Let’s Get Serious

Given today’s science, three common tactical approaches for addressing past and current environmental performance are:

1. Emissions avoidance;
2. Waste reduction;
3. Greener energy production coupled with energy use reduction.

Humans function within an ecosystem - both ecological and economic. Everything is connected in some fashion and flows through cycles and seasons – some natural (ecological) and some human structure (economic). Therefore, it is necessary to approach sustainability as the interactive system it is, implementing broad strategies to improve performance.

 

The building industry has functioned in a linear, hierarchical model for centuries.

This industry is defined by fixed layers of authority, with responsibility and specific tasks delegated to those lower in the structure. As each organization/company grows, more layers of management are added to deal with the growth in formal procedures to ensure accountability. It is a linear, siloed approach.

As part of a strategy to get serious and successful in addressing the cause and effects of human activity on this planet within the building industry, two approaches are recommended:

Firstly -  An interconnected systems thinking approach to sustainability in land-use planning, design/construction, facility operations/asset management and finance.

Systems thinking is characterized by these principles:

• Thinking of the “big picture;”
• Balancing short-term and life-cycle perspectives;
• Recognizing the dynamic, complex and interdependent nature of systems;
• Considering both measurable and nonmeasurable factors;
• Remembering that everyone is part of the systems in which society functions and that each player influences those systems even while being influenced by them.

Existing Industrial Age management structures are not designed for the kind of complexity presented by the challenge of achieving sustainability. As Albert Einstein said, "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them."

Moving from the myth of command-and-control hierarchies to collaborative influence-and-cycles decision making is the way to achieve better value outcomes.

Secondly - Much collaboration is required and possible through the Lean Production System.

Collaboration, particularly in land-use planning, buildings/infrastructure and facility or asset life-cycle management, is achieved through the Lean Production System – philosophy, principles, methods and tools. Key characteristics of the Lean Production System:

1. Organization – based on the Lean philosophy of:
   1. Respect for people,
   2. Maximizing value while minimizing waste, and
   3. Continuous improvement through continuous learning
2. Distributed Interactions – between organizations and individuals in many organizations seeking to solve problems and add production value through collaborative behaviors and decision making. Contract structures like the integrated project delivery (IPD) model and organizations like IFMA have been tested to support these behaviors;
3. Operating System – Lean principles, methodology and tools the associated team uses to deliver the project or service.

Unlike traditional work, Lean in project or service delivery is an integrated process.

Assembly of the building project team, typically of architects and engineers, also includes the general contractor, major sub-trades – suppliers of major building components such as the structural system, envelop and roofing. Although frequently forgotten, the facility manager is the master generalist to be included as part of the owner’s team. The FM has the longer-term, life-cycle interest. If the project involves rezoning land use or density changes or connection to municipal infrastructure, the municipal planner should also be part of the team. Everyone contributes to design, construction and operational decisions. Cost, risk and constructability are validated and managed as project design criteria/constraints and used to make the best value decisions. As a design criterion, cost is balanced between different design options within building system choices.

Sustainability & overall efficiency

Sustainability can be understood in terms of overall system efficiency – projects, buildings and planning. An efficient building consumes less energy and produces less waste and is therefore called sustainable. A design and construction project that consumes less time and capital to achieve better value is likewise considered a more sustainable practice. Construction cost and schedule over-runs then become wasteful relics of the past.

Sustainability is a feature of whole systems. It is more about how the parts/activities work together to achieve efficient overall outcomes. For example, an electric vehicle (EV) is not sustainable if the electricity it runs on is fossil-fuel generated. Likewise, building a net zero home in land intensive suburbia where the inhabitants drive long distances to shop or to work – even if they use EVs – is not sustainable.

In simple systems a linear approach can work; but in something as complex as the building industry, with its many players and complex operations and supply chain, it is more about how the parts are interrelated into the whole that matters. Focusing solely on the parts simply shifts problems down the line or to a different organization and achieves the same overall unsustainable results. In construction, this manifests as change orders, lost schedule, added cost and energy technologies that fail during building operations: waste.

Productivity in the building industry remains static regardless of better technologies. The building industry’s Industrial Age economic business model, management methods and educational structures take a reductionist approach. While optimizing for the parts is important, it is designing and managing for the entire system that is required to achieve overall sustainability.

This industry is now being challenged to improve, requiring a new set of capabilities that goes beyond existing institutions. This industry has always managed within domains (land planning, design, construction, FM, finance, insurance, building codes), within organizations and departments, within functions. The whole was just seen as a set of parts to be integrated through hierarchical structures and contracts.

This illustrates why sustainability is not just about energy efficient light bulbs, recycling programs or switching to electric vehicles. It is truly a new behavior and economic paradigm and requires a new business model creating a new dimension to the economy by going beyond accounting for the parts to accounting also for the whole. What is the life cycle of solar panels and what happens to them at end-of-service life?

Lean production system addresses organization sustainability challenges

Every building project or asset management service is a production system.

The Lean Production System in action resembles this behavior:

• Generation of value;
• Focus on process and flow;
• Removal of waste;
• Optimizing for the whole;
• Continuous improvement;
• All within the practice of respect for people.

There are many methods and tools to apply. Tools themselves are technical or analog; however, the complexity of today’s industry supports interconnected technologies for data capture and management – like building information management and computerized maintenance management systems.

The circular economy – There is a cost to everything

Today a new model for managing the global ecosystem is emerging. A circular economy that relies on information technology, circular market mechanisms in building and asset life cycle management with distributed, collaborative networks. It forms a mechanism for connecting the actions of individuals to the value of the whole. From raw materials to production to use to disposal or recycling and regeneration.

The life cycle of infrastructure is a good illustration of systems thinking in asset management. At its core is shared data and a team of workers.

This recognition of elements in an interconnected system results in an increase in the complexity of designing and managing buildings and infrastructure due to the increased number of factors and people/organizations and timelines involved. Many commercial and institutional building owners are engaged in quarterly risk assessments of property – which now includes climate risk, carbon use intensity and emission reduction.

Within integrated systems thinking, things do not just disappear or get tossed. Designing for adaptation in response to change within the environment suggests pursuing modular solutions – particularly for buildings. Modular and prefab provide capability for accommodating changing functions in buildings over time, reducing wasteful demolition. For example, converting surplus space in a commercial office building into residential or professional service use. Or simply changing office space to a different function using reconfigurable interior systems.

Service economy – a sustainable approach?

The WeWork and AirBnB gig business models run on booking buildings - using technology – creating economic benefit from excess space/functional capacity. This shifts the economic model from solely the consumption of products to the access of services. A sustainable economy built around the life cycle use of products and services instead of single-use products.

This wholistic approach can be overwhelming for individuals, organizations and project teams. The climate-change clock is ticking. However, if systems thinking coupled with the Lean Production System becomes a widespread approach, this collective activity will start to change the outcomes then standardize behaviors resulting in more sustainable practices.

There is no silver bullet – change is hard, and this industry is still exploring the sciences, learning and experimenting. Change generates innovation. Players are not certain to get it right every time but are confident these approaches can make a positive difference and collective learning will be the starting point for the next improved sustainable iteration. It takes the coordination and facilitation skills of a master generalist like an FM – the integrator – in the building industry to bring the experts together in a network, connecting the dots, achieving better results. Designers and constructors have depth/detail perception while the FM has the breadth perception. The FM team is left to manage the life cycle outcome.

Think long term. Collaborate.