Digital Management System in Heritage Timber Buildings: A Detailed Application in Purranque, Chile

Abstract

Artificial intelligence systems based on fuzzy logic models can manage both data obtained in situ from the buildings and that obtained from the knowledge base of professional experts. These kinds of digital methods can optimize resources and manage the uncertainty associated with the evaluation processes conducted by one or even different professional experts. Digital management systems that focus on preservation strategies help harmonize the results, as slight variations in the evaluation process of input variables do not generate a significant dispersion over the model’s output variable. The preventive conservation of heritage buildings requires cooperative efforts in terms of the definition of heritage value and in the establishment of future preservation strategies, where qualified experts’ opinions are key to examining multidisciplinary knowledge. In this respect, the incorporation of new protocols, which can help decision makers prioritize interventions and avoid restoration actions that are unnecessarily invasive or might cause irreparable loss of the properties, is urgently needed. The aim of this study concerns the analysis of the heritage value of the Mutizaval House emplaced in Purranque (South Chile) and a detailed examination of the functional degradation condition regarding each space of the whole building. The application of the fuzzy logic model revealed that 13 spaces out of 22 were ranked Condition C. Therefore, the methodology recommended monitoring the building’s state of conservation and implementing a preventive maintenance action within no more than five years to preserve the building’s features in a reasonably good state of functional condition. This kind of new digital management tool can be useful to stakeholders who are responsible for the establishment of preventive maintenance programs for heritage buildings in Chile.