We are living in an era of multiple crises, and buildings contribute in significant ways to many of them. Where and how buildings are built impact over 50% of global greenhouse gas emissions, with 40% from how buildings are constructed and 14% from where (transportation). In the US, buildings consume over 70% of the electricity generated, and Americans spend over 90% of their lived experience within these buildings. Nearly 60% of what determines our state of health is associated with the physical environment, leading some folks to say that our facilities contribute more to our well-being than our doctors do. 

We can no longer design and engineer solutions with singular, isolated benefits; we need systems-based solutions with synergistic and plentiful co-benefits. Building users and investors are beginning to demand that new buildings perform in new and better ways. And the only way to discover what better looks like is to deploy the Integrative Design Process. 

When just one percent of a building’s first-costs are spent, over seventy percent of its life-cycle impacts are determined. Thus, any investment in the early phase of any project is the most critical and impactful. Sadly, this phase is often the most under-resourced of all. Integrative design is THE approach to changing this paradigm by discovering the most cost-optimized impacts and integrating them into design solutions. 

Deeply rooted in ecological literacy, the integrative design process starts with curiosity and empathy, asking the right questions of the right people at the right time and leaning into what there is to learn from the shared lived experience of those in the room. From there, we can cultivate consensus on values and desired outcomes. Indicators of success emerge, and thus, a framework to meaningful impact is co-discovered. 

We work with teams to identify organizational values, map out historical contexts, present challenges and ideal future states, and ask who is missing and how to engage with them. This process is all in service of the web of life (and decisions) that connect everything. Creating a resilient process for the project allows the right decisions to be the easiest ones to accomplish. 

This all doesn’t happen by accident. Simply bringing people together in the same room doesn’t equate to true collaboration. It takes specialized tools, facilitation expertise, empathy, and systems thinking to cultivate meaningful co-creation. We leverage our expansive experience with a wide variety of sustainability, regenerative, and wellbeing frameworks to identify and recommend meaningful, value-aligned, indicators of project success. Our team is uniquely positioned to provide this exact expertise. 

• Cost-optimized, value maximized, holistic systems- based solutions

• Maximize resource investments (time, money, material) in synergistic solutions that amplify impact; do better faster.

• Ability to innovate; achieve new and better climate positive results

• Democratize the design process; invite a more representative sample of stakeholders to co-create desired project outcomes.

• Identify who is missing and pivot to include missing perspectives, skill sets, and tools. 

• Enhanced trust and respect among team members; quicker execution (overall) and fewer errors and omissions.

• Projects deploying the Integrative Design Process routinely outperform conventional teams; 50% on average improvement in energy performance

Client Profile
New 12,000 SF Student Center for a State University in the Midwest. 

The Problem
Diverse project stakeholders needed to be engaged while attempting LEED v4 Silver Certification while it was relatively new to the market. The project team had limited experience with LEED and its associated sustainable design strategies. 

The Solution
Through our team’s leadership and recommendation, the project team deployed the Integrative Design Process to co-create and cultivate shared buy-in to cost-optimized sustainable design strategies. Through rigorous early-phase engagement (in which clarity was pursued over ego), our team was able to create a framework in which everyone clearly understood how their expertise contributed to the success of the project. This investment meant that later phases went more smoothly, without contentious “surprises.” 

The project achieved a 50% energy-cost savings, a higher LEED certification threshold than was initially targeted, on time and within budget. And, maybe, more importantly, the entire project team is eager to work with each other on future projects!

“Matthew VanSweden has exceeded our expectations on a recent LEED v4 GOLD project where Silver certification was only what was required. His integrative approach, deep knowledge of the requirements, advice on design strategies, guidance on documentation submittals, and facilitation of coordination efforts has been incredibly valuable to our project’s success. I can’t imagine designing a LEED project without him on our team!”

- Tim Jensen, Principal, TSP

Don’t take our word for it: Green Building 101: What is an Integrated Process?

Frequently Asked Questions

Despite the perception to the contrary, an Integrative Design Process doesn’t take more time. In fact, it saves more money than it adds, by streamlining future, more detailed phases and reduces errors and omissions while increasing operational efficiency. That said, it intentionally can disrupt the initial design phase because this is where 70% of any given project’s impacts are determined. The typical ROI of the Integrative Design Process is less than one year. 

Ideally, our team is engaged as soon as you consider expanding your organization’s physical footprint. We can help evaluate options (even (especially) if it means avoiding the need to build anything new), assist with the initial needs assessment, feasibility of various sustainable design outcomes, and even help facilitate the request for proposal (RFP) process. 

When leading with empathy and vulnerability, it is invaluable to lead with the “really real” – the authentic, situational lived experience that can impact collaboration. In short, yes, this is absolutely something your architect should be doing. But the “really real” truth is that very few are, and even fewer are doing it well. 

And it is not because they are bad architects. I’m sure most architecture teams wish they had more time to engage in a more robust discovery phase. The reality is that most are being asked to perform an ever-expanding set of services for an ever-dwindling pool of resources. There are a lot of project schedules that simply do not allow for a thoughtful, intentional, inclusive, and integrative design process. 

Our approach does not shame architects, engineers, contractors, or developers for doing more; it allows each team member to show up doing their best work. It is a cost-and time-optimized process to accelerate this paradigm shift and cultivate the best solutions with the resources at hand. 

Don’t take our word for it: Engage The Integrated Design Process