Functional / Operational

by the WBDG Functional / Operational Committee

Last updated: 08-11-2009

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Overview
Major Resources

Overview

A client's/owner's intent to develop a project is derived from a need, a purpose or mission, and a desired result. When the design and use of a facility serves the people who use them and the programs it houses, the project is functionally successful. Program and functionality are also characterized by building type. When designs fall short of this goal, the cost can be modest to extreme, but the failures are generally noted more significantly than the expected successes. A clear understanding of the functional and physical requirements of a project is essential to ensuring its success.

Photo of the John Hancock Building-Chicago

Exterior lateral bracing created open interior spaces at the John Hancock Building—Chicago, IL
Courtesy of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP

Development in the building sciences in the late 1900's has pointed to the need to refocus on programming, designing, constructing, and operating facilities that function well, while at the same time incorporating new technologies, and creatively meeting other design objectives such as sustainability, accessibility, safety, energy savings, and environmental quality. Post-occupancy evaluations have shown that early programming and design decisions have significant impact on the functional quality, and long-term efficiency and effectiveness of buildings, initially and over their life cycle. By adopting an integrated design approach and quality assurance processes that extend through all phases of a project, from pre-design through owner occupancy and operation to disposal, with checks at each stage of the process to ensure validation of decisions to meet the owner's program and design requirements, buildings can be functionally successful and thus more safe, productive, and inspiring places that enhance work and/or livability.

This branch of the WBDG is designed primarily to help those not familiar with architectural and engineering design understand the basic process, technique, and language by which functional decisions are made.

A building that functions as it is intended is the underpinning of a quality "whole" building. The qualities of such a building may not even be noticed or recognized, but a poorly functioning building can be costly to correct, if the opportunity to correct ever becomes available. There are three overarching principles associated with ensuring functional building design and operations:

Account for Functional Needs
Accounting for spatial needs is a primary element of the planning process that translates to an owner's spatial and service requirements for a building or facility. This process seeks to establish goals; collect and analyze facts; establish functional relationships; uncover and test concepts; determine needs; and state the problem. There is also a need to design for flexibility of programmed space.
Ensure Appropriate Product/Systems Integration
A successfully designed building that functions properly in all respects is composed of building systems, materials, and technologies that are selected and integrated to be mutually supportive as a cohesive "whole" system.
Meet Performance Objectives
Meeting performance objectives is not achieved by simply a "Final Inspection" of the finished product, but is a sustained effort from inception and planning through turnover and operation to assure the delivery of a project that satisfies all of the owner's functional and operational requirements. There are many aspects involved in assuring performance objectives are met, from assembling a qualified project delivery team; to adequately coordinating team member roles and responsibilities; to instituting systematic quality assurance programs, like Building Commissioning.

Relationship of Function/Operation and Cost

Care should always be used when undertaking cost management practices (i.e., Value Engineering, cost cutting, etc.) not to compromise the functional or operational performance of the interrelated and often interdependent systems.

Design Lessons Learned

Key to improving the facility planning, design, and delivery process is continual improvement of team performance through learning from and avoiding repeated design errors, omissions, or flaws in project execution. "Lessons Learned" is a common term that refers to an organization's compilation and publication of the lessons for the knowledge and benefit of future project teams.

Design of facilities that meet or exceed the functional expectations of owners and facility managers will require the application of these principles as well as thorough understanding of historical precedent and knowledge of current design practices for the building type.

Note: Information in these Functional pages must be considered together with other design objectives and within a total project context in order to achieve quality, high performance buildings.

Major Resources

Codes and Standards

Facilities Standards for the Public Buildings Service, P100, GSA—Establishes integrative performance standards for federal facilities.
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Green Building Rating System™ is a program of the U.S. Green Building Council.
Standards for Whole Building Functionality and Serviceability, 3rd Edition by ASTM. 2000. ASTM Stock #: WBDG2009, ISBN13: 978-0-8031-8006-2.
Standard 189, Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, jointly developed by ASHRAE, USGBC, and IESNA, 2007. A proposed new minimum standard to mainstream high performance building practices.
Assessment to the U.S. Congress and U.S. Department Of Energy On High Performance Buildings PDF 600 KB, 35 pgs, by the High Performance Building Council of the National Institute of Building Science, 2008.

Publications

Architectural Graphic Standards, 11th Edition, The American Institute of Architects, by Charles Ramsey, Harold Sleeper, and John Hoke. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., March 2007—The most widely recognized reference manual for architectural design guidance on planning, design standards, building systems, materials, methods, and construction techniques.
The Architect's Studio Companion: Rules of Thumb for Preliminary Design, 4th Edition by Edward Allen and Joseph Iano. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2006.
ASHRAE Handbook of Fundamentals by ASHRAE Handbook Committee. Atlanta, GA: American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. 2001.
ASHRAE Handbook of Systems and Equipment by ASHRAE Handbook Committee. Atlanta, GA: American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. 2001.
Mechanical and Electrical Equipment for Buildings, 10th Edition by Ben Stein, John S. Reynolds, Walter T. Grondzik, Alison G. Kwok. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2005.
Time-Saver Standards for Building Types, 4th Edition by Joseph DiChiara and Michael Crosbie. New York: McGraw-Hill Inc., 2000—A comprehensive reference for building type design guidance, including sample projects with plans and illustrations of functional features and details.

Associations

The following are major associations representing design professions that publish resources and set practice standards for the planning and design of facilities.