Page 101 - Green Building Through Integrated Design

78 THE ECO-CHARRETTE

Adopt “Right Mind”

From the experience at the Arboretum, you can clearly see the value of an extended
design charrette in solving more intractable site and program issues. People need time
to reflect; that’s perhaps the one critical problem-solving element that’s really missing
during periods of intense design activity. Without periods of reflection and casual
interaction, it’s often possible to overlook good design solutions in the rush to finish
the charrette and get on with the “real work” of design. We still fight the notion that
ideas are vague and unpleasantly slow to come at times, whereas drawings are solid,
concrete, and can be produced on a clear timetable. Here’s a bit of sage advice for our
hurried times: don’t just do something, sit there.
James Weiner is a Los Angeles–based architect with a similar philosophy and
approach. He says:
My experience is that most groups of professionals on a design team speak about inte-
grated design but they really don’t know what it is. Even on a high-level LEED proj-
ect, there’s still a very clear firewall between many of the disciplines that come
together on a project. We try to break that down by gathering as many of the people
involved with the project from the start, right through to occupancy and maintenance.
We get everyone into a room at the project initiation and discuss the values, goals, and
processes that we’re going to be using in order to move the design process forward in
a sensible fashion.*

Weiner sees that one of the most important tasks of the charrette and the charrette
facilitator is to force a change in standard approaches.

By and large, the project delivery process is pretty deeply embedded. Owners will
develop programs without necessarily talking with the design team who are going to
be delivering them. They certainly aren’t conflicted about developing building pro-
grams without involving the contractors who will build the actual buildings.
Architects will often start working without hiring all of the consultants that ultimately
need to lend their expertise to a project. They’ll often defer hiring the engineering dis-
ciplines until relatively late in the game.

Weiner’s point of view is something of an amused skeptic who is also a very pas-
sionate advocate for green buildings and sustainable design. I find this typical of the
leading green building consultants and eco-charrette facilitators. Reflecting his partic-
ular approach, Weiner says:

People need to first come together as humans who happen to use buildings. They can
share their personal values and then figure out what their technical contributions are
going to be for the successful expression of their values. That first step is very hard
for a lot of teams. They’ll look at that and say, “Gee, this is kind of soft and fuzzy.”

*Interview with James Weiner, March 2008.