Design of sustainable buildings through Value Engineering

Abstract

Sustainability of current and new developments has become a major issue facing policymakers, developers, city and urban planners, and designers worldwide. Each new construction project entails, among others, the use of natural materials and the consumption of energy, which have a tremendous impact on the built environment over decades, and their environmental consequences only become fully apparent to future generations. The impact of construction projects on environment is especially significant in developing countries. The deterioration of building systems – including building materials – attributes to the economic, cultural and environmental problem, which is related to and affects the sustainable development of any society. In addition, developing countries have suffered for a long time from overlooking or underestimating the basic requirements that must be considered for designing sustainable developments. This article attempts to propose a practical solution for designing sustainable developments by focusing on the building as the primary unit. First, this article presents the requirements for designing a sustainable building, as well as the current process for selecting sustainable building systems and materials. Second, this article describes the Value Engineering program, including the different phases of the job plan. Finally, this article proposes a method for improving building sustainability. The proposed method utilizes the job plan of the Value Engineering program – together with a database that contains up-to-date information on construction systems and materials – as a gear for studying and analyzing the sustainability requirements.