Design Quality Indicator:
Top 10 Benefits for Building Owners
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CommentThe first question of many building owners might be: “What is DQI?” The Design Quality Indicator is a Web-based tool—new to the United States—that allows corporate executives to quantitatively and objectively evaluate and improve the performance of a building’s architecture and interior design—in terms of quality, functionality and end-user satisfaction—before, during, and after the development process.
For owners and users of large buildings, the DQI metrics enable the delivery of high-performance buildings and spaces in less time and at lower cost. Used early in project planning, it can also help avoid unnecessary costs and delays, as well as reduce operating and maintenance lifecycle costs.
Similar to a Morningstar mutual fund scorecard, the DQI metrics help take the guesswork out of strategic planning and decision making across a firm’s entire real estate portfolio.
The metrics are created by converting the subjective perceptions of key stakeholders (employees, clients, board members, etc.) into objective and measurable results.
DQI has been used with success in facilities throughout the U.K and in certain test markets in the U.S., including government buildings in New York City, several Chicago-area health systems, and a nationwide portfolio of hotels.
Top 10 DQI Benefits for Owners:
Before a project is built, owners can use DQI to:
1. Reduce Project Costs—Research shows that using tools such as DQI can reduce project costs 5 to 10 percent by reducing change orders and rework during construction and design. The tools achieve these savings by bringing to light design flaws/potential improvements before construction begins. So do the math: For every $1 billion of capital spent on building renovation and construction projects, an organization can save $50 million to $100 million.
2. Improve Capital-Planning Accuracy—DQI can improve capital planning with a process for setting goals and objectives based on all stakeholder input. The DQI metrics enable large-scale, rapid feedback and consensus creation across competing stakeholder groups over the life of the building project across organizational silos. Establishing consensus on priorities at the onset of the project leads to better needs assessment and mitigates the risk of spending capital on low priorities.
3. Improve Decision Making—DQI can provide a framework and formal method to continually evaluate and monitor priorities throughout a project’s duration. Across a portfolio of assets or projects, DQI enables prioritization of capital allocation and resource spending.
Once a project is occupied, owners can use DQI to:
4. Reduce Operating Costs—DQI helps identify and document cost-saving operational needs from key stakeholders (especially end-users and maintenance staff) prior to engaging an architect. Ongoing operation and maintenance costs of the completed project can be reduced by incorporating this all-inclusive information into the design solution, thereby leading to a truly fit-for-purpose building that has been designed with the needs of those who will be operating, using and maintaining it in mind.
5. Target/Decrease Capital Expenditures—DQI can help prioritize where to allocate renovation dollars both within individual buildings and across a portfolio by identifying facility areas that are both critically important to the business and most in need of a design upgrade. Likewise, owners can avoid or postpone upgrades that will deliver lower ROI. Owners can also identify underperforming facilities that they may wish to shed from their portfolio.
6. Decrease Energy Costs—DQI can help owners optimize space utilization and location of facilities, including right-sizing the amount of space owned and/or leased and targeting more compact building forms to reduce the overall energy use of a building/portfolio over its life cycle.
7. Increase Asset Value—DQI metrics can prove a building is a high performer, leading to more dollars when it’s time to sell.
8. Reduce Occupant/User Complaints—DQI can help owners identify and then improve key areas where stakeholders are dissatisfied with building performance.
9. Gain Portfolio-Wide Insights—Capture portfolio-wide data related to facilities' capabilities, operations and projects, so as to align the portfolio to meet key user requirements.
10. Go Green—Obtain LEED credits through post-occupancy evaluations and application for Innovation in Design points.
Examples of DQI in Action & User Testimonials:
1. Hotel Owner—Hyatt Hotels Corp. performed a study with Cornell University using DQI to evaluate the performance of a portfolio of full-service hotels it owned and managed in North America. The three-year project found DQI could be used to achieve the following:
- Increase revenue through higher average daily room rate (ADR);
- Increase market penetration versus a hotel’s competitive set;
- Increase employee and guest satisfaction;
- Decrease capital expenditures through targeted renovation planning
“Overall, it was striking to learn from the study that the emotional impact of the building, both for guests and employees, is a key factor in driving higher room rates and market penetration versus your competitive set. And this emotional impact and perception can be measured using the DQI to help improve performance and increase asset value.”
2. Public Building Owner—The City of New York has applied DQI on over $320 million worth of public building projects in Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Design+Construction Excellence (D+CE) program. Implemented by NYC’s Department of Design and Construction and modeled after the General Services Administration’s federal Design Excellence Program, DQI has been in use in the Big Apple since 2007 on over 70 projects from police stations and firehouses to libraries and museums. Here’s how DQI was used in NYC:
- Ensured a new police precinct’s goals were being met according to key stakeholders during the design stage before it was approved for construction;
- Improved NYC’s capital planning by achieving tighter schedules, fewer delays and a decrease in the number of change orders
“Design and Construction Excellence in Public Works is a stated goal of the Bloomberg administration. But how do we define success in achieving that goal, when design quality can be a subjective value? DQI provides a sound methodology for measuring design quality. With it, we will have a metric by which we can monitor our progress during design and gather valuable feedback on our completed projects.”
3. Healthcare Building Owner—A major healthcare provider needed to determine how to allocate its capital projects given the current state of the bond market. Several of its facilities were badly in need of renovations, but the company couldn’t afford to finance all of the projects that needed attention. Given the capital crunch, DQI helped make the most of limited funds:
- The administration and procurement team used the DQI survey process to measure the building quality, functionality and impact of three distinct hospitals;
- The DQI assessment enabled decision-makers to prioritize by determining which project renovations would yield the highest profitability if their needs were met first
“In our practice’s pursuit of demonstrating performance outcomes of our healthcare-design solutions, the DQI metrics have enabled us to rapidly perform post-occupancy evaluations on our projects at sizeable cost savings, providing valuable insight on the building's performance criteria against the baseline program objectives, informing future planning decisions with our clients.”
About the Author
Marc A. Sallette
Marc A. Sallette is the Founder of DQI USA, a software and consulting company specializing in metrics for strategic planning and delivery of high-performance buildings and spaces. He founded DQI USA after more than 10 years of experience in various areas of facility planning and real estate. His professional background includes a unique combination of engineering, architecture, real estate valuation, finance and private equity. He has worked for two of Sam Zell’s real estate companies, as well as Hyatt Hotels Corp., Cushman & Wakefield, and Morgan Stanley Properties. He holds a BS and ME in Civil Engineering from Cornell University, a certificate of completion from the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and an International MBA from the University of Chicago.
Contact Information:
Marc A. Sallette
DQI USA
1600 South Wabash Avenue, 4th Floor
Chicago, IL 60616
+1.312.371.7326 tel
marc@dqionline.com
DQI USA is headquartered in Chicago and operates nationally. The company creates custom implementation projects to achieve high-performance sustainable buildings utilizing the DQI process and metrics. For more information, please email info@dqionline.com or visit www.dqionline.com.
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