In real estate development, creating buildings that deliver value is a common goal that is shared by developers, designers, contractors, and buyers. But value means very different things depending on the perspective of these stakeholders:

• Developers: aim for profit, brand reputation, and sustained business growth.
• Designers: focus on meeting the codes and regulations requirements, as well as developer’s vision.
• Contractors: ensure that the project is constructed to specifications.
• Buyers or Residents: value for money is the livability, safety, and comfort.

Location, brand, finishes, structural safety, and design quality are some of the aspects for which the developers and the buyers are willing to invest more, especially when it is paired with green and sustainable features. And a safer, high-performance building is often more sustainable too.

Cost vs Performance

There is a common notion that higher performance always means higher cost, which is not necessarily true. By leveraging innovative and better tools, and smarter engineering, efficient design solutions can be developed that can:

• Achieve higher performance at the same cost, or
• Maintain the same performance at a reduced cost.

And this is where Performance-based Design comes in.

Why Performance-based Design?

Traditional code-based design ensures compliance with prescribed rules and safety assumptions. But building codes raise critical questions:

• Is following the code always enough to ensure safety?
• If codes differ, can they all be right?
• Should we redesign structures every time a new version of the code is released?

Whereas, Performance-based Design goes beyond prescriptive compliance wherein it explicitly verifies how a structure will perform under realistic hazard scenarios, especially earthquakes.

With Performance-based Design, engineers can:

• Assess building performance under both service-level earthquakes (~50-year return period) and collapse-level earthquakes (~2,500-year return period).
• Optimize structural systems for strength, efficiency, and constructability.
• Lift arbitrary code restrictions, enabling innovation and cost savings without compromising safety.

Role of Value Engineering

Pairing Performance-based Design with Value Engineering creates perfect synergy that ensures required performance at a reasonable cost. The benefits include:

• Reduced life cycle costs through reduced maintenance and repairs.
• Material optimization, by placing resources where they are most needed.
• Exploration of innovative structural systems guided by expert advice.

Independent Peer Review

Independent peer review is essential considering the advanced analysis methods applied in Performance-based Design. Through this process:

• Expert and unbiased insights are brought in.
• Opportunities for technical improvements and cost reductions can be identified.
• Collaboration between designers and reviewers is enhanced.

The structural engineer of record still holds final responsibility, but the peer review process adds confidence and quality assurance at every stage.

Final Thoughts

In the current real estate landscape, balancing cost, safety, and sustainability is essential and Performance-based Design empowers us to create structures that are safer, smarter, and more resource-efficient, benefiting all stakeholders from developers to residents.