Page 114 - Green Building Through Integrated Design

GETTING CONSISTENT RESULTS 91

Finally, I think there’s a message here for architects. As the “captain of the ship” for
project teams, they have to take full responsibility if the voyage isn’t completed, or if
some of the cargo or deckhands are missing when the ship pulls into port. It’s time for
architects (in general) to get down to the serious business of getting high-performance
green buildings actually built and certified. Isn’t it time for the design professions to admit
that they still have a hard time producing really green buildings each time out, every time,
on or near conventional budgets? In my view, that admission of failure would open the
door for real learning to start, and for the most part, architects need to lead the charge.

Getting Consistent Results

Let’s take a look at how one owner, the University of Washington, tackles the issue of
getting LEED certification on every project. Clara Simon was hired a few years ago as
the first sustainability director for the Capital Projects Office. She relates her experi-
ence with LEED projects.*

Currently most of our LEED projects are state-funded projects. In the state of Washington
there is a requirement that we need to achieve at least LEED Silver on all of our projects.
(Through early 2008, the university had achieved four LEED certified buildings—
including one LEED-CS Gold—with 14 LEED projects in process.) State funding drives
the process a lot here on these projects, and sustainability is a key component.
We know at the very beginning that we’re going to need to meet certain sustainability
requirements so we begin with our requests for information (RFI) and requests for
proposals (RFP); we’re required to post ads in the paper about our projects because
we’re a public institution. We put right in there at the beginning that we need to meet
at least LEED Silver. That’s a trigger point at the very beginning when we’re hiring
professionals in terms of the direction that we’re going to take on these projects.

The university recognizes that the key to the success of LEED projects is to stream-
line the process. We’re constantly taking knowledge gained on each project and put-
ting it into action for a higher level of success on the next project. The University of
Washington has developed integrated design guidelines that cover a multitude of
design choices for each project.
To implement the sustainable design process, I get on board at the very beginning in
predesign and I meet with the architect and the engineer [who can be different from
one project to another and typically are different]. We develop a building committee
that usually includes the client, the architects, engineers, and even the landscape
architects at times. There’s a state law that says the university cannot bring the contrac-
tor on in that point in time, which is unfortunate; however, we can bring the contrac-
tor on board under a certain type of contract at schematic design. We try to develop
our team up front. Usually I will give at least one presentation to the building team
about what is sustainable design for us.

*Interview with Clara Simon, University of Washington, February 2008.