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About Integrated Building Design
Integrated building design is a process of design in which multiple
disciplines and seemingly unrelated aspects of design are integrated
in a manner that permits synergistic benefits to be realized. The
goal is to achieve high performance and multiple benefits at a lower
cost than the total for all the components combined. This process
often includes integrating green design strategies into conventional
design criteria for building form, function, performance, and cost.
A key to successful integrated building design is the participation
of people from different specialties of design: general architecture,
HVAC, lighting and electrical, interior design, and landscape design.
By working together at key points in the design process, these participants
can often identify highly attractive solutions to design needs that
would otherwise not be found. In an integrated design approach,
the mechanical engineer will calculate energy use and cost very
early in the design, informing designers of the energy-use implications
of building orientation, configuration, fenestration, mechanical
systems, and lighting options.
This section addresses these building design topics:
Consider integrated building design strategies for all aspects
of green design: improving energy efficiency, planning a sustainable
site, safeguarding water, creating healthy indoor environments,
and using environmentally preferable materials. Major design issues
should be considered by all members of the design team—from
civil engineers to interior designers—who have common goals
that were set in the building program. The procurement of A&E
services should stress a team-building approach, and provisions
for integrated design should be clearly presented in the statement
of work (SOW). For example, the SOW should stipulate frequent meetings
and a significant level of effort from mechanical engineers to evaluate
design options.
The design and analysis process for developing integrated building
designs includes:
- Establishing a base case—for example, a performance profile
showing energy use and costs for a typical facility that complies
with code and other measures for the project type, location, size,
etc.
- Identifying a range of solutions—all those that appear
to have potential for the specific project.
- Evaluating the performance of individual strategies—one
by one through sensitivity analysis or a process of elimination
parametrics
- Grouping strategies that are high performers into different
combinations to evaluate performance.
- Selecting strategies, refining the design, and reiterating the
analysis throughout the process.
Finding the right building design recipes through an integrated
design process can be challenging. At first, design teams often
make incremental changes that are effective and result in high-performance
buildings—and often at affordable costs. However, continuing
to explore design integration opportunities can sometimes yield
incredible results, in which the design team breaks through the
cost barrier.
Whenever one green design strategy can provide more than one benefit,
there is a potential for design integration. For example, windows
can be highly cost-effective even when they are designed and placed
to provide the multiple benefits of daylight, passive solar heating,
summer-heat-gain avoidance, natural ventilation, and an attractive
view. A double-loaded central corridor, common in historic buildings,
provides daylight and natural ventilation to each room, and transom
windows above doors provide lower levels of light and ventilation
to corridors. Building
envelope and lighting
design strategies that significantly reduce HVAC
system requirements can have remarkable results. Sometimes the
most effective solutions also have the lowest construction costs,
especially when they are part of an integrated design.
The building design begins with an analysis of the required spaces.
With an eye toward the sustainability and energy-efficiency targets
established in pre-design, the individual spaces should be clearly
described in terms of their function, occupancy and use, daylight
and electric light requirements, indoor environmental quality standards,
acoustic isolation needs, and so on. Spaces then can be clustered
by similar function, common thermal zoning, need for daylight or
connection to outdoors, need for privacy or security, or other relevant
criteria.
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