What do we actually do?

Many times I've been thinking how to define, specify and warrant the project manager's role on a construction project, as its significance is often underestimated. It happens often, that people ask us, what do we actually do, what kind of benefits or service in general do they get by hiring us.

In our local area the official regulation / legislation does not determine the official project management role in construction area. The smaller the construction project (not only in shape but also in value) the higher the belief, (inexperienced) investors can handle it by themselves.

What are the consequences like?

Investors start managing the project, first at planning phase the architects are the ones who lead them in taking decisions and building the outline plan. They are the first who help them notice, there are lots of decisions to be made, lots of questions to be answered and many aspects to be taken into account. Often the roles of an architect and a project manger are considered as the same, although we are talking about two separate services, which are, of course, strongly interconnected. The main purpose is to fulfill all the functional conditions for which the project has started. The second activity includes building a financial plan, defining costs correctly and limiting them, defining critical stages and managing them later on. Beside functional and economic component one should not forget to strive for quality of the final product, which also contributes to determining its fundamental value on the market. Yes, the investors in general are certain, they are able to do it alone. Yet no one realizes at the very beginning the complexity of such a project. When they do, when the wheels of this process start moving to fast, errors are made, costs are growing and the panic sensation increases. 

Project manager is the one, who's there to represent investor's interests, who puts them questions, who has the advisory role in making the final decisions. He is the right hand to help investors walk along the way, they are not familiar with. As inexperienced hikers need local guide when entering high mountain range full of traps and dangers to lead them to the very top, so does an investor need a project manager to lead the huge group of people (architects, various contractors, local officials and other project participants) in order to work as a team.  

What can we promise?

Due diligence all the way through the project. The complete scope of works on the project, the complex structure of costs (mostly inexperienced investors are not familiar with the precise structure of costs on such a project, hence some of the cost groups, not to be disregarded at all, are forgotten). The complete detailed financial analysis, which should be made before the first contract is signed.

Project management is a complex and interdisciplinary activity, which is an inevitable part of every construction project in modern society. The results are obvious, when the project is finished. 

Could we call it sustainable?

Critical evaluation of sustainability of the new built "Hayrack"

Since we've come to the very end of construction and we're currently dealing with flooring, furniture installation and finishing all the other visible surfaces and elements of the interior, the time has come to professionally and critically evaluate our product. Basically the aim is to analyse the quality of our work considering the sustainability concept of construction, which is typical for nawadays.

"Sustainable building concept"

There are several aspects to be considered in this matter. Sustainable building means much more then just focusing on single issues, such as providing energy efficiency and minimizing the negative impact of buildings on the environment. Modern concept of sustainability represents application of integral planning - a so called "whole-building system approach", therefore it is crucial for architects / designers, investors and project managers to participate, to contribute to planning concept with ideas and wishes and help developing sustainable solutions from the very beginning all the way to the operation and maintenance of the facility. Sustainable building has its purpose, it's own story to follow, which is intimately interconnected with future users (not necessary investors) and the activities, planned to be executed inside. The best approximation of the long iteration process is a balanced, due-diligent solution, which fulfills the following conditions; cost effectiveness and long term affordability, energy efficiency, environment protection, the quality of living, the well-being of users and durability of the facility. 

In the next part it is my intention to apply all the mentioned aspects on our almost-finished "Hayrack" and evaluate their presence in the project up to the current state.

Architectural Concept: typology of the house follows the "long and narrow" old country house architecture of Gorenjska region with gable roof, reaching approx. 30 m in longitudinal direction and just 6 m in transverse direction. This single floor house truly merges into landscape, as it follows the slightly inclined terrain with its decreasing ridge just like the nearby hayracks. With its partly white partly wooden facade, wooden windows and other decorative facade elements and anthracite grey roof I dare say, this new element fits into the environment perfectly. (environment protection)

As part of architectural concept I should also mention the floor layout, which is designed to suit the user in functionality and size (ca. 150 m2), as for there are just two persons living in the house permanently. Therefore we reduced inner walls and tried to keep inner-space open and connected. The interior can be transformed with minimum measures though, in case number and / or lifestyle of residents would have changed. (quality of living and well-being of users)

Building Envelope and Built-in Materials: Although wood hasn't been the main construction material in the last couple of centuries on Slovenian ground, there is a big potential to become one, at list in the field of residential houses, since it has various advantages. In comparison with classic masonry or concrete house it is definitely less energy needed in the whole life-cycle of the building, as well there is smaller amount of grey energy needed in the pre-construction stage. The decision to build a wooden house was by no means a surprise in our case. Beside the speed of the construction progress and friendliness towards the environment we should not forget the economic aspect of Slovenian wood potential, then its use supports our industry or tends to do so in the future, since we do not have our own processing plant to turn raw material into semi-products yet. (economical support and environment protection)

Timber-frame structural system of our hayrack is a traditional post and beam system called "carpenter-made timber-frame construction", filled with thermal insulation - wood fibres. Building envelope was designed to fulfill the conditions for low-energy house with annual energy consumption between 20 and 25 kWh/m2. All the construction built-in materials have proper ecology-friendly certificates and are both, user and environment friendly.

Building envelope of timber framework constructions needs to be permeable to prevent moisture retention inside the walls / ceiling, as it can cause serious damage in various built-in elements, especially the ones made on wood basis. The diffusion-open wall construction systems enable breathing of the house, which has a positive effect on well-being of the residents. Even more, in old towns on Middle European ground there is plenty of well preserved timber frame houses to be found, which have been exposed to various climate effects for centuries and have survived. This indicates the durability of such buildings, if they are high quality built - with mutually compatible materials and well solved construction details. (durability, quality of living and well-being of users)

To preserve the natural appearance, warm effect of natural colours and the smell of wood, with other words to bring nature inside our home, we decided for the following visible wooden surfaces: wooden larch windows and exterior doors, inner and outer wooden larch reveals, wooden ceiling ("tilly boards") in the living part of the house, larch facade on the house extension, exterior larch terrace and visible spruce framework of the carport and terrace covering.

Technology - Mechanical and Electric Installation: A huge part of low-energy building concept is based on environment and user friendly heating and cooling system, which is energy- and economically-efficient. The heating source, used in our new building is an air water heat pump, which regulates the temperature of the interior space through underfloor heating. Also on the roof of the hayrack extension we prepared all the installation needed for solar energy consumption with the help of solar panels. Heat-recovery ventilation provides constant fresh air supply without energy losses at the expense of opening the windows. On the garden there is an underground water tank hidden. The collected rainwater is used as the water needed to do the laundry,  for flushing the toilets and for various activities in the outer space, where water is needed.

Installed intelligent building technology with the integration of various disciplines (heating, cooling, lighting, ventilation, shading, security, etc.)  serves the improvement of the quality of living of the users. It tends to provide user's ideal interior temperature conditions based on the outer local conditions, it provides better security of the facility, it reduces the energy consumption, etc. Programs are designed and saved according to the wishes of the individuals and as such completely variable. (energy efficiency, environment protection, the quality of living and well-being of users, durability)

Despite this detailed analysis of the sustainability concept, applied on our current main project I am certain, I've still missed many different aspects of its interpretation. Nevertheless I dare say, it fulfills all the main conditions, hidden behind the word SUSTAINABLE building. It takes more than just time and money to succeed, one needs to have a vision, to be devoted, to be motivated and be a big motivator towards others, to be a perfectionist in a way, to have a moral obligation towards the environment and the society and many other things. The one that counts the most, is to have a capable and consistent project team, where every member strives for the same goal, same final result. We've made it. It's been a pleasure working with every one of you.

Thank you in the name of project leaders to help us build a sustainable new building!