Problem: Unsustainable Design Processes for the Built Environment

Problem: Unsustainable Design Processes for the Built Environment In the coming decades, project teams will design unprecedented numbers of new and renovated buildings and infrastructure, but the design methods used today are for the most part unsustainable -financially, environmentally, and culturally. As resources, such as land, energy, water, and materials become increasingly scarce and the impacts of the built environment become more apparent, project teams will need to make profoundly difficult decisions. The problem is that traditional, precedent-based design processes cannot keep pace with rapidly evolving goals and options. Designing for new conditions requires a fundamental social and technical shift from precedent-based to performancebased design, wherein a broad range of stakeholders and designers must explicitly create multidisciplinary objectives and systematically generate and analyze a wide array of design alternatives. Performance-based design is a complex social and technical process that requires clear, rapid communication.