It’s obvious that a home is composed of many different systems, including the building envelope, mechanical systems, plumbing, electrical, and finishes. What’s not as obvious is the way in which these systems relate to each other. Changing one system can have a positive or negative impact on other systems, and it’s essential that designers and builders understand these inter-relationships to provide quality homes.
To achieve integrated systems design, homes need to be designed and built using a carefully engineered strategy that considers the relationship between the systems in a home. Here a few key points to keep in mind:
Plan for better integration
There are no shortcuts to integrated systems design—it starts at the design and planning phases, and has to be carried through to the field. In the planning phase, it’s important to develop a complete set of drawings, details, and specifications that include the foundation, walls, roof, and mechanical systems. These drawings are an important tool for both the builder and field crew to understand how the systems fit together, and what details need to be followed in order to successfully integrate the systems of the home.
Provide multiple benefits
By integrating building systems, you reap greater benefits. Consider two main systems of the house: the building envelope—which includes the walls, roof, foundation, insulation, and windows—and the heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system. The building envelope is one of the main systems of the house that defines a significant part of the heating and cooling loads. If you improve the building envelope with increased insulation and low-e windows, you end up reducing the heating and cooling loads. With reduced heating and cooling loads, the mechanical system can be downsized. That integration translates to greater savings in energy bills and up-front equipment costs.
Integrate teams
A key to integrating building systems is to integrate the people involved in each step of the process: architects, mechanical engineers, HVAC contractors, and interior designers. The team of people responsible for design, construction, and servicing of the home should work together at key points in the design process, identifying solutions to achieve common goals.
To read an in-depth explanation of the integrated design process, read Michael Dickens’ column in Housing Giants Magazine. More information about home performance Best Practices® can be found in BuildIQ University's online training course, Building for Performance.
