This category includes civil, electrical, mechanical, structural, and plumbing engineers—those typically responsible for the technical aspects of a project. Engineers focusing on other systems are addressed under “Specialty Consultants.”
Building engineers design the systems and are responsible for the technical aspects of a project. In an integrated project, these experts translate the expressed values of the project, such as ustainability, into systems that will achieve those aspirations. Engineers have to ensure that the components of a high-performance building integrate together well.
Key Points:
Most engineers understand that deep collaboration with architectural designers is essential if the building’s form is to fulfill its function. Integrated design and delivery allows engineers to work concurrently with the architects as strategies emerge. This is especially important for sustainability strategies, which often depend on efficient mechanical systems integrated into complementary envelope and structural designs.
Key Points:
Integrated design and delivery has a steep learning curve, but from existing case studies it is clear that once a team successfully completes one integrated project, that team will become successively much more efficient on others (case study: Lion’s Gate Wastewater Treatment Plant). It is the engineer’s role to foster a culture of collaboration and to be persistent in engaging all participants. For the team members, adjusting from being “the expert” to being a “co-learner” will only be possible in an environment of collaboration, where suggestions and openness are encouraged.
The engineer is responsible for roughly half of the sustainability features of the building. If there is a disjointed process between the architectural drawings and the engineering, then sustainability becomes much more of an add-on feature. – Peter Rumsey, Point Energy Innovations
Key Points:
As seen in steps 1 and 2 of this Guide, integrated projects are structured to deliver on the values and goals that the project team establishes. If sustainability objectives are not discussed, the engineer might have to educate the team about those benefits. Associating green features with operational costs reduction and reduced time to market may help make sustainability part of the conversation. The authors of The Integrative Design Guide to Green Building (7group and Bill Reed, 2009) suggest that discussing “nested systems” during step 2 of the Guide helps bring sustainability objectives to the surface. Examining how a project affects the primary systems within the whole of the environment—defined as habitat, water, energy, and materials—reveals the relationships between smaller and larger systems.
Key Points:
Over 67 percent of engineers used Building Information Modeling tools in 2012, according to a McGraw-Hill Construction report (Smart Market Report 2012), though adoption has lagged behind the rate of architects and contractors. This may be partly because data for technical systems is more rare and manufacturers are just beginning to provide information that is searchable and able to be indexed. Nevertheless, engineers who use BIM rate it as highly valuable (Smart Market Report 2012) and architects are beginning to demand those skills as part of team selection. Sharing BIM models brings the highest rewards by allowing for the seamless integration of systems and ensuring that systems get installed as intended. With the development of cloud-based open BIM, multiple users can access a BIM model and changes made will appear for the other users in real time.
Key Points:
