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Building owners want AEC firms that can deliver reliably, show relevant past performance, listen to the client, and solve cost and project constraints collaboratively. They also expect practical expertise in energy performance, occupant health, wellness, building operations, and usable project data.
Those conclusions come from Building Design + Construction’s April 9, 2021 account of an inaugural survey of 156 building owners and developers. The findings are a useful historical snapshot of how owners evaluated AEC partners, not a current 2026 ranking or a universal specification for every project.
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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchWhat did the BD+C survey actually measure?
The survey covered how owners and developers select AEC firms, the challenges that restrict development, environmental and health strategies, project innovations, and responses to COVID-19. BD+C says 156 building owners and developers responded. Its related landing page describes a 16-page report with complete findings, but downloading that report requires registration: Download BD+C’s 2021 Owners Survey Report.
The publicly accessible article summarizes themes and selected project accounts rather than publishing the report’s full response tables. It does not provide the exact percentages behind the rankings. Consequently, a statement such as “owners prioritize cost control” is supported by the article, while a claim that a particular percentage of owners selected cost control is not. Project outcomes cited in the article belong to individual respondents’ examples and must not be presented as survey-wide averages.
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The survey was conducted in 2021, during a period of major uncertainty about construction costs, capital, building operations, and COVID-19 health measures. Use it to understand the decision criteria owners described at that time and to build better interview questions for an AEC procurement process. Do not assume that every owner, market, asset class, or 2026 project has identical priorities.
How do owners judge whether an AEC firm can deliver?
Delivery capability is the first filter. Owners want confidence that the proposed team has the capacity, organization, and experience to complete the project, not merely produce an attractive concept.
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- Capacity to complete the work: Owners consider whether the firm can staff the assignment, coordinate disciplines, manage schedule pressure, and remain accountable through construction and closeout.
- Relevant past performance: Previous work matters most when it resembles the proposed project in complexity, occupancy, regulatory environment, procurement method, or operating requirements. A long project list is less informative than a clear explanation of what the firm actually delivered and what it learned.
- Client interaction: The survey account says owners weigh how adeptly an AEC firm interacts with clients. Communication, decision records, escalation practices, and willingness to hear inconvenient requirements are part of perceived competence.
- Collaboration and practical problem-solving: One owner described testing design and construction-management teams for collaboration. That owner looked for teams that listen and solve practical issues such as durability, low maintenance, and access.
For an owner, the implication is straightforward: ask finalists to show how they handled a comparable constraint, who made the decision, how options were documented, and what changed after the client raised a concern. A polished portfolio does not by itself demonstrate that the proposed project team will behave in the same way.
Why are cost, capital and external constraints so important?
BD+C’s summary identifies capital availability and cost, regulations, and economic uncertainty as constraints on development. Owners therefore seek AEC partners who can listen to cost concerns and help problem-solve rather than treating budget as a late-stage value-engineering exercise.
Cost control starts before a design is fixed. A useful team should help the owner connect scope, schedule, procurement, financing assumptions, operating costs, and risk allowances. It should explain what a budget change does to performance, maintenance, code compliance, and future flexibility. When regulations or market conditions change, the owner needs options with consequences stated clearly, not a single unexplained recommendation.
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In interviews, ask for a specific example of a project that faced a funding gap, escalation, permitting issue, or economic shock. Ask how the team identified the problem, which alternatives it priced, what the owner chose, and how the decision affected schedule and operations. This approach tests the behavior the survey describes without pretending that the survey published a formal scoring system.
What environmental strategies did owners say they wanted?
Energy performance and sustainability appeared alongside budget and operating concerns. BD+C reports that the leading environment, health, and wellness strategies discussed by respondents included energy modeling, products and systems, and mechanical optimization.
Owners were not asking for sustainability in isolation. The article says they wanted strategies that were reasonable in light of capital budgets and operating goals. That means an AEC proposal should connect each measure to a decision the owner can evaluate:
- Energy modeling: Define the baseline, assumptions, modeled measures, and how results will influence equipment sizing or envelope choices.
- Products and systems: Explain first cost, availability, durability, maintenance, replacement cycles, and compatibility with the building’s intended use.
- Mechanical optimization: Show how HVAC and controls choices affect energy, comfort, indoor air quality, resiliency, and operator workload.
One respondent’s example involved 30 campus buildings with LEED Gold requirements. BD+C reports that the owner’s account associated the project with a 30–35% reduction in site energy use and an 18–30% reduction in water use. Those ranges describe that specific project example; they are not averages or guarantees for the 156 respondents. Any owner considering similar targets should request the baseline, measurement period, scope, and verification method before treating a projected saving as a commitment.
How did health, wellness and building operations affect selection?
The survey account shows owners linking building quality to occupant health and day-to-day operation. Reported examples included HVAC improvements for air quality, wellness spaces, indoor-air-quality concerns, heat pumps, and all-electric buildings. These are examples of interests mentioned by respondents, not universal requirements.
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For an AEC selection, health and wellness competence means more than adding a feature to a program. Ask how the team will establish indoor-air-quality goals, select filtration and ventilation strategies, control humidity, commission systems, and communicate operating requirements to facilities staff. If a wellness space is proposed, ask how it supports the building’s users and whether it creates additional maintenance, staffing, or accessibility obligations.
One respondent wished for a simple device to measure indoor air quality. That comment points to a broader owner need: performance information must be understandable and actionable. A sensor, dashboard, or report is useful only when someone knows what is being measured, what the normal range is, who responds to an alert, and how data quality is checked.
What technology and data capabilities mattered?
Respondents mentioned integrated building systems, dashboards, real-time data, three-dimensional clash detection, and progress monitoring with cameras or drones. The common thread is not technology for its own sake; it is better visibility into design coordination, construction status, and operating performance.
BD+C attributes this anonymous respondent comment about dashboards: “It’s always a struggle to get the data and display it so others can understand it.” That observation is a practical selection criterion. During procurement, ask finalists to explain:
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- How data from equipment, meters, models, schedules, and field reports will be integrated.
- Which dashboards different audiences will see: executives, project managers, facilities staff, or occupants.
- How the team will handle missing readings, inconsistent naming, cybersecurity requirements, and turnover at closeout.
- What decisions the data is intended to support and how often those decisions will be reviewed.
Three-dimensional clash detection and camera or drone progress monitoring can reduce surprises, but they do not replace experienced coordination or site observation. Require a workflow that states who reviews an issue, how it is assigned, and when it is closed.
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What did COVID-19 reveal about owner expectations?
The survey included responses to COVID-19 and examples of design changes made during the pandemic. One owner discussed a $615 million replacement hospital project in Pensacola, Florida, in the context of those changes. The dollar figure describes that project, not the survey population.
The broader lesson is that owners value an AEC team able to translate a fast-moving external risk into practical design, construction, and operating decisions. For a health-care, workplace, education, or public project, ask how the firm handled changing guidance, supply constraints, infection-control requirements, phasing, and communication with users. The right answer will include a decision process and documented assumptions, not a claim that one pandemic-era solution fits every building.
How can an owner compare AEC firms using these findings?
BD+C did not publish a ranked list of named firms. A practical comparison framework can nevertheless turn the reported themes into consistent interview criteria. The following is an editorial synthesis of the survey account, not a scoring system issued by BD+C.
| Selection area | Evidence to request | Warning signs |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery capability | Proposed organization chart, staffing commitments, schedule controls, and examples of completed work with similar complexity. | Senior names appear in the proposal but are unavailable after award; responsibilities are vague. |
| Past performance | Relevant references, lessons learned, and explanation of the proposed team’s exact role. | A portfolio shows only the firm’s brand, not the people or scope that would serve the owner. |
| Listening and collaboration | A workshop or interview in which the team restates the owner’s priorities and resolves a sample conflict. | The presentation answers a different question or treats owner feedback as an obstacle. |
| Cost and risk management | Estimate assumptions, escalation allowances, decision logs, and examples of options evaluated under pressure. | “On budget” is asserted without baseline, scope, date, or explanation of changes. |
| Energy and mechanical expertise | Modeling approach, commissioning plan, operating-cost discussion, and maintenance implications. | Performance claims lack assumptions or transfer responsibility to the operator without training. |
| Health and wellness | Indoor-air-quality goals, ventilation and filtration strategy, accessibility considerations, and post-occupancy support. | Wellness is presented as a decorative feature with no operational plan. |
| Useful data | Sample dashboard views, data ownership terms, quality checks, and closeout deliverables. | Many sensors or platforms are promised, but no one can explain who acts on the information. |
Use the same questions and evidence requests for every finalist. Weight the categories according to the project’s risk profile: a laboratory may need deeper systems and commissioning expertise, while a constrained renovation may place greater weight on phasing, access, and cost control. Record the reasons for each rating so the selection remains defensible after the presentations are over.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What should owners avoid inferring from the survey?
The accessible article does not reveal the report’s detailed percentages or full rankings. Do not convert qualitative language into numerical market share, assume that a mentioned strategy was the top choice for every respondent, or claim that owners universally require all-electric buildings, dashboards, drones, or a particular certification.
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Do not generalize the campus energy and water ranges or the hospital project value to other building types. They are useful prompts for questions about baselines, verification, scale, and context. They are not performance guarantees.
Finally, remember that a 2021 survey cannot establish current preferences in 2026. Financing conditions, codes, labor availability, energy prices, reporting requirements, and owner priorities may have changed. Treat the findings as a durable set of questions about delivery, collaboration, cost, performance, health, and data—and validate the answers for the project in front of you.
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What is the practical takeaway for an AEC procurement?
The strongest AEC proposal is not simply the one with the most impressive renderings or the longest list of services. It is the one that demonstrates a capable team, relevant delivery evidence, attentive client interaction, disciplined cost and risk management, and enough technical depth to connect energy, health, operations, and data to the owner’s actual decisions.
Use BD+C’s 2021 findings to structure that conversation, then require project-specific evidence. Ask what the firm will do, who will do it, how success will be measured, what trade-offs exist, and how the owner will remain informed. That process turns a historical survey snapshot into a practical, accountable way to select an AEC partner.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many owners responded to BD+C’s AEC survey?
BD+C reported 156 building owners and developers. The publicly accessible article does not publish the complete response tables, so that count should not be confused with a percentage-based ranking of preferences.
Can I download the full 2021 BD+C Owners Survey Report?
BD+C’s report landing page describes a 16-page report and requires registration for the download. The article linked from the landing page is the accessible source for the summarized themes and examples.
Are the reported energy and water savings typical for campus projects?
No conclusion about typical performance can be drawn from the article. The 30–35% site-energy and 18–30% water reductions were reported for one owner’s 30-building campus example, with no survey-wide average provided.
What should a small owner ask an AEC firm that has limited portfolio experience?
Ask the firm to identify the specific people who will work on the project, provide references for comparable responsibilities, and explain how it will supplement missing expertise. A clear plan for advisors, commissioning, cost control, and escalation is more informative than an undifferentiated list of large projects.
