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98 • Green Project Management

“project managers must first understand the green aspects of their proj-
ects, knowing that knowing that this will better equip them to identify,
manage, and respond to project risks.” If a project has been identified as
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green by intent, perhaps there is some urgency to protect a limited, fragile,
or critical resource in imminent danger. An example of that would be an
environmental project such as the ones that are being prompted by the
severe drought conditions in Kenya, Africa.
According to IRIN News, “Humanitarian News and Analysis, a Project
of the UN Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (http://
www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=82683), scarce water resources
is the reason for escalating violence among the people of northeastern
Kenya. It is about gaining access to the limited water and pasture areas.
Because of the drought, people are struggling to find water for themselves
and their livestock. Consequently, without the water, there will be no
food, either.” An article on National Geographic’s Web site on September
21, 2009 (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/09/090921-
kenya-animals-drought-water.html), says, “More than sixty African ele-
phants and hundreds of other animals have died so far in Kenya amid the
worst drought to hit the country in over a decade. In addition, 30 baby
elephants have been reported dead so far this year in Amboseli National
Park, farther south. So-called ‘long rains’ that usually fall in March and
April failed this year, and some areas have now been in drought condi-
tions for almost three years. No one knows why the drought has been so
bad. Many attribute it to global warming, but others say it is simply part
of the long-term weather cycle in East Africa.” The need for a water proj-
ect is critical.
Some of the projects that are going on now and some that we anticipate
will start soon are deep-water well construction, irrigation projects, water-
processing and -holding facilities, low-water-impact sanitation projects,
among others. The green aspects of these projects are obvious. What isn’t
obvious is their effect on the project management schedule and resources.
Project managers will have to make decisions on the project calendars and
ask questions like: Will there be any holidays or weekends considered?
Will project execution take place 24/7 because of the criticality of the solu-
tions? If it does require 24/7 execution, what will be needed—generators,
fuel, lighting, to say nothing of the personnel requirements to both man-
age and work on the project? One of the authors recently noted that a large
highway construction project did much of its work at night, to avoid shut-
ting down the highway during busy times. Makes sense. For night work,