Realizing sustainability of low cost apartments in Surabaya Indonesia by improving the adaptability

Sustainability has been an absolute condition since the recent decades. To achieve sustainable building, one often struggle to reuse natural resources, minimize artificial energy, optimize natural energy, or else likewise. These efforts are in order to increase the building lifespan, as therefore construction waste can be eliminated. This paper is a part of PhD research work entitled:”Functionality and Adaptability of Low Cost Apartment Space Design in Tropical Developing Countries”. Due to sustainability, enhancement of building lifespan in this research is realized not only by maintaining the functionality, but also by improving the adaptability, both of which are achieved from the users' side. Yet, adaptability is also anticipatable from building side by providing appropriate adaptable structure system and adequate space dimension. This paper examines the adaptability of low cost apartments in Surabaya Indonesia. All 14 building types of public low cost rental apartment locations that developed by the government were taken as samples in this research. As total of apartment units in Surabaya is 3000-3500, 300 resident families were involved as respondents. Data of the buildings were collected by field survey and observation, copying the drawings, and interviewing the expert persons of housing department in charge. Assessment of adaptability is concentrated on unit level that consists of judgment of vertical adaptability which assesses the possibility of mezzanine construction, and horizontal adaptability which evaluates the possibility to occupy the corridor to the front, and to extend the balcony to the backward. Finding regarding adaptability indicates that out of 300 only 16 households or 5% respondents installed mezzanine, 23 families or 8% of them extended the balcony, and 97 residents or 32% respondents occupies the corridor. The results assume that Penjaringan-2, Wonorejo and Randu are the most adaptable apartments, while ITS is the most inadaptable. Keywords-component; Adaptability; Sustainability; Low Cost Apartment Buildings in Surabaya.