About the Course
The building technologies landscape is extremely broad and encompasses a wide variety of components and systems that make up a building or home. This broad landscape makes creating a comprehensive Course, like this one, challenging. The authors must take into consideration that the level of understanding and knowledge about buildings, the components and systems that they encompass, and new technologies varies greatly from person to person. For that reason, it is the intention of the authors that this Course be relevant to the masses.
When integrating an innovative technology into a project or building, a building professional needs to consider three major types of analysis. (1) An economic analysis would be performed to determine and identify all costs associated with the technology and project to make the most cost-effective decision. (2) A feasibility analysis would be performed to determine if a particular technology is applicable and compatible with the project or building. (3) Finally, a performance analysis would help determine whether the technology will achieve the goals and objectives of the project.
The Course is structured around these three major evaluation channels, or considerations, each one headlining a different chapter. Although these three types of analysis provide a framework for a comprehensive evaluation of building technologies, it is also important to understand how they tie into overall project management. Project management structures have many different variations, but most generally incorporate very similar components. For purposes of this Course, we identify four different phases of a project management structure: conceptual, scoping, design, and implementation. These phases outline a general timeline for a project; however, it is important to remember that economic, feasibility, and performance considerations are critical throughout the life of a project. Instances will occur when certain evaluations and considerations will need to be revisited again during different phases of the project.
The four project decision phases identified by this course include—
