Page 210 - Green Building Through Integrated Design

186 GETTING STARTED—PREDESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

We would not have had a successful project had we not had the intensive early
planning. The industry has proven over the years that any heightened cost of pre-
planning—and this is probably true for any project whether it’s high-performance,
high-level LEED or not—if done efficiently and effectively, pays dividends in the
end. If you can mitigate the need for last-minute changes, overtime, and an expe-
dited schedule, then you will be way ahead of any additional cost spent in pre-
planning. But it needs to be done efficiently and effectively. You can spin your
wheels in pre-construction, too; then it can be money that can’t be recovered and
wasn’t utilized very well.

This project illustrates the importance of asking the right questions during the pre-
design phase of each project, to achieve high-performance results. Once again, we
learn the truth of the old adage, “Don’t just do something, sit there (and think).”