The Atlantic recently ran an article about the return of manufacturing jobs to the US. The growth of jobs is clearly positive news for the US economy, but what really interested me was the process GE went through to actually build a water heater in Kentucky. This process of redesigning the GeoSpring water heater offers many parallels to green building.

The GeoSpring was originally designed by American based engineers and manufactured in China. There was little communication between the design and manufacturing teams. Most conventional buildings go through a similar process where there is little integration between the design and construction teams. Buildings typically follow an established set of steps, starting with design, then pricing, followed by value engineering, contract negotiations, and construction. This system relies on the architect to communicate information to the builder, who must then relay it to the trade contractors and ultimately to the homeowner. This process often results in projects going over budget and failing to meet performance expectations.

To design the new assembly line for the GeoSpring plant, GE brought together a diverse team of design and manufacturing engineers, line workers, and staff from marketing and sales. The team quickly discovered that from a construction standpoint the GeoSpring heater was a mess. The integrated design team then redesigned the water heater and its construction with surprising results.

“So a funny thing happened to the GeoSpring on the way from the cheap Chinese factory to the expensive Kentucky factory: The material cost went down. The labor required to make it went down. The quality went up. Even the energy efficiency went up.”

GE discovered the importance of integrated design, and a cheaper, more efficient American made water heater is the result. What was different this time around? All the players worked together as a team. In construction this type of integration makes a significant difference. It begins with collaboration between all project stakeholders (the designer/architect, builder, homeowner, and trade contractors) in the initial planning stages of a project. Since the home is a complex system of interrelated components, each decision made during design affects the construction outcome; and those made without input from the entire team will often have negative outcomes. For example, how the framer constructs the home has a direct effect on where the heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) contractor is able to run the ductwork and how well the envelope can be sealed and insulated. Successful projects require sound decisions from the onset, which is done best when the entire team is working together.

Any manufacturing process, be it constructing a home or industrial water heater, benefits from bringing all of the stakeholders together. It doesn’t matter how beautiful a building is on paper if it cannot be operated in an effective and efficient manner.