Gana, V F G; Giridharan, R and Watkins, R (2018) Application of soft landings in the design management process of a non-residential building. Architectural Engineering and Design Management, 14(3), pp. 178-193. ISSN 1745-2007
Abstract
A study into the design processes involved in Soft Landings is an important aspect to realising energy efficiency and environmental sustainability in buildings. Previous Soft Landings papers have focused mainly on post occupancy evaluations and aftercare. No comprehensive study has been attempted with respect to Soft Landings at the design stage. In response to this gap, this paper investigates the application of Soft Landings during the design stage of a central government building in London. It provides an insight into the working processes of a Soft Landings design team and its interaction with other team members and end users. Information from interviews with the design team, minutes of meetings, walk-through in the designed spaces were used to explore how design decisions were reached. It highlights the role the Soft Landings Champion played to ensure that the environmental sustainability objectives of the project were carried from design to construction. The paper also explains the fundamentals of Soft Landings and its potential as a client-driven management tool. The paper concludes by highlighting the implications of the result to designers, contractors and clients.A study into the design processes involved in Soft Landings is an important aspect to realising energy efficiency and environmental sustainability in buildings. Previous Soft Landings papers have focused mainly on post occupancy evaluations and aftercare. No comprehensive study has been attempted with respect to Soft Landings at the design stage. In response to this gap, this paper investigates the application of Soft Landings during the design stage of a central government building in London. It provides an insight into the working processes of a Soft Landings design team and its interaction with other team members and end users. Information from interviews with the design team, minutes of meetings, walk-through in the designed spaces were used to explore how design decisions were reached. It highlights the role the Soft Landings Champion played to ensure that the environmental sustainability objectives of the project were carried from design to construction. The paper also explains the fundamentals of Soft Landings and its potential as a client-driven management tool. The paper concludes by highlighting the implications of the result to designers, contractors and clients.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | non-residential buildings; soft landings; energy performance gap; sustainability; design management process; design; end users; construction; buildings; residential buildings; contractors; automobile industry; energy efficiency; sustainable development; building design |
| Index terms: | London, end user, interview, design process, energy efficiency, residential building, building design, non-residential building, design management process, design decision, interaction, sustainable development, designer, environmental sustainability, post-occupancy evaluation, soft landing, design stage, energy performance gap, automobile industry, design team |
| Subjects: | health safety and environment, profession, sustainability and energy, professional practice, construction type, behavioral psychology, Geography, architectural design, data collection methods, evaluation methods, design practice, stakeholder, industry analysis, design methods, organization |
| Topics: | Construction Technology, Roles and Professions, Quality Management, Sustainability, Geographical Context, Health and Safety, Research Practice, Organizational Design, Design Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here