Page 171 - Green Building Through Integrated Design

INTRODUCTION TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL VALUE-ADDED METHOD 147

the elements of the Triple Bottom Line that they are striving for. While defining the
goals that the project should strive for, project teams should also define any constraints
that might affect those areas of interest. Skipping this visioning session leaves most
green building projects at the mercy of the dreaded “value engineering” or merely
cost-cutting exercises, Table 8.1 presents a set of goals articulated during an actual
project visioning session for a corporate campus project.
Once the team defines the goals strived for along with the constraints, the team
should then evaluate the list for synergies among the Triple Bottom Line elements.
Synergies can always be found. For example, in Table 8.1, under “Planet: Reduce
Energy Consumption” and “Reduce Greenhouse Emissions” are linked to each other.
These elements align with “Reduce Energy Costs” under the Profit category, which
then aligns with the People category element of “Be a Good Corporate Citizen” and
“Reduce Greenhouse Emissions.” When multiple elements across multiple categories
align, the team can be fairly sure that the ownership team will stay focused on the ele-
ments of high performance green design that deliver those elements (Table 8.10).
After this analysis, the team has an understanding of the benefits that the owner is
striving for, and the team can begin designing the project. The benefits that the owner
has chosen to focus on should become part of the EVA (Environmental Financial Value
Analysis) log. Unlike VA (Value Analysis) or VE (Value Engineering) the EVA log is
meant to retain sustainable elements in the building that have an important role in deliv-
ering the financial results the client wants in a given project.

TABLE 8.1 TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE GOALS FOR A PROJECT VISIONING
SESSION FOR A CORPORATE CAMPUS
PLANET/ENVIRONMENTAL PROFIT/ECONOMIC PEOPLE/SOCIAL
GOALS TO STRIVE FOR

Reduce energy Reduce energy Be a good corporate
consumption 50% costs 50% citizen
Reduce greenhouse gas Reduce water Provide a healthy work
emissions 50% costs 50% environment
Reduce water usage 50% Reduce maintenance Reduce greenhouse
costs gas emissions
Reduce waste produced Increase productivity Maximize utilization of
during construction and resources
during operations
Protect biodiversity Reduce risk of sick Reduce overall carbon
building-related issues footprint
CONSTRAINTS
Site is already selected Owners payback targets Limited experience
are <10 years internal to owners’ team