How Design-Build Delivers Unmatched Value for 2025 & Beyond
Regular readers of the newsletter likely know that this series is designed for balance: we look at trends through the lens of engineering, architecture, and construction and evaluate both opportunity and obstacle in kind—for our industry as well as those of our customers.
With an industrial landscape and global economy that are constantly changing, this balanced approach is as prudent as it is accurate. This month’s issue, however, prioritizes clarity and direction; rather than pros and cons, we’re providing a full-throated recommendation of design-build project delivery.
Not only is design-build the most popular delivery method in the U.S., but it’s also the model Gray pioneered 30 years ago and helped usher into the mainstream. We based our business upon the clear-cut observation that our customers needed a more efficient and collaborative way to take complex projects from start to finish. By integrating the creativity and technical expertise of architects and engineers with the in-field experience and trade knowledge of construction professionals, we built a legacy that continues to carry Gray—and our customers—into the future.
The improvement isn’t anecdotal; decades of research bear out the significant advantages of design-build vs. design-bid-build (DBB) and construction management at-risk (CMAR). Let’s explore how.
A Study in Success: Quantifying the Benefits of Design-Build
The industrial landscape is one of constant change. The pressures of tight schedules, complex supply chains, labor shortages, and fierce competition demand smarter, more collaborative project delivery. At Gray, design‑build isn’t a catchphrase or a marketing tactic—it’s the single greatest strategic advantage we provide to help our customers power past these challenges, and it’s backed by more than two decades of data from the Construction Industry Institute (CII), the Pankow Foundation, FMI Consulting, and the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA). Together, these show why 2025 is your year to choose design‑build and how it ensures greater oversight, flexibility, and efficiency for your next industrial project.
Design-Build Adoption Reflects Industry Confidence
According to FMI’s Mid-Cycle Update of its joint Design-Build Utilization study with DBIA, design‑build construction spending across key industrial segments remains on track for a 5.2% compound annual growth rate between 2022 and 2026, poised to exceed $405 billion by 2026. In 2025, spending will approach approximately $380 billion, reflecting broad adoption across owners, A/E firms, specialty contractors, and industry associations. This sustained growth underscores a market consensus: integrated design-build teams deliver faster, more predictable outcomes than design-bid-build or construction management at-risk models.
Design‑build’s share of all U.S. construction spending rose from 42% (2017–2021) to roughly 47% (2022–2026). This rising market is proof positive that owners value the transparency, cost control, and schedule advantages design‑build affords, with nearly half of all projects commissioned under a single, integrated contract. Just as Gray was an early proponent of design-build 30 years ago, today we’re taking project integration a step further, offering traditional EAC services like civil engineering, architecture, and construction management as well as specialized capabilities such as advanced automation, process design, and equipment manufacturing. We offer complete solutions and end-to-end service because we understand your industry’s challenges and know that thorough project design and efficient execution will position your business at the forefront of a rapidly transforming industry.
Byte: Design-build now encompasses nearly half of all construction spending in the U.S.—more than any other delivery model.
Read our recent article on the industry’s shift toward design-build delivery to learn more.
Design-Build Improves Talent Retention
Filling and retaining top talent continues to be a critical challenge in industrial construction. The Design-Build Utilization study’s Mid-Cycle Update shows that 55% of respondents—including general contractors, construction managers, and owner’s advisors—agreed that design‑build helps mitigate talent churn. When designers, project managers, and site teams operate under one contract, they share accountability, align on goals, and build a cohesive culture—leading to higher job satisfaction and lower turnover. At Gray, our fully integrated approach to design-build strengthens our workforce and ensures continuity of expertise across all scopes of work, from project kickoff to final handover.
Over 75% of survey participants say design‑build facilitates greater utilization of prefabrication—another element that assists with labor shortages by engaging disciplines early during design and integrating teams. This early engagement allows design-builders to engineer elements for off-site fabrication such as modular steel assemblies, precast concrete panels, or mechanical/electrical skids. This strategy reduces on‑site labor hours, minimizes weather‑related delays, and drives consistent quality. For 2025 projects with critical timelines, prefabrication under a design‑build umbrella means safer sites, leaner schedules, and superior outcomes.
Superior Supply Chain Resilience
Though the world was emerging from the COVID-19 health crisis, March 2023 still saw lingering material shortages and volatile lead times for global supply chains. At that time, 83% of FMI’s survey respondents reported that design‑build outperforms other delivery methods at navigating supply chain disruptions. Commencing procurement during design offers several advantages:
Early Buy‑Outs: Design-builders lock in long‑lead equipment and bulk materials at the optimal time.
Dynamic Scheduling: A fluid, overlapping timeline lets teams adapt quickly to shipping delays or vendor changes.
Trade Collaboration: Direct engagement with fabricators and specialty trades fosters joint problem‑solving.
Midway through 2025, the COVID pandemic is thankfully over, but supply chains still face significant challenges. On-and-off tariffs with shifting (and often steep) rates have thrown uncertainty into the global economy, casting doubt on domestic industry’s ability to rely on their traditional supply chain partners. Gray’s design‑build expertise delivers the flexibility needed to keep complex industrial projects moving amid these challenges. Through early engagement and close alignment between designer, builder, and owner, Gray builds in the agility to respond to volatile conditions, ensuring that critical materials and long-lead-time equipment are purchased at the best price and arrive on site on time.
Byte: Recent years have exposed construction and industrial businesses’ vulnerability to labor shortages and overwhelmed supply chains. With earlier engagement, a more collaborative culture, and greater flexibility, design-build provides solutions for both of these challenges.
The benefits of design-build don’t stop here. Check out our article highlighting six of design-build’s greatest advantages for owners looking to expand.
Two Decades of Performance: CII/Pankow Insights
Long before design‑build went mainstream, CII’s 1998 benchmark study compared the use of design-build in 350 diverse projects against design‑bid‑build (DBB) and construction management at‑risk (CMAR). Even then, design‑build delivered faster projects, with lower unit costs and reduced schedule and cost growth. Twenty years later, CII and the Pankow Foundation’s 2018 update refreshed the data, analyzing 212 modern projects. Their findings reaffirmed the advantages of design-build vs design-bid-build and construction management at-risk across the board:
The CII/Pankow study identified several contributing factors that survey respondents cited as key drivers for the competitive advantage and overall success of design-build projects:
Higher Team Chemistry: Early, aligned goal‑setting among owner, designer, and builder.
Open‑Book Contracting: Full transparency on costs, enabling collaborative value engineering.
Builder Involvement in Design: Practical insights that lock in realistic budgets and eliminate surprises.
Gray carries these proven best practices forward, ensuring that builds in 2025 and beyond capitalize on performance improvements backed by two decades of research.
Cultivating Long‑Term Partnerships for Ongoing ROI
Perhaps one of the most underrated benefits of design‑build is the opportunity to forge lasting relationships between Owners and Design-Builders. The CII/Pankow case studies revealed that top‑performing projects shared two hallmarks: a relational project culture and prior collaboration between owner and firm. For industrial businesses with multi‑site footprints, working consistently with the same design-builder offers myriad benefits:
Accelerated Learning Curves: Lessons from one project directly inform the next, leading to higher quality execution and faster completion.
Cultural Alignment: Shared values and processes as well as consistent personnel reduce friction and create reliable systems with predictable outcomes.
Compound Value: Each successive build delivers more efficient problem-solving, tighter cost controls, and minimized risk.
Gray’s self‑perform capabilities in steel, concrete, and mechanical further amplify these benefits by giving you a single point of accountability from architect through trade subs.
2025 Is Your Year to Build Better
From accelerated adoption and increased prefabrication to decades of proven performance and partnership‑driven ROI, the data is clear: design‑build offers superior delivery for industrial projects. At Gray, we fuse design, construction, and an array of expert professional services into one cohesive and powerful delivery engine—empowering you with speed, quality, transparency, and supply chain resilience that other methods simply can’t match.
Ready to leverage the benefits of design‑build for your next operation in 2025? Connect with our experts today and discover how we turn industry innovation into your competitive advantage.
