integrated design

a process for designing buildings

The integrated design process can be encapsulated by early participation in the project by everybody involved in the project’s design, discussing everything about each system’s design (Reed 2004). The increased communication among team members responsible for each building system provides for greater understanding of the interdependency of building systems. The increased collaboration aids the development of more precise design conditions, reducing the need for safety factors and over-design. Systems designed to the correct size perform more efficiently and more effectively, reducing energy costs and increasing occupant satisfaction.

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Throughout the construction industry, challenges such as team formation, fragmentation of design disciplines, undefined roles and responsibilities, and misalignment of incentives are major problems to the project delivery process (Egan 1998, Kayshap et al 2003, Riley et al 2004, Magent 2006). The integrated design process seeks to ease these challenges through the increased communication and collaboration between team members. However, the project team is limited to the information provided to them, which places great importance on the project request for proposals (RFP) and specifications. This places critical responsibilities on the owner’s representative to ensure that owner requirements, present and future, are communicated to the design team to develop the best solution.