Building for the Future

he integrated design process (IDP) is crucial in producing a green building. For purposes of this discussion, integrated design is defined as a process by which all of the design variables that affect one another are considered together and resolved in an optimal fashion. It could also be called holistic design in that it looks at the entire building as a whole, and emphasis is on integrating the different aspects of the building design. T By contrast, the traditional un-integrated design process is one that creates pressures (and even incentives) for participants to act essentially in isolation, working independently on the parts of the project they can control. The traditional design process, which has developed over the years to produce fast design of lowest first-cost buildings, often has the following characteristics: • It generally proceeds in a linear, non-collaborative sequence, where little constructive collaboration occurs among design disciplines. • It does not support developing and fine-tuning sustainable design strategies. • It does not encourage creative interaction between team members to produce a design that would not otherwise occur to either team member alone. • It promotes a lack of communication between disciplines, which undermines ability to integrate sustainability measures. • It raises costs and time requirements for implementing life-cycle, cost-efficient design. For integrated design to succeed, it is essential that this isolation be overcome, in two ways: • That the various parties and disciplines communicate and interact with each other collaboratively and creatively. • That the different disciplines think holistically about the entire project, not just their portion of it. The best strategies for integrated design will: • Promote excellent communications among team; • Plan on an iterative design process; and • Encourage integrated thinking among design disciplines. Each of these elements is discussed in detail later.