames). A total of 107 publications are analysed and based on this systematic review, a database is created, highlighting the empirical evidence from the literature. A critical review is performed, to improve the awareness on the best experiences and practices, discussing the variance between the worst-case predictions and the real service life of the elements. This database can be used by researchers, end-users, or practitioners, aiding the creation of theoretical frameworks, to apply the extended past research in future projections and aid the management of the buildings and components' life cycle.