one aspect provides a method of designing an integrated circuit . in one embodiment , the method includes : generating a functional design for the integrated circuit , determining performance objectives for the integrated circuit , determining an optimization target voltage for the integrated circuit , determining whether the integrated circuit needs voltage scaling to achieve the performance objectives at the optimization target voltage and , if so , whether the integrated circuit is to employ static voltage scaling or adaptive voltage scaling , using the optimization target voltage to synthesize a layout from the functional integrated circuit design that meets the performance objectives by employing standardized data created by designing at least one representative benchmark circuit , and performing a timing signoff of the layout at the optimization target voltage .