Value Engineering - Building Envelope Design

Less is More. Wait... Maybe More is More. 

There is a common misconception around the construction industry that someone can simply “Value Engineer” something, which means the VE Fairy comes and reduces the construction cost, and everyone is happy. Let’s take a closer look at what Value Engineering (VE) really means.

First, a simple definition of each word:

Value: The importance, worth, or usefulness of something.

Engineering: The creative application of science principals to design or develop buildings, structures, machines, products or systems. 

Combining these two definitions in the building remediation industry must then mean: Applying scientific principals to design or construct building repairs to be more useful, important, or valuable.

Does that sound like a cost saving thing? Not really.

A more refined definition of the term Value Engineering is:

The act of substituting a product or method for a different product or method without sacrificing functionality or longevity. The result is a reduced cost which adds value to the project compared with the original product or method selected.

In other words, “Provide the best functionality for the lowest cost.” This is where the confusion comes in. This is subjective and often confused with any type of cost saving measures. Like excluding or deferring work. This also needs to be defined.

Defer: To put off or postpone to a later time.

So, just to be clear, excluding work is deferring work, which means that no work is done. This is not always a bad thing, but it is a decision to take no action as opposed to taking the action of Value Engineering. (Remember that engineering is doing some scientific stuff and whatnot.)

Who cares?

If you own a building, or a unit in a building, it will require maintenance, repair and replacement of all exterior components at some point. Each one of these actions costs money. And after implementation, each action will last for a different length of time.

Value Engineering may give more options regarding cost vs. longevity. Deferring has no cost, but could accelerate the timeframe and cost of future maintenance, repair or replacement. Considering the timeframes and costs of deferring, maintaining, repairing or replacing generally tends to mean you will spend less money now and more later, or you will spend more money now and less later.

Which one is better? It depends.

The best advice is to gather all of the available information and make your own informed decision. This means hiring a professional to evaluate the condition of your building, then implement a maintenance plan that will help prolong the existing components as long as possible. And, finally, have a financial plan to maintain, repair and replace the building components in the future. Your plan can adjust depending on if you want to “pay now or pay later.”

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