greening your firm boot camp
DESCRIPTION
Being a truly sustainable design or construction company is about more than just being able to deliver LEED projects. It's about aligning overall company management and operations with the demands of integrated design and collaborative relationships and measuring company performance as a result. Whether your company delivers LEED projects or not, there are proven strategies that you can use to deliver higher-performance projects and more efficient and effective processes to be a truly sustainable company. This interactive workshop builds your capacity to implement these strategies in the most cost-effective way and provides tools to enable you to implement these strategies in your company. This course offers 8 AIA SD CEU and 8 GBCI CE.Participants will being able to:-Define clear, measurable self-assessment of your company's capability.-List issues your company needs to address.-List systems, processes and resources that your company needs to address.-Draft a plan to address these issues, systems, processes and resources gaps.-Convey how to align profitability, quality control, knowledge transfer, and other elements with green project delivery to the leaders in your company.-Understand how the Certification process may apply to you company.Learn more at www.greenroundtable.org/training.TRANSCRIPT
Barbra Batshalom, Executive Director
THE GREEN ROUNDTABLE
Sustainable Performance Institute: Transforming Practice, Recognizing Leadership
Boot Camp Workshop
Understand how to connect sustainability to their business objectives
Use industry metrics to evaluate your company’s true (current) capability
Understand and identify where your company’s ‘gaps’ are
Formulate goals and strategies to achieve excellence & improve performance
Begin to lay the basis of a workplan and approach to address issues, systems, process gaps
Improve effectiveness to increase buy-in within your company
PURPOSE & GOALS FOR TODAY
1. Introductions and Purpose
2. Defining Green Practice: What does it really mean to be a sustainability practice?
3. Challenges and Barriers
4. Organizational Assessment:
5. Goal Setting
6. Implementation Planning
7. Discussion
ARE WE “THERE” YET?
With all the progress we’ve made to ‘green’ our built environment, we have a long way to go. We face crises of climate change, public health, habitat devastation and economic implosion – so the question remains: What will it take to get “there” – to be on a path towards sustainability?
“END OF PIPE” SOLUTIONS AREN’T ENOUGH
Building codes and ra/ng systems are “end of pipe” solu/ons. They help us determine a target and allow us to measure what we’ve done. That’s important, but not enough.
USGBC and LEED have dragged us (kicking & screaming) to a place where we finally base our work on performance, using metrics and accountability – but that has not been enough to go ‘up the pipe’ and transform professional prac/ce.
The “root of the problem” is that we are s/ll trying to use the same processes, behavior and mindset to deliver a new product.
Green building, LEED, net zero – whatever the project’s goal is – we can’t succeed without addressing our way of doing business. We need to reset our percep/ons, expecta/ons and increase collabora/on to succeed.
Design and construc/on companies who have done this have realized success and delivered performance!
WE NEED TO ADDRESS “THE ROOT” OF THE PROBLEM
So we need a logical, methodological and ra/onal approach to these issues. The SPI green firm program has done that -‐ and provided a framework to translate behavior and culture to metrics and performance criteria.
THE CLASSIC CHALLENGE
As engineers, architects and builders, we are generally logical, ra/onal and analy/cal. The “leJ brain” is where we thrive, solving problems, delivering solu/ons.
We are a “leJ brain” community struggling to address “right brain” problems!
We’re less comfortable dealing with “right brain” func/ons needed to implement sustainability ini/a/ves: holis/c synthesizing, subjec/ve judgments, emo/ons and crea/vity.
It is cri/cal for individual prac//oners to be skilled and knowledgeable.
IF Sustainable capability stops with the individual, a company will never be able to deliver consistent, high quality sustainability services!
Gaps will exist in policy, systems, processes – that lead to ins/tu/onalized expecta/ons and high performance.
Why Is “LEED AP” Not Enough? Necessary, But Not Sufficient
COMPANIES (SPI)
PEOPLE (LEED AP)
Avoid the Paradigm OF RELYING ON A FEW KEY CHAMPIONS
THAT IS NOT “INSTITUTIONALIZING” SYSTEMS: PROCESSES
INDIVIDUAL EXPERTS CHAMPIONS
COMPANY CAPABILITY LEADERSHIP
Between GREEN design and BROWN design?
There are 4 elements. . .
What makes the difference. . .
Transformative Elements - Order of Importance
MINDSET How we think, the assumptions we make, our perceptions of role and expectations of interaction
PROCESS Collaborative decision making, clarity and transparency in decision making and clear performance targets
TOOLS Analysis, strategies, life cycle costing, specifications
PRODUCTS AND TECHNOLOGIES Technologies, strategies, things you buy (“green bling”)
Links to blog with survey details: Part 1: hcp://bit.ly/cuIrMa Part 2: hcp://bit.ly/dhwZvc
Our framework has evolved from over 10 years of working in the industry and seeing the challenges companies face.
This industry-‐wide survey we conducted illustrates why our program is needed and what we need to change to succeed .
Following are some summary excerpts of the survey. Complete informa/on and sta/s/cs can be found at the links below:
Of the hundreds who par/cipated in the survey, there was an even distribu/on between execu/ve and senior company leaders and company or project managers.
Firms varied in size from 10 employees to 45,000 (with the majority being in the mid to large size companies)
Commitment to sustainability is in public mission statement, website, marketing materials?
Leaders at all levels make clear to staff that sustainability is part of the job?
“SMART” goals are consistently set for projects & organization?
Although public statements are consistently focused on commitment to sustainability, leadership does not consistently communicate that expecta/on to staff.
Goals are not usually SMART (specific, measurable, acainable, /me-‐bound) and there is ojen a lack of clear accountability structure for sustainability.
All project achieve clear performance goals?
Every project manager incorporates life cycle costing into projects?
Project management is rooted in an integrative, collaborative process?
Clear performance targets not yet being set for every project (regardless of whether its pursuing LEED, BREEAM, etc. or not).
Integra/ve design not yet consistently used as the founda/on for managing projects.
Inconsistent applica/on of life-‐cycle cos/ng to evaluate key systems decisions.
Green design and spec standards are maintained & used consistently?
Clear roles are defined & accountable to support sustainability?
HR supports green practice: performance reviews, prof dev, etc
Green specifica/ons not always maintained or used consistently.
Lack of clear roles and accountability for implementa/on of sustainability.
Cri/cal tools and resources not always available and not used consistently on projects.
Performance reviews don’t evaluate sustainable design capability for key roles.
Roles, responsibilities, and decision making processes mapped clearly on every project?
All contracts, scopes & fees create conditions conducive for success?
Consistent teambuilding with partners?
Contracts and team structures ojen create a barriers for integra/ve project delivery.
Teams rarely map their decision making process to achieve key performance targets.
Very licle proac/ve team building happens among partners, between project commitments.
Company has a program & strategies to reduce its environmental impact over time
Company tracks (in any way) performance of its portfolio
Not tracking anything – either operations or portfolio!
Although 25% of these companies are not tracking anything, more than 40% have put some sort of program in place to reduce environmental footprint.
Over 30% are beginning to track the performance of their pornolio of work!
WE HAVE A LOT OF “GAPS” TO ADDRESS:
• LACK OF LEADERSHIP, COMMITMENT • LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY STRUCTURE • LACK OF CONSISTENCY • LACK OF INTEGRATIVE PROCESS • LACK OF QUALITY CONTROL • LACK OF TOOLS & RESOURCES • LACK OF SHARED LEARNINGS • DEPENDENCE ON LEED AS A CRUTCH
HUMAN NATURE DOESN’T HELP…. (DON’T WE JUST LOVE NEW THINGS?)
? This way to excellence in sustainable design!
So now the ques/on is…where are you on the path to design excellence? If you have organiza/onal “gaps” to close…what path will you take?
Our roadmap can help you.
THE ORIGINS OF SPI GREEN FIRM CERTIFICATION
SPI EXCELLENCE IN DESIGN PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
TRIBUTARIES LEADING TO CREATION OF SPI CERTIFICATION
…Building on 12 years of work with A/E/C and Owners
• TOOLS • RESOURCES • TRAINING • ORGANIZATOINAL CERTIFICATION
SPI CERTIFICATION EVALUATES AND RECOGNIZES ORGANIZATIONAL CAPABILITY TO DELIVER CONSISTENT, HIGH QUALITY SUSTAINABLE DESIGN SERVICES
…ACROSS ALL ASPECTS OF THE COMPANY AND AT ALL LEVELS
BEING CERTIFIED TELLS PROPERTY OWNERS THAT YOU ARE RELIABLE AND CAPABLE
Program Partners Include:
Client targets: LEED, NZ, LBC, 2030 = “WHAT”
SPI = “HOW”
2030 Liv. Bld. Net Zero LEED
Companies are at different places on their journey to achieving excellence in sustainability prac/ce. No macer where you are – SPI supports you – or recognizes your achievements!
RECOGNITION & TRANSFORMATION Observa/ons of best prac/ces from SPI companies
Signs of Change… Posibve changes that we’re seeing:
Clearer Roles & Accountability: Director of Sustainability, other… Ins/tu/onaliza/on of standard prac/ces/processes (IDP) Partnering: Proac/ve rela/onship building using BIM workshops
Investment in green on projects from overhead, even when clients don’t ask for it
Change in workflow – moving integra/on func/on to earlier in the project – lowering costs, reducing risk
Project performance improves !
Baseline projects meet LEED without extra effort
For each category we will summarize: • What it is and then: • Issues • Solubons • Metrics
Commitment Vision Goals & Purpose Clear accountability at all levels, in all departments
Strategic Plan to achieve goals over bme
Policies that support goals and implementabon
ISSUES
Talk doesn’t match ac/ons
Lack of SMART goals
Staff don’t feel empowered
SOLUTIONS
Ar/culate clear goals Make expecta/ons and priori/es clear
Shij culture to align with goals
Implementa/on / strategic plan
Mandate sustainability on all projects
METRICS
Public materials Internal communica/ons
SURVEYS !!! Accountability structure
EVIDENCE of CONSISTENT applica/on of sustainable design principles as a basis of design excellence – and ‘ins/tu/onaliza/on’ of sustainability approach
Integra/ve design & project delivery is the basis for project management, on all projects
Clear performance goals, decision roadmaps and use of analysis to inform decisions applied to all projects.
Clear decision-‐making mapped out to address key performance targets
Drawings, specifica/ons and models consistently incorporate green design standards.
ISSUES
No clear goals Only ‘on demand’
Specs/dwgs not consistent
Low performance
SOLUTIONS
Clear project goals IDP as a founda/on for proj. mngmt.
Workplans Life cycle cos/ng and other analysis
METRICS
Mee/ng notes / agendas
Workplans Analysis Drawings & Specs Bldg. Cer/fica/ons Performance tracking
CRITICAL RELATIONSHIPS are highly collabora/ve
Crea/ng “TEAMS” – project based and ongoing proac/ve team building
Inten/onally crea/ng condi/ons conducive to success: contracts, scope, deliverables, expecta/ons
Enabling IPD and use of key tools, like BIM, amongst a team
ISSUES
Barriers to IPD Lack of inten/onal TRUST building
No collabora/on plan
SOLUTIONS
Proac/ve team building
Project structure and plan
Process Mapping
METRICS
Scope/fee charrece
Contracts Minutes, agendas, workplans
SURVEYS – internal, external
Tools and Resources (green products, analysis, etc)
Design/spec standards (ins/tu/onalized)
Professional Development through many methods (team learning, project based coaching, lecture, etc)
HR: Handbook, performance reviews, job descrip/ons, incen/ves (non financial)
Investment – ongoing – in projects, R&D, etc.
ISSUES
Lack of cri/cal tools
Lack of internal standards
Lack of effec/ve prof. dev. plans
HR doesn’t support sustainability goals
SOLUTIONS Clarify perf. expecta/ons
Build cri/cal tools Tie prof dev to ins/tu/onal performance goals
Ins/tute clarity in job descrip/ons, perf reviews
Inten/onal learning and feedback
METRICS Survey to all staff Handbook, office manual
New employee orienta/ons
Job Descrip/ons Performance reviews Templates for agendas, workplans,
Tools & resources Professional Development plan
Track metrics and feedback loops for two scales of your business:
• Pornolio-‐wide performance of projects over /me
• Environmental footprint of your corpora/on
ISSUES
No feedback loops!
No baseline or plan to reduce footprint
SOLUTIONS
Request & track performance data
Start baseline and priori/ze strategies to reduce footprint
METRICS
LEED – especially EBOM – Estar, etc
Standard lecer / communica/on ins/tu/onalized
Client Surveys Environmental Footprint baseline begun, executed and priori/es iden/fied.
1.0 Leadership, Strategy & Policy
What are the key factors of good leadership?
How do you institutionalize accountability?
1.0 Leadership, Strategy & Policy
1.1 Vision and Goals Required 1.1.1 Organizational Goals Required 1.1.2 Project Goals 1.2 Strategy and Implementation Planning Required 1.2.1 Well Defined Strategies Required 1.2.2 Implementation Plan 1.3 Policy Required 1.3.1 Policies Exist Required 1.3.2 Policies Communicated Effectively 1.4 Leadership & Accountability Required 1.4.1 Visible Commitment Required 1.4.2 Accountability Structure 1.5 Feedback Loops Required 1.5.1 Indicators Defined Required 1.5.2 Feedback Tracked 1.6 Leadership Support Required 1.6.1 Internal Capacity Building Optional 1.6.2 External Support - Consultants 1.7 Innovation Optional 1.7 Innovation
2.0 Project Delivery 2.1 Pre-Project Assessment Required 2.1.1 Assessment Required 2.1.1 Pre-Construction Services 2.2 Building an Integrated Team Required 2.2.1 Team Structure & Expectations Required 2.2.2 Team Building 2.3 Goals & Planning Required 2.3.1 Project Performance Goals Required 2.3.2 Process Design 2.4 Project Phases Required 2.4.1 Conceptualization Required 2.4.2 Criteria Design Required 2.4.3 Detailed Design Required 2.4.4 Implementation Documents Required 2.4.5 Agency Review Required 2.4.6 Buyout Required 2.4.7 Construction CA Required 2.4.8 Closeout 2.5 Operations Required 2.5.1 Ongoing Performance Optional 2.5.2 Ongoing Commissioning Optional 2.5.3 3rd Party Certifications Required 2.5.4 Ongoing Performance Data Tracking 2.6 Innovation Optional 2.5.5 Innovation
3.0 Infrastructure and Support Systems 3.1 Tools & Resources Required 3.1.1 Project Management Tools & Templates Required 3.1.2 Product Evaluation Required 3.1.3 Reference & Sample Libraries Required 3.1.4 Analysis - Bldg Performance Required 3.1.5 Design Standards Required 3.1.6 Specification Standards Required 3.1.7 Templates Required 3.1.8 IT Processes Required 3.1.9 Communication 3.2 Human Resources Required 3.2.1 Performance Management Required 3.2.2 Employee Manual and Orientation Required 3.3.4 Tracking Metrics 3.3 Training, Education, Continuous Learning Required 3.3.1. Education Plan Required 3.3.2 Interpersonal Skills Required 3.3.3 Management Skills Required 3.3.4 Technical Skills 3.4 Marketing Required 3.4.1 Website Required 3.4.2 Collatoral Required 3.4.3 Proposals Required 3.4.4 Public Presence 3.5 Quality Control Processes Required 3.5.1 QC systems Required 3.5.2 QC effectiveness 3.6 R&D Optional 3.6.0 R&D Activities 3.7 Innovation Optional 3.7.0 Innovation
4.0 Partnering & Collaboration
4.1 Proactive Team Building Optional 4.1.1 Ongoing team building activities Optional 4.1.2 Repetitive Teaming
4.2 Project Solicitation Required 4.2.1 RFP Required 4.2.2 Proposals Required 4.2.3 Design Team Selection Process
4.3 Contractual Agreements Required 4.3.1 Legal Contracts Required 4.3.2 Additional Consultants
4.4 Partner Performance & Team Communications Optional 4.4.1 Formal Partnering Required 4.4.2 Partnering Methodology Required 4.4.3 Collaboration Effectiveness
4.5 R&D Partnering Optional 4.5.0 R&D Partnerships established specifically to pursue research & development of best practices, tools resources or technologies.
4.6 Innovation Optional Innovation
5.0 Outcomes and Metrics
5.1 Project Portfolio Optional 5.1.1 Third Party Certifications Required 5.1.2 Performance Tracking Request Required 5.1.3 Performance Tracking Required 5.1.4 Performance Feedback Loop
5.2 Company Sustainability Footprint Required 5.2.1 Environmental Impact Baseline Required 5.2.2 Social Impact Baseline Required 5.2.3 Goals, Priorities and Implementation plan Required 5.2.4 Tracking Systems Optional 5.2.5 Corporate Certification Required 5.2.6 Performance Feedback Loop
5.3 Innovation Optional 5.3.0 Innovation
Goal setting: charting a course
Define Your Pracbce Now • What’s your market? • SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opps, threats) • What’s your baseline – how green are you now? • What are your biggest challenges as a business? • What are the key systems, processes and prac/ces that you use currently?
Set Your Goals & Indicators • What are your BHAGs (big hairy audacious goals) • SMART goals? SMART = (specific, measurable, achievable, realis/c & /me-‐bound) • What indicators & metrics will be tracked as feedback?
Define Strategies to Achieve Goals • Both long and short term strategies • Create early successes that you can measure • Make sure indicators are tracked to adjust as needed
Define Your Pracbce Now • What’s your market? • SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opps, threats) • What’s your baseline – how green are you now? • What are your biggest challenges as a business? • What are the key systems, processes and prac/ces that you use currently?
HINT: if you base your internal discussions of goal seung in the context of basic business issues, you will have more ‘buy-‐in’. Start by addressing these fundamental ques/ons and then /e sustainability back to them to understand your baseline:
Profitability and Financial Management Growth (expansion into different markets) Staff Afracbon and Retenbon (quality) Quality Control -‐ Consistency in design and delivery Exposure/Liability Management -‐ staff and budget, company and project Transfer of Knowledge and Knowledge Mngmt Mentoring Relabonships
client (repeat and acrac/on) consultants
HINT: if you base your internal discussions of goal seung in the context of basic business issues, you will have more ‘buy-‐in’. Start by addressing these fundamental ques/ons and then /e sustainability back to them to understand your baseline: (see the “Sustainability Sample Plan” on our website)
What’s your vision for the future? What are your goals?
Set achievable SMART* goals...
…understanding your current capabilibes, future vision, and how you might get there.
*SMART = specific, measurable, achievable, realis/c, Time-‐bound
Create a Strategic Plan to Achieve Goals & Implement
…don’t forget:
• Identify and prioritize steps in the plan
• Assign people to be responsible for implementation
• Indicators & Metrics need to be tracked
• Reporting should occur regularly
• Put a timeline on achieving your goals
• Test and adjust the tactics
Examples – Sekng Indicators, Tracking Metrics 1. Profitability: Collaborative process will improve baseline profitability in project management by X% over _ years. (reduced volume of change orders consistent across studios) New scope within existing type of contracts will grow by _ in _ projects per year New scope for existing clients – proactive proposed work New clients
2. Capacity: every studio has its own green evaluator office has one coordinator (or committee takes on expanded function) every XXX employee has LEED AP and has worked on X projects every XXX employee in design has proficiency and comfort level with building sciences X staff become Process facilitation leaders for charrette processes Internal mechanisms for ongoing training/mentoring are in place Infrastructure to share (green) information – existing or new is in place
3. Quality: performance and post occupancy metrics quantified and used in marketing change orders (quality of design) and other indicators of management controlled
4. Enhanced Relationships: Consultants Existing – higher level of input and quality in deliverables. Satisfaction in working relationships New – some new consultants will replace others that did not comply Clients, repeat and new, see profitability. Overall XXX’s reputation with existing and new clients transforms and considered “go to” firm for green design in their sectors. Internal – specific indicators around communication, consistency of project management and finance
5. Internal Process Efficiency: Project management – process maps show changes over time and result in improved profitability Company management: transfer of knowledge, mentoring around green issues becomes embedded in existing mechanisms
Sample workplan - strategy and action Parallel activities
1. Registra/on and company profile
2. Assessment, which creates a baseline and shared understanding of your current situa/on. Then one of two things happen next:
3a. AUDIT ! (If sustainability is truly ins/tu/onalized)
3b. GAP iden/fica/on, strategy and support (if you have “gaps” to close) We can provide support to address gaps in policy, strategy consul/ng, educa/on & training, coaching
3. Cer/fica/on!
4. Annual, brief, Check-‐In
5. Every 3 years, re-‐cer/fica/on
SPI – Formal Process to Support You -‐ Cer/fica/on
SPI Cerbficabon Process Registration
Assessment Boot Camp
CERTIFICATION
Audit
Audit
Continuous improvement
A
B
Owner and Company Endorsements
“Knowing a firm is cerbfied tells me they have the leadership & systems in place to back them up. It sets them apart, makes
them a leader”
Lawrence Healey, Dir. Real Estate Blue Cross/Blue Shield
Lawrence Healey Director of Real Estate, Design and Planning, Blue Cross/Blue Shield
Douglas W. Noonan, PE Head of Group Corporate Real Estate Adidas Group CORENET Global, New England Chapter
John Ziegler, AIA Director - Off-Campus Development Princeton University
SPI Certification is a great tool for
owners!
Lawrence Healey Director of Real Estate, Design and Planning, Blue Cross/Blue Shield
We will use this as a factor in selecting service provider firms. It makes more of a statement than just knowing that a firm has completed some LEED projects or had LEED trained staff…
Knowing the firm is certified tells me they has leadership and systems in place to back them up.
If a firm is willing to go through the audit, it tells me something useful about them, that they really take sustainable seriously. It’s something that sets them apart, it makes them a leader.
Douglas W. Noonan, PE Head of Group Corporate Real Estate Adidas Group & CORENET Global, NE Chapter
SPI certification will absolutely be a factor in my selecting an architect, engineer and contractor.
You’re covering something that needs to be covered, moving beyond individual LEED and project LEED.
Every service provider that comes to us tells us they’re experts in sustainable design and construction. In truth, there’s no way for them to back that claim up (until now).
If the firm has been certified, then I can be comfortable that sustainability is something organic to the way they operate, not something they’ve just added on.
John Ziegler, AIA Director - Off-Campus Development, Princeton University
The certification puts some real teeth in sustainable design. Showing that sustainable design is really integrated into a firm’s culture over time means much more to me than knowing that the firm has built some LEED buildings or has some LEED accredited staff.
It’s also significant to me that your certification process tracks firms over time. Firms getting their buildings LEED certified doesn’t tell me much, it’s just a comment on a point in time. Your certification process is helpful to us because it tracks firms over time.
Its in our hands
Truth about green firms, “prequel”: hcp://bit.ly/greentruth
Links to blog with survey details Part 1: hcp://bit.ly/cuIrMa
Part 2: hcp://bit.ly/dhwZvc
“The Integra/ve Design Guide to Green Building: Redefining the Prac/ce of Sustainability” by 7group, Bill Reed
“Integrated Project Delivery: A Guide”, AIA Nat’l, AIA CA
“Roadmap for the Integrated Design Process”, Stantec
ANSI standard for IPD – Whole Systems Integra/ve Process