Over the weekend, the Convention Center served as a zoo to the delight of thousands of Lancaster youngsters, a good thing. Alas, this did virtually nothing to generate room revenue nor food and beverage sales for the Marriott. And it probably did not benefit nearby merchants.
Nevertheless, the Watchdog had an opportunity to entertain the pups and learn about modern “value engineering.”
As he climbed the stairs to the Marriott Restaurant to lap a cup of coffee, it dawned on him that something was missing. There were escalators from Vine Street to the Convention Center Level and escalators from the lobby to the mezzanine conference rooms, but—lo and behold—there were only super wide steps leading from the convention center to the Marriott! (The stair case could readily have accommodated two escalators and steps.)
It was at this moment that the Watchdog came to understand what High and the Lancaster Newspapers Inc. meant when they said they would seek to help span the “$20 million funding gap” through “value engineering.”
A frequenter of architects offices and construction sites, the old dog had thought that “value engineering” meant achieving much the same goals but with less expense, such as how they substituted a cheaper stone façade for the Marriott. How old fashion of him! By Lancaster standards, it means simply jettisoning a key portion of the design plan meant to expeditiously enable people to travel up and down between the two most important public spaces. (Yes, there are elevators that were required to serve the physically challenged.)
Who said “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks?” Indeed, if the watchdog designs any more apartments, he may eliminate the kitchen sink!
(The above photo taken at the Convention Center on Sunday is of value engineers at work.)
In other words, “value engineering” is a short way of saying: “cut as many corners as you can as deep as possible. Hopefully no one will notice.”
Unfortunately, too often these days, gross cost cutting without paying attention to achievement of the needed design functions is Mis-labeled as “value engineering”. As a professional Value Engineering practitioner, it pains me to hear what may have been an attempt to reduce cost without adequate thought to the consequences as “Value Engineering”.
And the labeling of a photo of donkeys as “value engineers at work” is an inconsiderate slur to an honorable profession by someone who did not apparently take the time to understand what real value engineering is.
I suggest the author, in the interest of journalistic accuracy visit the value engineering professional site (SAVE International) at http://www.value-eng.org before writing any further articles about a profession that provides our citizens with a high quality and much-needed service.
Editor’s note: We apologize. We should have referred to the photo of the donkeys at the Convention Center zoo event as “Convention Center value engineers at work.” Value engineering is an essential part of good design.