Page 248 - The Green Building Bottom Line The Real Cost of Sustainable Building

226 CHAPTER 7

ing new ground and making mistakes. If we are not making mistakes, we are not
extending ourselves into new paradigms of business conduct that may possibly redress
some of the major crises facing our planet. We are not reaching for the kinds of accom-
plishments that allow a business to not only rise above the competition, but to realize
its own highest potential. When we allow for public scrutiny, we must showcase our
shortcomings as well as our achievements. This means openly discussing our failures.
For one thing, the sustainable movement needs an open airing and sharing not only
about what has worked but what has not worked. We simply don’t have the time to
reverse the serious consequences of global warming if we are reticent about sharing
what we are doing that just isn’t measuring up. For another, a business that intends to
sustain itself over the long term needs this critical scrutiny.
When people sometimes tell us, “Man, you guys have it right,” I wonder if it’s perhaps
the reverse, that conventionally speaking, we have it all wrong. There is very little we
do that would be considered typical of a successful businesses. We are opportunistic
to a fault, using our small size to remain highly agile. We frequently jump from one
property segment to another, developing cutting edge properties but seldom repeating
a property model. While our executive management team has titles for external effi-
ciency, actual roles shift on a regular basis within the CEO/COO/CFO triumvirate. We
attend board and management meetings and openly disagree with one another. Where
we see this as the only way to pursue the truth in any given situation, our board tells
us that we don’t appear to be on the same page. Consistently, by the norm, we do
things wrong. Yet our financial performance is commensurate with other real estate
developers and strong enough to source well-established capital partners.
It’s our shared belief structure that makes us comfortable with public scrutiny.
Though we’re not afraid to admit mistakes and be judged for them, we hope we’ll be
judged for intent and authenticity as much as for the result. As a practical matter, we
have to be right a whole lot more often than we are wrong, but cannot let fear of being
wrong dissuade us from what be believe is the correct path. Nor can we be afraid of
public scrutiny when we mess up. I think of it this way: if I am afraid to defend my
decision, I shouldn’t have made the decision to begin. If I am afraid to answer to pub-
lic scrutiny, I didn’t think things through well enough. Fault me for the outcome, but
I should never be afraid to defend my intention.

Concluding Remarks

We have been discussing throughout this chapter how one makes a compelling case for
green buildings, focusing attention on key users such as tenants, communities, and
financial institutions. In doing so, we have touched upon the financial, social, and envi-
ronmental aspects of sustainable practices. But what about the people within an orga-
nization who are charged with making that pitch, such as myself? Does it matter that
we, too, realize the value of green?
I’d like to conclude this question by considering the value of green in a personal
context. After all, the best businesses understand that there has to be a larger relevance