NEWS March, 2010

Green Design-Build

Mr. Swann has over 25 years of extensive experience on both domestic and international projects in the areas of engineering and project management consulting and problem solving.  He focuses his work now in the areas of forensic engineering and construction claims analysis.  Mr. Swann has chaired technical committee within national and international organizations and been a contributing author and editor for a number of technical publications and journals.  He is an ASHRAE  Distinguished Lecturer and has spoken in a number of ASHRAE Chapters including Abu Dhabi , Dubai , Delhi , Detroit , Chicago , Seattle and   New York City .  He is a contributing author to the ASHRAE “Green Guide – The Design, Construction and Operation of Sustainable Buildings” and co-author of the ASHRAE Survival Guide to Design/Build Project Execution.

For green or “high performance” buildings the need for a high degree of integration between the design and construction efforts is often emphasized if not deemed mandatory.  A review of the USGBC’s LEED requirements reveals a great degree of interconnection between design and construction activities in order to garner enough points to achieve the desired green building rating.  Better execution of and coordination on projects has long been a desirable goal – sometimes a sort of “holy grail” of the project process.  In fact, the industry is now embracing a process called “Integrated Project Delivery” to focus more directly on that goal.  A project execution method that has great promise to enhance the IPD environment and facilitate the delivery of green buildings is “Design-Build”.  Design-build projects meld the design and construction efforts into one entity which would seem to address both the integration outcome needs of green buildings and the integrated process desires of IPD. But there is no ‘magic bullet’ that guarantees project success and design-build has its own risks which must be considered and addressed before you dive in.  This program will focus on key issues and elements involved in green building in the design-build context and offer some strategies to address those issues and help you deliver a quality project at the proper price and get through the process successfully.