Set Aside the Ego
By Bob Massaro
The green rating systems that are now available to all of us in this profession improve and proliferate continually. LEED, Built It Green's GreenPoint Rated, Green Globes and their many first and distant cousins bring value to the design and construction industry. Perhaps one of the most important, if sometimes overlooked, feature of the rating systems is the emphasis on the interdisciplinary nature of the design process.
For the rating systems to function as designed, all the members of the design and engineering team must implement them in a collaborative manner. It is such an important success factor for any project that when we at Healthy Buildings manage a project, we make it a contract requirement that all consultants attend a monthly project meeting (either in person or via teleconference) starting from early on in schematic design.
New consultants sometimes ask why such meetings are important. Bringing them into the interdisciplinary fold forces them out of their "single point of view" comfort zone. The hardest part of building an interdisciplinary approach is getting team members to listen to others, step back from "their way of doing it" and begin the process of incorporating unfamiliar ideas. It typically takes about three meetings for a group of diverse experts to become a real team, expanding individual knowledge and creating a superior end product. When consultants are encouraged to think outside the box, a "sustainability event" occurs. This event can equate to achieving multiple rating points for one design feature as well as ultimately elevating the work product of all consultants participating on the design team.
A project we are currently working on will generate significant demolition waste that we want to divert from landfills. Standing seam metal roofing and steel support members can be readily recycled, but the challenge put to all on the team was to reuse these deconstructed materials on site and thus eliminate transportation entirely. The team's novel solution took about 20 minutes to emerge and owed its life to the collective brainstorming of the architect, landscape architect, structural engineer, contractor and owner's representative. The idea was to deconstruct the members and reconstruct them as signage, an entry element and as a public art element. In doing so, the cost of transportation will be avoided, new component costs will be reduced, recycled credits are anticipated and a public art fund fee will be avoided - all of this positive impact resulting from five people from five different disciplines spending 20 minutes kicking around an idea. It was fun and beneficial for the environment, team morale and the creative flow of all involved.
So, the next time you are part of a collaborative design/build team, remember the teachings of the immortal martial artist, Bruce Lee, who taught: "One can only learn when he comes with an empty cup and leaves his ego behind."
September 2008 Builder Architect Edition Issue