Page 15 - Green Building Through Integrated Design

FOREWORD xiii

The right people must be included at the right time (e.g., future building opera-
tions staff, the cost estimator, commissioning agent, and controls vendor), and the
team must be managed using a collaborative approach to optimize whole building
systems rather than isolated components. Well-facilitated design charrettes during
conceptual design and schematic design phases are essential.
6 Energy Modeling. Energy modeling should go hand-in-hand with the integrated
design process and life-cycle costing. Energy modeling must be used at the right
phases in the design process, such as schematic design and design development,
to evaluate significant design alternatives, inform efforts to optimize building sys-
tems, and generate helpful life-cycle-costing data.
7 Commissioning Plus! You should expect failures in both the installation and per-
formance of new design strategies and technologies. Beyond making sure that the
project team includes a commissioning agent by the end of schematic design, you
should undertake an additional effort to test the entire building to ensure that it is
performing according to specifications. Projects should include metering, moni-
toring, and control strategies to support building performance verification and
ongoing commissioning for the life of the building. For complex buildings such as
laboratories, include the controls vendor by the end of schematic design to inte-
grate the logic of the operating systems into the design. Be sure to train, support,
and effectively hand the building over to the operations staff.
8 Contracts and Specifications. All green-building-associated process and LEED
requirements must be effectively integrated into the owner’s project requirements,
requests for proposals, all contracts, and all design and construction documents.
9 Life-Cycle Costing. The commitment to utilize a life-cycle-costing approach
should be made by the client before the project even begins. This commitment
should be integrated into all related contracts and specifications. The cost estima-
tor should be brought on board early in the projects, so that costs can be continu-
ously evaluated, including operating cost projections. Energy modeling should be
productively utilized to inform operating cost projections, and building operations
staff should be engaged to assist in considering operating-cost alternatives. Ensure
that a life-cycle-cost perspective is utilized during any value engineering activities.
10 Continuous Improvement. For organizations that own more than one building,
lessons from every green building project experience should be intensively mined
to inform continuous improvement in the building design process and the ready
adoption of proven design strategies and technologies. Utilize LEED documenta-
tion to support continuous improvement. Where possible, have someone from
your organization act as the clearinghouse for project lessons. Invest in deliberate
mechanisms to transfer experience from one project to the next. Invest in meas-
urement and verification strategies to evaluate the actual performance of building
features.

It is still a challenge to successfully integrate all Ten Commandments into our
projects at Harvard, but with every experience we get closer. Harvard’s Blackstone
Office historic renovation (cover photo) has come the closest. As a direct result of