Stop guessing and start designing with confidence. Join AIA New Orleans for Designing Beautiful Homes Clients Can Afford, presented by JLV Construction.
Too often, residential projects begin with a target budget, only for contractor bids to reveal later that the design exceeds what the client can afford. The result can be redesigns, lost project features, schedule delays, and strained client relationships. This course offers a practical framework for replacing cost assumptions with data-informed budget ranges that support better decision-making from the start.
Presented from a general contractor’s perspective, you’ll learn how to leverage historical project data, analyze contractor bids, and account for factors such as project size, location, finish level, scope, and market conditions to develop more reliable early-stage cost forecasts.
The session will also explore the emerging role of AI in residential cost planning, including document analysis, bid comparison, variance detection, and scenario testing. Through a live walkthrough, attendees will see exactly what insights AI tools can generate from real project documents and where professional judgment remains essential.
A New Orleans-based case study will bring the concepts to life, examining challenges such as historic properties, floodplain requirements, permit completeness, constructability, trade availability, resilience, and schedule risk. Rather than promising perfect cost certainty, this course focuses on reducing uncertainty early enough to support stronger design outcomes and more informed owner decisions.
Earn 1 AIA HSW, enjoy lunch and refreshments, and leave with practical tools you can immediately apply to your projects. Whether you’re designing custom homes or managing complex renovations, this program will help you deliver beautiful, buildable, and budget-conscious solutions for your clients.