Value Engineering on Construction Projects
Since 1983, U.S. COST has performed more than 1,000 value engineering studies/workshops. Our approach involves assembling a team of specialists that best suits the project type, who then identify alternatives to reduce the overall life-cycle costs and enhance the value of the facility. All studies are facilitated by Certified Value Specialists (CVS), who have experience with V.E. studies and with specialized sessions such as environmental remediation workshops, which focus on the cost/risk aspects of the remediation efforts.
Value Engineering in the Design-Build Process
With the current trend toward Design-Build projects many owners have abandoned the use of Value Engineering and are placing complete responsibility on the Contractor to deliver a project within budget and of acceptable quality. However, the contractors' proposals are typically based on a minimal amount of initial project requirements included in the Design/Build Request for Proposal (RFP). U.S. COST has seen tremendous results from performing studies on the RFP prior to its release for bids. These studies have shown to yield cost efficient and high quality projects by ensuring clarity of the project definition and minimizing the "unknowns" that can add costs to Contractor's bids.
Value Analysis Process Improvement Studies
U.S. COST has experience in facilitation of Value Analysis studies which focus on improvements to processes or products. U.S. COST has facilitated several recent studies on Hospital Revenue Improvements. These workshops have assembled current hospital staff as well as industry specialists on the healthcare revenue cycle and hospital IT systems. The results of these studies have been tremendous with ROI's of approximately 100:1.
Sustainable Design Reviews
In recent years, the ability to incorporate sustainable design features into construction projects has become of great importance. Sustainable design seeks to improve a project's environmental and economic performance by including elements that result in energy conservation, use of recycled materials, improvements to indoor air quality, reduction of waste products and the control of required operations and maintenance costs.
U.S. COST assists owners, contractors and design professionals in identifying "green building" elements for incorporation into projects of all types. U.S. COST has experience with both the LEED Green Building Rating SystemTM and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Sustainable Project Rating Tool (SPiRiT) on Design/Build and Design/Bid/Build projects. U.S. COST received a DoD Value Engineering Achievement Award in 1999 for implementing sustainable development proposals within the value management process.
Constructability Reviews
Similar to the traditional V.E. approach, U.S. COST performs Constructability Reviews with a specialized team of individuals well-versed in construction materials and processes. This review is typically performed at a 95% (Pre-Final) design stage to analyze the efficiency of the construction requirements, identify conflicts or errors in the contract documents, recommend additional information for inclusion and pinpoint requirements that may be too restrictive and add unnecessary costs to the project. A two-phase approach of performing a traditional V.E. study at the 35% (concept) stage and a Constructability Review of the same project near the completion of the contract documents has been shown to produce the best results for both controlling costs and enhancing project value.
