This study explores how school buildings can be exploited more efficiently in the future, since, at present, they remain unused for a substantial amount of time. One possibility to tackle this inefficiency, is to involve the local community more closely in usage of its school building. First, a theoretical analysis was carried out to increase the fundamental understanding of the underlying dynamics related to opening school infrastructure to the local community. Second, focus group discussions were organized to research whether involving the local community in the school building was compatible with educational needs. The first highlighted that more extensive building usage could lead to positive social, environmental, educational and economic benefits. In the second, educational experts stressed that they wanted to adopt more innovative and flexible forms of teaching in the future, such as team teaching. Technical directors expressed concerns on safety issues if the local community is to be more closely involved. In the final step, all findings were translated into their technical consequences. From this analysis, it could be concluded that a school building with a high degree of short-term flexibility was the preferred option to reconcile societal and educational needs.

While school buildings have the potential to form the heart of a local community, they remain unused for a large amount of time outside school hours. As a result, substantial environmental, economic and social benefits are not being capitalized. From an environmental point of view, using existing infrastructure more extensively is in line with the principles of the circular economy and avoids new waste streams. Next, letting school infrastructure can yield new revenue streams for school boards which can be used to invest in educational material or school infrastructure. Finally, several studies have shown that involving the local community in school activities strengthens the social cohesion and leads to better educational performances. One of the main reasons that this potential is not being exploited is due to the school infrastructure. A more extensive school building usage also implies a more flexible building usage. In order to facilitate a flexible building usage, adaptable infrastructure is required. During recent years, a great amount of research has been conducted in the field of adaptable buildings. However, it remains unclear how technical services, and ventilation in particular, can facilitate a flexible building usage in a sustainable manner. Therefore, this research aims to understand which ventilation strategies are best suited to facilitate a more extensive school building use from an environmental and economic point of view.