Value engineering - high value meets low cost

Imagine yourself in a situation where you are asked to find methods to reduce the cost of products, and you start coming up with ideas for alternatives or Indian ‘jugaads’! You manage to fulfill the function while staying within the budget constraints. You reach an optimum solution without compromising on quality. This is the golden intersection where high value meets low cost! It is something you can apply not just for product selection, but also on a larger scale in your work process as a construction professional. When you create this golden intersection for any of your decisions in your project where high value meets low cost, you end up achieving sustainability in small ways! What steps can you take to achieve this golden intersection?  

Here are some snippets of our experiences …

While constructing a parking tower in Mumbai, we learned firsthand the importance of timely collaboration. Inconsistencies at a later stage end up costing time and resources. It was important to accommodate the technical knowledge of the parking consultant, structural engineer, and architect right from the beginning of the project. The early collaboration allowed us to make the optimum use of resources, fulfill each stakeholder’s requirement and meet the design goals within the anticipated time frame. Engaging in solution-oriented discussions early on in the process with the architects, designers, engineers, consultants, vendors, and all relevant stakeholders; helps to build upon each other’s expertise and come up with the best possible solutions. It also minimizes the risk of problems arising later. 

Another tip is planning with far sight. In the early stages of building planning, it is vital to plan for the future aspects of interior requirements and user experience. Are your toilet sizes good enough not just to meet the code, but for user comfort? Planning for future building services such as AC piping. Pre-emptive measures like this will prevent material wastage in the future due to unnecessary breakage, and haphazard core cutting which compromises the strength of the building.

Researching and being open to change is important to keep improving your efficiency. The industry regularly comes out with new materials, technology, trends, and construction techniques. Recently in one of our RCC construction projects, we used FRP as an alternative material to steel in the water-retaining and sub-structures. In comparison to steel, it helped us in saving cost, labor, and also increasing the life of the building. Adopting new ways of doing things can be hard at first, but always worth it in the long term. Talk to your stakeholders about opting for better materials. You have the power to be the torchbearer of change, so use it whenever possible! 

Does your design and selection of materials achieve the most optimum results? A simple example here is designing window sizes. Standard window sizes can save a lot of material compared to custom cutting. Unless you are designing iconic architecture that absolutely needs unique size windows, you can always provide the closest standard sizes available. A little deviation from the standard requires teams with more expertise, higher prices, limited vendor options, and a lot of material wastage. Let’s select materials by asking one simple question… is it all worth it?

You might already be doing things like that in your own work. What kind of steps do you take? Such learnings come not from books but from practical experience, and we all can learn from each other. You are, knowingly or unknowingly, using a practice called value engineering. Value engineering is a systematic approach to creating high value at a low cost. Its essence lies in critical analysis and creative problem-solving, instead of opting for the most routine course of action which may not be best suited for a situation. For example, a pen is an instrument used to write. But is a pen the only way to write? This opens up a plethora of options, right from pencil, chalk, crayon; to the more unconventional ones like lipstick, a stick in the sand, or even a diamond on glass. One can then clearly ascertain which alternative is the most appropriate.  

Applying value engineering principles in your work also keeps you on the track to building more sustainably, without the need for big budgets or policy incentives. Small measures can not only improve efficiency in construction but also save money, energy, and resources in the process! That’s why it's so powerful. And by honing it as a tool, we can make a much more intentional difference. 

Keep learning from every challenge. Study the buildings you worked for in the past as they age, and learn from the issues. Go back and get reviews from the users to understand their experiences. It’s a journey of growing with every experience. The key is to optimize at every opportunity. By optimization, we also mean good quality work with good supervision; professionals who care about the life of the building and not just completing the project.

Check out part 1 of this blog where we talk more about the unique challenges of sustainable construction in Mumbai and how we can navigate them…