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Integrative gains disappear unless they’re embedded in contracts. Translating targets into specification language—air-barrier testing and details, minimum insulation/thermal-bridge criteria, glazing SHGC/VLT with exterior shading geometry, lighting power densities with continuous daylight dimming, and explicit BAS sequences—locks in the modeled package. Requiring meters/trend points ensures later verification, while CxA milestone reviews (DD/CD/submittals) guard against substitutions that erode performance. This discipline preserves right-sizing of HVAC and avoids backsliding into larger plants and higher OPEX. A “tune it later” plan is expensive and cannot recover envelope/daylight losses. Unconstrained “equals” invite greenwashing and piecemeal downgrades that break system synergies. By making the package contractually testable and commissioning-ready, the team de-risks delivery, keeps first cost predictable, and streamlines LEED documentation because the modeled assumptions, drawings, and sequences match what gets installed and tested.