Value Engineering for Commercial Construction Projects


Altitude Marketing Office Renovation

Altitude Marketing needed a renovation of a 19th century building and hardware store into a beautiful, state-of-the-art, open concept marketing agency. Jerdon Construction, the general contractor on the project, used multiple value engineering exercises to save the client money while maintaining their vision for the space.

During construction, Jerdon discovered the building only had a 3/4 inch water main. This was not going to provide enough water for two new apartments, five office restrooms, three kitchenettes and two dishwashers. The plumber gave a quote to run a new water main from the street in front of the building. The number was high, as it would involve repairing the sidewalk and curb because the building is on a state road.

Ron Jerdon suggested value engineering a more affordable solution. Jerdon Construction saved Altitude Marketing over $15,000 by running a 2″ water line from the back alley and putting a second water heater in the front of the building.

Similarly, the HVAC quote came in very high because it involved retrofitting a 140-year-old building. Altitude Marketing COO Gwen Shields requested a value engineering exercise similar to the water main solution. Jerdon found a solution that brought the quote through the use of several smaller systems. By putting the conference rooms and the open office area on separate ductless HVAC systems, Jerdon was able to save Altitude money while achieving the same results for employee comfort.

When it came to the final fit out of flooring and other decorative items, the architect had selected a beautiful, premium priced carpet.  Jerdon worked with Shields to find a flooring solution that brought the aesthetic vision to life and stayed within the budget.

As you would expect with an older building, there were always unforeseen issues popping up. Because of these exercises, though, Shields felt, whenever the budget got tight, she could ask for value engineering options and decide to pursue a less expensive option. This kept the project on deadline and budget without compromising the aesthetics of the building.

Project Highlights

  • A 6,656 SF renovation of an existing building. The renovation included HVAC, plumbing, electrical, flooring, storefront windows and glass partitions.
  • When the original open ceiling design in the café became cost prohibitive, the team used value engineering to add a drop ceiling. This saved money, improved acoustics and didn’t hurt the vision of the space.
  • The original design of the open workspace called for four windows. On demo, Jerdon found the filled remains of three holes. We used value engineering to keep those three holes and make two more like them, creating a total of five windows.