Thursday, October 28, 2010

Integrated Design Charette

On Monday November 1st, at the at the EQuilibrium™ Housing Forum — True Stories: Sustainability in Action - I've been granted the opportunity to present the the Integrated Design Process for the Abondance, Le Soleil project. I'll be introducing the concept of a design charrette and it's role in the implementation of a systemic, facilitated integrated design process. The conference presents to people in the larger building community the successes and challenges of the development of three net zero home building projects in the province of Quebec. 

The fundamental importance of the integrated design process was one of my personal take-away lessons form having participated in the development of the Abondance Montreal project. Not only were we able to understand the project from a variety of perspectives and work out complex design issues as a group - but when challenges arose (and they always do in construction projects), the sense of collective ownership and commitment to the team that was developed through the collaborative design and development process was invaluable in over coming challenges. It's a civil and incredibly democratic way to work.


If you weren't aware there are these advanced homes in the province - you can actually visit the projects to learn more about them. Visiting these sites provide an excellent opportunity to witness the culmination of many years work the teams involved.

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