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62 • Green Project Management

of the dredging spoils. However, because a project is green by direct impact
doesn’t mean it doesn’t have significant green accomplishments.

Big dig Facts
The project placed 3.8 million cubic yards of concrete, enough
to build a sidewalk three feet wide and four inches thick from
Boston to San Francisco and back three times.
The underground Central Artery will carry about 245,000 vehicles
a day by 2010 versus 75,000 a day before.
The project excavated a total of 16 million cubic yards of dirt,
enough to fill Foxboro Stadium (where the Patriots football team
and Revolution soccer team play) to the rim 15 times.

With the Big Dig, Spectacle Island in Boston Harbor was created when
project dirt was used to cap an abandoned landfill. Additionally, clay and
dirt from the project was used to cap other abandoned landfills in the area.
According to the Massachusetts Transportation Agency (MTA), there was a
12% reduction in carbon monoxide in downtown Boston directly attributed
to the project. Additionally, open space was created when the old elevated
highway was demolished, and there was an emphasis during the project to
keep Boston open for business, protecting the livelihood of the city’s mer-
chants. No matter what type of project it is, it is incumbent on the project
manager to understand the green aspects of their projects, provide an envi-
ronmental strategy, view their project through an “environmental lens,”
and build in “greenality.” Like the Big Dig, projects with immediate and
significant environmental impacts can result in a positive if properly proj-
ect managed. The Big Dig has many other interesting project management
aspects along the lines of scope control, communications, and contract
management—but it would take a separate book (or two) for that. We’ve
limited our coverage to where the Big Dig fits on the spectrum of green.

green By ProduCt imPaCt
Projects that are green by product impact are those whose main focus is
not green but would have impact not in the project itself, but mainly in