Providing resilient, high-performing solutions is foundational to design excellence.
This process often begins with the core project values captured in the Owner’s Project Requirements OPR). These values emerge during an integrative design charrette, from big-picture conversations about project opportunities, adaptability, integrated systems, and a holistic approach to design. All team members and key stakeholders should be in attendance at this early engagement. Strategies will be refined over the course of an iterative design process, but the maximum project impacts stem from these early-stage decisions around topics such as:
• Maximizing building envelope and mechanical systems through passive design
• Reducing energy, carbon, and water consumption through design optimization
• Studying the site potential, solar exposure, and orientation
Carbon management is another critical factor in resilience and high-performance. Managing carbon use begins with understanding the impacts of both embodied and operational carbon, which will inform the decision to retrofit an existing space or to build from the ground up. A recent McKinsey & Company report found that up to 50% of carbon emissions over the life of a building occur during its construction,i so any strategies to reuse existing structures or minimize carbon impacts of new materials can have significant impacts in carbon reduction. Making important decisions about strategies and materials will require life cycle assessments and supply chain investigations. Design teams should also focus on planning for the end of a building’s useful life by designing for deconstructability, regeneration, and renewal.
Our designs have the potential to contribute to community resilience as well. Resilient design includes placemaking and environmental design, along with consideration for:
• Social impacts of the design at the building and urban fabric scale
• Health and well-being
• Social Equity
• Accessibility
• Community engagement
from design through occupancy. LS3P’s OPR tool has been designed for use on every project to guide team members through critical early conversations, but should also be updated after each design phase, throughout the project. This process is essential to establishing clear project team communications and assessing how a building will impact the environment, its surrounding community, and anyone who touches a part of the project. This process is a means of educating the client along the way, and these iterative conversations are key from project development through the lifespan of the building.
Ultimately, design excellence in resilient and highperforming solutions is rooted in the opportunity to respond to current issues in society while anticipating future needs. When we adjust our design processes to deliver buildings that give more than they take, we can do better for our clients, our neighbors, ourselves, and the world.
i. Cutler, Zack; Dayton, Taylor; Grant, Matthew; Mahomed, Shu‘aim; and Ojetayo, Jemilat. October 17, 2022. “Reducing Embodied Carbon in New Construction.“ https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/ operations/our-insights/global-infrastructure-initiative/voices/ reducing-embodied-carbon-in-new-construction .
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• Enhancing indoor environmental quality with biophilia, views, and daylight
• Optimizing building operations and management (O+M) practices through client education
Conversations about resilience and performance should continue to integrate all team members through the design process. These holistic, far-ranging discussions can help to clarify the vision and goals, set from the beginning, which will inform the project at every step
Associate Amie Blankenship brings a varied skillset and a passion for sustainability, client dedication, and organization to her work as a Sustainable Design Specialist at LS3P. Her experience includes LEED and WELL project administration for a corporate warehouse and office upfit, as well as LEED project administration for a local municipality’s training center, and Army and National Guard projects, among others. She has also assisted project teams with Green Globes Certification and GBCI’s Guiding Principles Compliance.
Providing resilient, high-performing solutions is foundational to design excellence. Buildings which serve us well must be able to endure, adapt, and operate with optimal efficiency for our clients, communities, and our shared global environment; it is imperative that we understand and integrate wise strategies for resilience and performance from the earliest project phases.