Strategic Architecture: Design Decisions That Save Construction Costs Long-Term In the high-stakes world of real estate development and custom home building, the budget is often determined long before the first excavator arrives on site. A common misconception is that saving money requires using cheaper materials or cutting corners on quality. However, the most significant savings are found in the design phase. This is known in the industry as Value Engineering . It is the discipline of optimizing a building's design to achieve the desired function and aesthetic at the lowest possible lifecycle cost. Whether you are developing a multi-family complex or building a single-family home, understanding how design impacts labor, material waste, and future maintenance is crucial. Here is an in-depth look at structural and architectural decisions that maximize your Return on Investment (ROI) by reducing both Capital Expenditure (Capex) and Operating Expenditure (Opex). 1. The Geometry of Ec...