Value assessment in the traditional housing design Case studies applying a value analysis model

Abstract

The traditional design approach faces difficulties in adequately responding to the value expected by customers. This research explores the generation and loss of value in the traditional housing design to understand how it responds to customer needs based on different conditions of satisfaction and identify the most common value losses. The novel Value Analysis Model (VAM) is applied in three traditional housing design projects as case studies to explore the desired, potential, and generated value for four typical customers: owners, designers, builders, and end-users. The main results quantitatively show that the traditional housing design process does not meet the value expected by customers; the builders and the designers obtain less value in the process, and the product, respectively; and both the end-user and the owner are the customers who receive more value. This paper incorporates the value losses associated with differences in the criteria of the various project stakeholders (default) and losses resulting from poor project performance. According to the findings, the most widespread value losses are associated with the project performance itself rather than differences in customers’ perceptions. The main practical contribution is that the value benefits become explicit (measurable and traceable) through VAM. These explicit value metrics can be included alongside traditional project performance measures to provide a customer-centric perspective. For teams attempting to design efficiently, having a tool to assess and measure value generation during creating is important because value losses can be detected early.