Page 101 - The Green Building Bottom Line The Real Cost of Sustainable Building

80 CHAPTER 3

Case Two
Scenario: An open call for architectural/design proposals to win a commission to
build a new green building for a public agency. This process involves sitting before a
group of decision makers and giving your best case for why your firm should be
selected to design the building. As this was a green building, with sustainable aspects
to the building referenced throughout the request for proposals, the agency charged
with awarding the contract assumed that the competing architectural firms that were
submitting proposals were already either green or had a true commitment to going
green. Naturally, during the question-and-answer portion of each firm’s presentation,
the topic of sustainability came up. One firm, which had expressed a strong desire to
focus its work around designing green buildings (and thus this green building), was
asked two questions: First, does your firm have a recycling program? No, it did not
have a recycling program. Second, what is your definition of sustainability? You could
see the collective gasp as the representatives of the firm stumbled for what they thought
the correct answer should be, obviously conjuring up a response on the spur of the
moment. After conferring among themselves about who should answer the question,
the response came from an outside consultant (not a member of the firm), who spoke
vaguely about the importance of energy efficiency. Everyone around the table could
sense this idea had not been discussed previously. There is no right or wrong answer
to defining sustainability. Part of the challenge with the notion of sustainability—as
well as its potential—rests with the fact that it has a different meaning to each person,
firm, and organization. The important thing is that the topic has been broached within
an organization and deliberated, so that a company indeed has some definition it feels
is meaningful and provides purpose and direction. Not having a thoughtful response
creates an authenticity gap for a firm hoping to broadcast its desire to design sustain-
able buildings.
Lesson: When you advocate your desire to design sustainable buildings, create a
sustainable product, or offer a sustainable service, you need to have a well thought out
concept of what sustainability signifies, and everyone in your organization should be
able to articulate it and/or provide a personal perspective on the company’s general
philosophy. (This concept will be covered in more detail later in the chapter.)

Case Three

Scenario: A meeting with another architecture firm with two green projects in its
portfolio. A casual conversation ensued about the firm’s other current projects—a
building here, a parking deck there—lots in the hopper. Knowing the firm had worked
with green technology before for clients who required it, the representatives were
asked if they were incorporating a few basic green features, such as waterless urinals
or ultra-low flow toilets, into the projects they had started after the completion of the
aforementioned green building projects. The answer was, no, they had not thought about
using waterless urinals or low-flow fixtures. Incorporating sustainability only when an
owner/client/consumer/investor asks you to is certainly not authentic.