Designing for evolving customer requirements| Buildings

Agile design for evolving customer requirements

Address changing client demands with technically robust and flexible design strategies, supported by Eaton’s tools, services, and expertise.

Accelerate project delivery from design to manufacturing }

Accelerate project delivery from design to manufacturing
Overcome design resource challenges }

Overcome design resource challenges
Building engineering capacity through education and digital expertise }

Building engineering capacity through education and digital expertise

Design targets are moving. Are you keeping up?

In today’s commercial projects, customer expectations can shift quickly and often. Consultants must adapt fast—without compromising compliance, quality or delivery timelines.

Common challenges include:

Budget and client scope changes
Mid-project system layout, capacity and performance criteria modifications mid-project
Evolving resiliency, sustainability, and electrification targets
Adopting technology integration such as energy storage, EV charging and smart metering in late stages of project design
Grid connection size and grid capacity
Increased electrification of heating
Evolving local energy sources
Changes in local codes, standards, and regulation requirements

Flexible design without compromising integrity

Throughout the design phase, evolving client requirements — whether influenced by tenant needs or sustainability goals — can create technical challenges. These revisions frequently arise after initial design milestones, necessitating swift re-assessment of system component selection, system architecture, and compliance documentation.

Impact: Occupancy increase changes or building function modifications can alter load profiles, requiring recalculation of feeder sizing, demand factors, and transformer capacity.

Technical considerations:

Recalculations of voltage drops for extended circuit runs
Reassessment of load calculations
Reevaluation of demand loads and diversity factors
Potential upsizing of main switchgear and grid connections

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Impact: Shifts in system topology or spatial planning may require reconfiguration of distribution pathways, switchgear, and panelboards.

Technical considerations:

Re-balancing loads to sustain phase symmetry
Re-routing of cable trays and conduit to adapt to infrastructure changes and ensure compliance
Avoiding spatial conflicts by coordinating mechanical and structural systems
Updating riser schematics and one-line diagrams

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Impact: Any change in system capacity or topology requires a fresh evaluation of overcurrent protection and selective coordination.

Technical considerations:

Re-running short-circuit current calculations
Reassessing time-current characteristic (TCC) curves for fuses and breakers
Updating arc flash hazard analysis

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Impact: Late-stage design modifications can make previously specified equipment incompatible.

Technical considerations:

Updating specifications to align with latest performance criteria and confirming equipment meets specifications
Verifying product availability and lead times with manufacturers
Revising bill of materials (BOM) and submittal packages

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Impact: To prevent construction delays and field conflicts, all project documentation must be updated to reflect design changes.

Technical considerations:

Updating CAD drawings, schedules, and legends
Revising BIM models to support new layouts
Coordinating modifications across architectural, electrical, and mechanical models
Updating specifications to align with requirement revisions
Managing version control and document issuance logs

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Impact: Outdated or incomplete documentation due to changing requirements and specifications increases the chances of field conflicts.

Technical considerations:

Increased volume of RFIs in the build phase because of conflicting or unclear design intent
Possibility of project delays and costly change orders
Added burden on commissioning and field engineering teams

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