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Zeroing In on Better PM

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What triggers a project?   A need or requirement for something that’s never been done before, at least not in the same way.  As a project manager, we also are triggered to change the project plan based on particular requirements.

Some governments are mandating that buildings are “net-zero energy”.  This means that – without any carbon offsets – just through ‘physics’, all of the energy that the building consumes must be produced on-site via renewable means.  Learn more about net-zero here: http://www.worldgbc.org/advancing-net-zero/what-net-zero, and/or have a look at the graphic at the end of this post.

 

And where is the trigger for this blog post?  An article in a political magazine?  A science magazine?  Greenpeace?  No.  In fact, the trigger for this post is from PM Network Magazine – in fact, the cover story from August, 2018.

In it, there is a striking statistic: the number of projects seeking net-zero status (in the US and Canada) increased nearly 50% between 2016 and 2017.  That’s a vector that points towards a possible standard practice for construction.  Also, a graphic in the article shows that by 2020 all new residential building construction projects in the US state of California must be net-zero.

It’ll affect the way the building project is directed.  Literally.  For example, it may change which way the building faces, or the size, shape, and makeup of the windows.

Besides the technical aspects, what special needs does a project like this have? 

I suggest that you read the entire article but here is my summary of what you should be doing as projects like this become more common:

  • Intense collaboration
  • No “over-the-wall” handoffs between design and construction teams
  • Early buy-in to the net-zero mission and its rationale (often the government mandate, but also other drivers such as commitments the enterprise has made to environmental goals)
  • Inclusion of certain key metrics (called a “target value”) in the constant view of the project team
  • More lean/integrated design practices
  • Focus on the ongoing “performance” of the building (usually not on the radar of a project team)
  • Stay focused on new technology and opportunities

 

 

Let me end on a very upbeat note.Some construction project managers are aiming for a net-positive (surplus) of energy.The example given is Arctic Adventures’ Svart Hotel.

 

Watch this video and get inspired:

Here's that graphic referred to earlier in the post:

Posted by Richard Maltzman on: August 31, 2018 10:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)
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"This planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy."

- Douglas Adams

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