Just like a home, the builders and subcontractors can work as a seamless system rather than a collection of workers with separate tasks. To steer your team toward systems thinking, here's how you might start:
PATH-sponsored research focuses on developing tools such as a "whole-house calculator" that ultimately will help designers and builders understand more and more about the implications of changes to house plans and product choices. They will be able to use this understanding to avoid problems, take advantage of synergies or just make trade-offs.
Most whole-house interactions probably have little consequence, but there are important exceptions. The key to progress is identifying potential interactions, which vary by housing type and climate, and focusing attention on the interactions that matter most.
