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Learning from the Leaders: Collective Wisdom & Feedback Loops

By Maggie Brown posted 07-22-2016 05:00 PM

  

By Kira Gould

The “Collective Wisdom & Feedback Loops” section of the AIA COTE Top Ten recognition program has always been one of my favorite aspects of this unique design awards program. It used to be called “Lessons Learned,” and I have always felt that it is the part of the entry that invites reckoning and speaks directly to the realm that is most wanting in this sector. For some reason, more than 20 years after Stewart Brand’s book, How Buildings Learn, we still don’t robustly treat buildings as systems whose life begins at completion and occupancy. For many reasons, not least of which the constraints of contractual relationships, designers retreat at times when data begins to gather. Though post occupancy evaluations are more common now than in years past, they are still too rare and too often removed from the core team and process.

There is always great richness in the Collective Wisdom & Feedback Loops section, and the 2016 COTE Top Ten recipients are no exception. Here I comment on four; additional articles addressing the other seven will follow.

 

COTE Top Ten Plus: The Edith Green–Wendell Wyatt Federal

 

I like the term “aftercare” that this team describe the post-occupancy phase (though even “aftercare” makes it seem like a lesser, later phase—how about just “care” or “care and measurement”?). A year after occupancy, 69% of occupant/users said that they were satisfied or very satisfied with this building (a renovation of the 1974 building). The submittal reads: “The aftercare phase also found nuances in performance that were challenging to identify in the design phase: the thermal and light level preferences of occupants; set up and actual use of work stations; and seasonal sunlight reflections off adjacent buildings that glare where shades are not incorporated. For this, calibration of mechanical and lighting control systems and training of the building operators was essential, and required bridging the divide between engineering and building operations.”

 


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The Biosciences Research Building
by Payette, Reddy Architecture + Urbanism, Homan O'Brien, Barrett Mahoney Consulting Engineers, J.J. Rhatigan & Co.

This team describes the feedback loop as key: “The aggressive project schedule and integrated design-build process created the opportunity, and the necessity, for collective wisdom and a continuous feedback loop among the owner-architect-contractor team. This was fundamental to the success of the BRB. For example, a myriad of performance strategies modeled as part of an iterative design process, including the CFM modeling of the natural ventilation. These early findings identified energy conservation and thermal comfort opportunities that drove larger building design decisions, and helped achieve a 70% carbon reduction from the Irish baseline building code.” The team notes that “the planning module is conceived to accommodate a range of research needs. Floor plates, and modular laboratory casework systems can be adapted and reconfigured to meet future needs. The culmination of these strategies creates a 100+ year building.”


West Branch of the Berkeley Library
by Harley Ellis Devereaux with Roberts and Associates, Miniscule Lighting, Tipping Mar, Moran Engineering, Timmons Design, Kitchel CEM, Bruning & Associates, Smith, Fause & McDonald.

The team’s cites these lessons learned: “While CFD and energy models helped to develop the design, further modeling during construction enabled a better understanding of how specific systems would function. ... The design intent requires proper documentation where design/build systems like photovoltaics are concerned to reduce schedule delays and cost over-runs. It is critical to minimize late changes during construction, as these result in a domino effect on other integrated systems.”


University of Wyoming Visual Arts Facility
by Hacker with Malone Belton & Able PC.

This submittal notes that “Both the owner and design team are sharing our experience of designing and constructing this facility—and the philosophies behind its design—with building users through a building dashboard. Measurement and verification of the project’s energy conservation strategies are supported by metering to provide concrete real-time data.” This team is clearly still engaged with the owner/client long after occupancy, a departure from conventional engagement (that may well merit study and emulation).

 

This section of the Top Ten program reminds me what a gold mine of information these leading projects represent. I can envision numerous additional research efforts based on the Top Ten winners as a group. Two examples: A look at dashboards and performance-monitoring software of recent projects could provide an illuminating glimpse of the effectiveness of various approaches to gathering—and acting upon—data. Interviews about unconventional contracts (that encourage for design team/client interaction after occupancy) could be revealing.

 

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