Integrated Design
What is Integrated Design?
Integrated Design is a team approach to designing buildings. By getting all of the right people together at the design table the building design process becomes a collaborative venture that maximizes the sharing of knowledge and minimizes mistakes and problems.
“Integrated design is a collaborative method for designing buildings which emphasizes the development of a holistic design.
Conventional building design usually involves a series of hand-offs from owner to architect to builder to occupant. This path does not invite all affected parties into the planning process, and therefore does not take into account their needs, areas of expertise or insights. In some cases, using the conventional method, incompatible elements of the design are not discovered until late in the process when it is expensive to make changes. In contrast, the integrated design process requires multidisciplinary collaboration, including key stakeholders and design professionals, from conception to completion. Decision-making protocols and complementary design principles must be established early in the process in order to satisfy the goals of multiple stakeholders while achieving the overall project objectives.
A Holistic Approach.
In addition to extensive collaboration, integrated design involves a “whole building design” approach. A building is viewed as an interdependent system, as opposed to an accumulation of its separate components (site, structure, systems and use). The goal of looking at all the systems together to is make sure they work in harmony rather than against each other.
Integrated design has evolved in conjunction with the rise of multidisciplinary design firms and sustainable design. It frequently begins with a charrette or eco-charrette, an intensive design workshop, in which many stakeholders gather to set goals and identify strategies for achieving the desired outcomes.” (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_design)
A Team Approach
It is most effective to form the Integrated Design Team as early in the process as possible, preferably before the site is even selected. This allows for the goals of the project to be clearly established before any decisions are made. In this way every decision relating to the design and construction of the project can be guided by the goals set out at the very beginning.
Performance Based Design
An important set of goals that we like to see established at the very outset are the Energy Performance goals for the project. Two excellent examples of this are The 2030 Challenge or Passive House Standard which both require projects to meet certain energy performance goals. Alternatively the goals could be ones that the design team establishes specifically for each project. Once the performance goals have been agreed upon, the building is then designed to meet the goals. This is known as Performance Based Design and is the most effective way to ensure that energy conservation is made a top priority in building design.
The staff at Energetechs are experts in Energy Efficiency and Building Science, as well as experienced in most facets of the building design and construction process. We can offer highly valuable advice in all stages of the Integrated Design Process.
CONTACT US – Energetechs, Inc., – ph.