Energy Use Intensity (EUI) is a key metric used to benchmark buildings. Basically, EUI expresses a building’s energy use as a function of its size. In Portfolio Manager, the EUI is expressed as energy per square foot per year. Generally a lower EUI signifies better energy efficiency, although clearly different building types will always consume […]
Stop selling sustainability!
Every week, I get at least one call from a Sustainability Director or practice leader from somewhere in North America. Each call is the same: SD leader: “Hello, my firm markets how green we are, but we really aren’t what we say…I just can’t seem to get buy-in.” Me: “Can you tell me a little […]
LEED v4 IP Credit & Project Delivery: You can fix it, here’s how
Project delivery is the life-blood of our business. It’s the heart and soul of professional practice. And it’s broken. Many clients don’t realize the extent to which the traditional project delivery process impacts their capital and operating costs. Everyone complains about how dysfunctional it is, but here we are…day after day…repeating the insanity. Inflated costs […]
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Putting the Management Back in Change Step 7: Leveraging Improvements and Producing Still More Change
In my series, “Putting the Management Back in Change,” I’ve been looking at what it really takes for companies to successfully institutionalize sustainability and truly be “green firms.” I’ve been using Harvard business guru John Kotter’s 8 step model for organizational change as a framework, but I use it to focus on sustainability initiatives. Previously, […]
Diving Into Waters of the AIA 2013 Commitment
Guest Post by Amy Seif Hattan, Corporate Sustainability Officer and Wolfgang Werner, Vice President, Thornton Tomasetti In July 2010, our company became the first predominantly structural design firm to join the AIA 2030 Commitment, which supports the goal of carbon-neutral building by 2030. We joined the Commitment because we believe that buildings of the future […]
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Putting the Management Back in Change Step 8: LAST BUT NOT LEAST, CULTURE!
In my series, “Putting the Management Back in Change,” I’ve been looking at what it really takes for companies to successfully institutionalize sustainability and truly be “green firms.” I’ve been using Harvard business guru John Kotter’s 8 step model for organizational change as a framework, but I use it to focus on sustainability initiatives. Previously, […]
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Putting the Management back in Change Part 5: Removing Obstacles; Empowering Others to Act
In my first article in this series, “Putting the Management Back in Change“, I began looking at what it really takes for companies to get past a focus on LEED to successfully institutionalize sustainability and truly be “green firms”. In the series, I use Harvard business guru John Kotter’s 8 step model for organizational change […]
Putting the Management Back in Change, Part 4: Communication Effectiveness
In my first article in this series, “Putting the Management Back in Change“, I began looking at what it really takes for companies to successfully institutionalize sustainability and truly be “green firms”. Too frequently, I encounter firms who have not realized that becoming a truly green firm means more than having LEED projects in your […]
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Putting the Management back in Change Part 3: Vision
In my first article in this series, “Putting the Management Back in Change“, I began looking at what it really takes for companies to successfully institutionalize sustainability and truly be “green firms”. The common misconception that having LEED projects in your portfolio makes you green doesn’t tell the full story and misrepresents what it really […]
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Putting the Management back in Change Part 2: The value of coalitions
In my earlier article,”Putting the Management Back in Change”, I began looking at what it really takes for companies to successfully institutionalize sustainability and truly be “green firms”. The common misconception – that having LEED projects in your portfolio makes you green – doesn’t tell the full story and misrepresents what it really takes to […]
Read More… from Putting the Management back in Change Part 2: The value of coalitions