This month, I wanted to bring you the most recent question that came in from a Detroit reader: “When working on a LEED project, what has been the toughest thing you had to do to get members of your team ‘with the program'”?
When you take up the lead role as a LEED team leader (or LEEDer), you take on responsibilities that others on the project team will not have. A LEEDer needs to know the LEED rating system, building science, and the design and construction process. A LEEDer must also be a translator, communicator, peacemaker, researcher, document control manager and, at all times, a cheerleader. While I do not like to use the title cheerleader, it is perhaps the best description for this situation.
A cheerleader or a cheer squad comes on to the field or the floor with one mission: to keep the fans positive, motivated and willing to make a crowd roar when the home team scores a point while having the ability to control the mob when the opposing team scores a goal. Cheerleaders, like project LEEDers, have an important job to do.
There have been many occasions where, as a LEEDer, I found myself inside of dumpsters sorting recyclables or at the place of manufacturing trying to explain to the plant manager that his “special process” does not abide by the conditions of LEED. There have been other times when it seemed like during an entire project, my team and I were playing referee between the designers and the contractor. The projects that I have had the opportunity to work on all had unique challenges in regards to LEED. Perhaps the hardest thing to do was to dismiss someone from the project team.
I faced this situation on one of the first LEED projects I worked on as a LEEDer. In an effort to better understand the situation, I must provide some of the background details of the story. This was a design-build project where the contractor and designers were supposed to be working together in an integrated fashion. No one on the team had a great deal of experience with LEED, but the project owner had set a very high goal for a LEED certification level. The team was looking to gain LEED points wherever they could.
The project owner fully supported the LEED effort. Even though there were times when it did not seem like there was much oversight, there was an abundance of support coming from the boardroom. The owner encouraged the team to look for solutions to problems that had a positive effect on multiple areas of the project. An example of this was the landscape and land utilization the team used.
The project team had high expectations to use a fairly large site (14 acres) to satisfy multiple credits within the Sustainable Sites and the Water categories found in the LEED rating system. The team’s lack of knowledge regarding native landscapes was light and with that, the team hired a professional to assist with the native landscape design. The initial meeting took place, and the entire meeting focused on what the owner wanted and, more importantly, what was not to be included. For four hours, the team spent time explaining the design intent and how the LEED rating system should be used for guidance during the building design. Details of the site constraints and opportunities that existed on this site were also discussed. At the end of the meeting, everyone in attendance felt content with the information that was exchanged, and the team waited in anticipation for the initial design.
Six weeks later, the concept design drawings were presented. Instead of being overwhelmed with stellar design elements and innovative techniques, the team was surprised to find all of the elements that the owner wanted. The team was even more shocked when they observed just about everything the owner did not want in the landscape had also been included, like turf grass, non-native trees and bushes, an irrigation system, and up-lighting inside of the trees. The team was counting on at least six credit points associated with the site design, and the concept was barely going to achieve three points. Needless to say, the team was frustrated with the submission and found themselves not knowing where to turn.
The first thing I had to do as the LEEDer in this situation was to dismiss this particular designer from the team, simply because this “team member” did not get it. Even after the team took the time to explain what was desired and why the owner wanted certain elements, the designer did not create a useable design and was adamant about keeping the outlined ideas in tact despite the team’s and owner’s wishes. We thanked the designer for putting the time into that particular project and paid for work completed.
It was unfortunate that we had to remove the designer from the project, but the decision needed to be made so we could move the project forward and meet or exceed the owner’s expectations. When working on LEED construction projects, tough measures sometimes need to be taken to help team members understand the LEED process.
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Thomas Taylor, a 30-year veteran of the construction industry and noted expert on sustainability, is the general manager of St. Louis-based Vertegy. His book, “Guide to LEED 2009: Estimating and Preconstruction Strategies,” provides step-by-step information about the LEED 2009 for New Construction process. To learn more about Vertegy or Thomas’ book, visit www.vertegyconsultants.com for more information.