The Solaire in New York City pioneered high-rise green building practices.
How would you like to cut construction costs by 20 percent without affecting the value of your project? That's what Genesis Real Estate Group, the Dallas-based developers of Ocean Villas, managed to do by continually evaluating design and construction options right up to the completion of the foundation. This process is known as value engineering. One of the main goals of the community, a two-tower, 19-story condominium project in Long Beach, Calif., was to reduce overall construction time so occupancy could begin as soon as possible. Genesis and EDI Architecture Inc. determined early in the development stage that using a tunnelform system would meet an aggressive construction schedule and save approximately 30 percent in direct construction costs. With the tunnelform system, walls and floors are poured simultaneously. This not only reduces construction time but also eliminates as much as 60 percent of interior partition framing and drywall.