More and More with Less and Less: A Project Guide to Providing High-Value Design and Delivery Strategies in Challenging Economic Times
Peter Rumsey, P.E., FASHRAE, Integral Group
We are all acutely aware of the financial challenges that capital project teams and design professionals face in the effort to drive down project costs. Simultaneously, however, the goals of providing highly energy-efficient sustainable systems, high-quality and technically demanding facilities, and a safe, comfortable, and collaborative environment continue to increase.
The need to reduce project costs has dramatically increased the complexity of achieving these project quality and functionality goals. In order to design and deliver highly functional and efficient facilities under these conditions, it is necessary to think "out-of-the-box" to align appropriate project goals and values with innovative design strategies so that the highest value projects can be provided.
Through the use of domestic and international case study project examples, this presentation will provide an overview of low- and no-cost efficient facility design strategies that simultaneously reduce initial and long-term costs while enhancing overall project value and quality. The presentation will also cover services, tools, and techniques that project teams can use to evaluate options and criteria that provide highest value.
The problem with traditional design and delivery is that value engineering (cost cutting) has become the primary means by which project teams meet challenging budgets, thereby decreasing overall project value and quality.
True project innovation is required to deliver high-value and sustainable projects within the constraints of challenging budgets. As novel design and engineering solutions push the envelope of accepted practice, behaviors formed around enhanced collaboration and teamwork are the drivers for innovation. By taking a fresh approach to project programming, design, and delivery, by thinking "out-of-the-box," and by focusing on low-cost, high-value, and win-win solutions, we can define a new metric of value-added engineering as a means to add value back into our projects.
With capital project funding restricted, it also often makes sense to renovate existing facilities instead of building new facilities. Renovation projects are challenged from the standpoint of designing around existing infrastructure, constructing within operating facilities, and potential fit for change of use. This presentation will also address high-value design strategies within existing facilities.
Biography:
Widely recognized as global player in energy efficiency, and a leader in sustainable and resource-efficient building design, Peter Rumsey has worked in the engineering and energy consulting industry since the mid 1980s. As managing director of Integral Group, Mr. Rumsey has directed the design of 13 LEED® Platinum Certified projects and nine LEED Gold Certified projects; as well as 18 LEED Platinum, 10 Net Zero, and three Living Building Challenge projects, which are currently in design. Mr. Rumsey has been responsible for many key innovations in energy-efficient design and analysis, including pioneering the use of chilled beams (induction diffusers), efficient outside air systems that eliminate reheat, radiant cooling systems, low pressure drop systems in United States laboratories, and the use of guaranteed performance contracts for HVAC systems based solely on measured system data. Above and beyond design, one of his major areas of innovation is making green affordable.