Integrative Design Process

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Finding solutions that meet all sustainability goals at once isn’t always easy, so new processes are required to help achieve those goals. In federal building projects, collaborative, integrative processes are required under the Guiding Principles for Sustainable Federal Buildings. This integrative approach looks for synergies among strategies – strategies that enhance one another or together reduce costs. To make the integrative design process effective:

Start early — Setting sustainability goals at the outset and incorporating sustainable alternatives from the beginning means avoiding design changes and change orders down the road

Form an interdisciplinary team — Sustainability means finding new and creative solutions that cross disciplinary boundaries. Bring a diverse team together to work alongside each other in new ways to find integrated strategies for improved performance. For example, include the contractors and building operators in the design process to make sure their expertise is shared. Integrate building users and other stakeholders into the team to make sure that their needs are met. Want to know more? Explore suggestions of who to bring to the table when dealing with different Whole Building Systems:

Submetering HVAC Lighting IEQ Water Solid Waste Planted Roof

Use charrettes — Charrettes are workshops designed to promote creativity and collaboration. They should be conducted by an experienced facilitator and should include the project team, the owner, and other stakeholders. The first charrette is typically used to generate project goals and guiding principles. Additional charrettes can be used to tackle the overall project plan or aspects of design.

Set clear goals — By making sustainability criteria explicit at the beginning of a project, teams have a clear sense of what their work is meant to achieve. These goals should be revisited throughout the project to keep things on track. Documents such as the Owner’s Project Requirements can be used to memorialize project goals and provide a frame of reference for on-going evaluation.

Perform project analysis — Before any design decisions are made, it is important to understand the primary goals of the project as well as how each building system helps the project meets its goals. This may require collection of data on energy or water use in an existing building, or surveys of occupants working in a space. The more that is known about the specific place and the components of the building in advance, the more effective integrative design strategies will be.

Evaluate alternatives — Sustainable design requires careful evaluation of alternatives against multiple criteria. It is not enough to determine which materials cost least up front, but also which will perform the best over time, are the healthiest, will have the greatest return on investment, are the most efficient, use resources the most wisely, etc. This process may require a simple comparison, or more advanced methods such as energy modeling.

Verify performance — As a project moves from design to implementation and operation, it is important to continue tracking performance against the project goals and to refine those goals in order to ensure that performance targets are achieved. Performance tracking can be leveraged to create continuous improvement.

For more guidance, see GSA's Collaborative Practices for Federal Construction.

Related Topics

Integrative Design Process

Finding solutions that meet all of these goals at once isn’t always easy, so new processes are required to help achieve those goals. The integrative design process is a great way to do this. Integrative thinking looks for synergies among strategies – strategies that enhance one another. It also looks for strategies that, taken together, reduce costs. To make this process effective:

• Start early —Setting sustainability goals at the outset and incorporating sustainable alternatives from the beginning means avoiding design changes and change orders down the road
• Form an interdisciplinary team —Sustainability means finding new and creative solutions that cross disciplinary boundaries. Bring a diverse team together to work alongside each other in new ways to find integrated strategies for improved performance. For example, include the contractors and building operators in the design process to make sure their expertise is shared. Integrate building users and other stakeholders into the team to make sure that their needs are met.
• Use charrettes -Charrettes are workshops designed to promote creativity and collaboration. They should be conducted by an experienced facilitator and should include the project team, the owner, and other stakeholders. The first charrette is typically used to generate project goals and guiding principles. Additional charrettes can be used to tackle the overall project plan or aspects of design.
• Set clear goals —By making sustainability criteria explicit at the beginning of a project, teams have a clear sense of what their work is meant to achieve. These goals should be revisited throughout the project to keep things on track. Documents such as the Owner’s Project Requirements can be used to memorialize project goals and provide a frame of reference for on-going evaluation.
• Project Analysis —Before any design decisions are made, it is important to understand the primary goals of the project as well as how each building system helps the project meets its goals. This may require collection of data on energy or water use in an existing building, or surveys of occupants working in a space. The more that is known about the specific place and the components of the building in advance, the more effective integrative design strategies will be.
• Evaluate alternatives —Sustainable design requires careful evaluation of alternatives against multiple criteria. It is not enough to determine which materials cost least up front, but also which will perform the best over time, are the healthiest, will have the greatest return on investment, are the most efficient, use resources the most wisely, etc. This process may require a simple comparison, or more advanced methods such as energy modeling.
• Verify performance —As a project moves from design to implementation and operation, it is important to continue tracking performance against the project goals and to refine those goals in order to ensure that performance targets are achieved. Performance tracking can be leveraged to create continuous improvement.

Sustainability

Sustainability and sustainable mean to create and maintain conditions, under which humans and nature can exist inproductive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic,and other requirements of present and future generations.

Whole Building Systems Thinking

Unlike conventional design processes, where components and disciplines are treated separately, sustainable design requires an evaluation of whole systems. When retrofitting an office, consider the space as a whole. This means thinking not only about the lighting, the flooring, the windows, the HVAC system, and the furniture as separate components, but also thinking about the relationship between each of these components and the ways that those relationships create the space, and how that fits with sustainability goals.

Check out the Whole Building Systems section in Explore for information on building systems, their relationship to one another, and the integrated design team necessary to reach sustainability goals.

For example, if a project’s goal is to save energy from lighting and improve occupant comfort, it should think not only about the type of lighting fixtures needed, but also how the space will be used by the occupants, the amount of sunlight streaming through the windows at different times of year, how that light gets bounced into the space, how the light levels are controlled, and even the colors of the walls. By thinking holistically about the lighting system, rather than simply about the lighting components, a more comfortable, efficient, healthy and productive space can be created. In addition, the project “system” is nested within larger systems, such as a watershed, an air shed, a forest, a neighborhood and city, and so forth; these larger systems should also be considered.