People, Planet, Profits & Projects

The Green Spectrum

In our last book, Rich and I talked about the spectrum of green projects, from green by definition, a wind farm project to green in general, like the compact disk from Big Kenney where the holder was made of compostable material and impregnated with wildflower seeds.  All projects have some aspect of sustainability.  Well, the same holds true for companies.  Companies that you would never expect to have a strong interest in sustainability do have that interest, serious interest!  It is not just interest in “greening up”, it is undertaking huge sustainability projects, and this company has the deep pockets to do it in a big way.

When one thinks of Lockheed Martin there is a tendency to think military applications only because they are the world’s largest defense contractor to a tune of $45+ billion in revenue.  According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, Lockheed Tests the Water, Doug Cameron, November 14, 2014, Lockheed is looking to expand into other markets, due to cutbacks in US military spending.  Lockheed Martin’s sustainability mission is documented on their website “Lockheed Martin has long been driven by the concept of sustainability, a paradigm of corporate social responsibility. Our high standards for ethics, corporate governance and performance excellence distinguish our contributions to global security when it matters most. We define sustainability as fostering innovation, integrity and security to protect the environment, strengthen communities and propel responsible growth.”  So Lockheed’s sustainability mission certainly encompasses 2 of the 3 P’s, people and planet.  There’s no question that they are actively pursuing sustainability within their company.

I am talking about something different; undertaking actual “green by definition” projects.  Lockheed has a project in the works using ultrathin membranes used for desalinating water.  These membranes are measured in nanometer thickness.  Not only can it be used for desalination, but also for water purification.  Both applications have enormous potential to make lives better by provided ample and pure water, as well as water recycling.  

Also from the WSJ article, Lockheed is also working with Kampachi Farms and the Illinois Soybean Association to develop open-ocean fish pens, “intended to enable fish farming without the environmental and other drawbacks of inland or coastal farms.”  Lockheed’s contribution was in developing communications and control systems that allow land based operators to feed the fish and clean the pens floating on ocean currents.” 

The energy sector is particularly interesting to Lockheed.  There is a deal between Lockheed and a Chinese company, Reignwood Group, to develop a 10 Megawatt power plant in the Pacific Ocean “to generate electricity from the temperature difference between deep and shallow water.”  They are alos investigating nuclear-fusion and tidal power plants.  Fascinating stuff!

To gain the advantage going forward, project managers should understand both the “green spectrum” of projects as well as the green spectrum of companies.  

As project managers, we are all about baselining.  That is – determining a reference point from which we make rational judgments.  We baseline scope.  We baseline schedule.  We baseline the budget.  We do this so that we can make informed decisions about the actuals – comparing actual to planned and looking for variance.  It's from this information that we make decisions - important project decisions.

In projects, this is done in the relatively short term.  Even though projects can be decades long, we must remember that in the scheme of things, a 50-year project is – geologically speaking – a flash in the pan, if that.  And that’s where the forams come in.

Forams?  That's not a typo - we didn't mean forum.  Although, there may be a forum for forams.

So - what’s a foram?  They are simple marsh-dwelling creatures – technically called foraminifera, which are choosy about how much time they spend underwater, and so they turn out to be surprisingly precise indicators of ancient sea levels.  Here's a picture of some...

In this article from today’s Boston Globe, you’d find the story of Professor Andrew Kemp of Tufts University, who is studying the ancient climate, “using lessons written in the sediment to discern historical patterns that could help refine models of climate change and sea levels. Generally, local sea level rise is calculated by taking the overall changes predicted by climate models and then factoring in the local conditions. But those are complex and aren’t all understood — a knowledge gap that research like Kemp’s could help fill.”

In other words, they are baselining.

The studies being conducted by Kemp have taken him from North Carolina to Long Island Sound, and now he would like to extend that work to Massachusetts, to build a fine-grained portrait of how sea levels have changed over the last several thousand years in order to make more informed predictions.

We found this story to be interesting in the dual connection to project management: first, the baseline element and second, the fact that it is indeed a project – one that our book Green Project Management would call a “Green By Definition” project.

And there was another, perhaps even stronger connection.

We’ve always treasured one particular aspect of project management – the fact that we are silo-busters.  Read this quote from the article:

‘The work shows the importance in science of borrowing tools and insights from other fields. While biologists might be interested in forams and the ecosystems in which they live for their own right, geologists can use the different species of forams they find and their distribution in the sediment to extrapolate the conditions of the ancient marsh.”

Even within the field of science – there are clearly silos.  And it’s this project team that is breaking down the walls between those silos to gain a positive outcome.  That’s what projects are all about.

And you can use that line… as a baseline.

I’ve talked about Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) projects before, but only in the context of what is going in the United States.  However, some developing nations are also undertaking LEED projects.  Specifically, India has 1675 registered and certified LEED projects according to a recent article on the United States Green Building Council (USBGC) website.  The Suzlon One Earth project is billed as “setting precedents in terms of energy efficiency, water recycling and harvesting, and waste management systems for developing countries.”

Suzlon Energy Limited pledged to create the greenest office in India. The building is three levels high and is sited on 10.5 acres. It achieved LEED for New Construction Platinum certification[1] from the India Green Building Council, as well as Five-Star GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment) certification. 5% (154 kilowatts) of its annual energy is generated on-site through conventional and building-integrated photovoltaic panels (20%) and wind turbines (80%). All balanced energy required for the campus is generated through Suzlon’s off-site wind turbines, making One Earth technically a zero energy project.

This is a great example of the 3 Ps in practice.  For the people piece, the design provides 90% of the work stations with daylight and external views, allowing inhabitants to enjoy seasons and weather conditions, and to connect with the time of the day.  Aluminum louvers act as a protective skin, allowing daylight and cross-ventilation.  A central plaza is one of the design elements that encourages communication, informal interaction and team gathering amongst Suzlon’s more than 1,500 colleagues and provides a visual presentation for occupants and visitors. According to the website, “This corporate campus is a counterblast to prevailing glass-box architecture occurring across India and is a game changer in terms of how corporate campuses have been designed to-date in India.”  The building is also accessible to urban infrastructure and facilities as well as providing employees with public transportation options.

Combining the profit piece with the planet piece, energy is saved (thus bottom-line savings) by employing LED lighting systems and solar water heating. 100% of sewage grey water is recycled into flushing, landscaping and air cooling systems, while 100% of rainwater is harvested. Glass exhaust chimneys with tropical plants act as visual connectors between all floors and allow aeration of the basement parking area.

Suzlon is a great example of how the 3 Ps can interact to provide a balance project that not only meets the financial needs of an organization, but also provides environmental and social advantages as well.  Keeping aware of changes to sustainability technology by reviewing such projects as this, will help a project manager with an eye to the future.

A recent article from Doug Fraser, capecodonlinepoints out the environmental concerns that are affecting the cod fishing industry on Cape Cod.  As he puts it, can you imaging “Cape Cod without cod?” 

Here is a little history of the industry:  “Codfish once supported fleets of 400 schooners each in Gloucester and New Bedford, and as many as 100 schooners crowded into Provincetown Harbor in the 1800s, many headed to rich Canadian fishing grounds and Georges Bank. Cod are wrapped up in the history of the state and the growth of our nation, and symbolic cod hang in both the main courtroom of the Barnstable Superior Court and in the state House of Representatives.  But now, it's largely Iceland, Canada and the Pacific that put cod on restaurant menus and our tables at home. And many experts now worry that a fish, whose fortunes are so closely aligned with our own growth as a country, could now be going extinct. There's an emotional connection, and contemplating the last cod, is like letting the last bald eagle die.”

In spite the sentiments that reflect that we’ve already reached the tipping point of no return, there is a major project to rebuild the supplies of cod, and it looks like a long, hard road ahead.  That project includes a “de facto fishing moratorium.”  Even though there is a proposed catch limit between 214 and 500 metric tons of cod, in the past decade, the take has been in the neighborhood of 6000 metric tons, thus the de facto moratorium. 

So what, pray tell, do the “experts” think the issues are surrounding the dramatic decline in the availability of the species. According to Jake Kritzer, on the staff of the Environmental Defense Fund, an environmental policy group, "Too many dogfish, too many seals, the water is too warm. It's not a good world out there for cod."  The dog fish and the seals have a tendency to increase their population as the water warms.  The environmental factor of climate change (warming waters) has an interesting complexity.  While healthy populations may be able to sustain during adverse conditions, the Gulf of Maine Research Institute argue that the environmental effects are even greater on a smaller population than one that is robust and has enough spawners to overcome adverse conditions. Also, studies also project that a warming ocean might produce less plankton, the base of the food chain critical to both cod larvae and species like herring, which are the favored prey of adult cod.

Additional projects spawned (excuse the pun) by the decline of the cod include electronic monitoring, using video cameras to record the catch and discards, but has not been approved by NMFS for widespread use despite over a decade of testing.  [Editorial – getting the government to make a decision is like pulling teeth!] 

Some of these projects may take as long as 15 years to see results.  While the definition of a project says it is “temporary” the life cycle of these projects will certainly be prolonged.  These projects are also good examples of one of the tips we’ve learned over the years.  While there is a tendency to focus on the near term, try thinking of planning your projects with the end (or long term effects) in mind.

Many of our PM colleagues don't buy the whole climate change "thing".

And that's actually fine with us.

We're not selling a philosophy, nor are we pushing any agenda, political or otherwise.  We have (for many years now) simply been asserting that there is a connection between project management and sustainability.  In our past book (Cleland Award-winning "Green Project Management") we made that connection between projects, project managers, and sustainability.  In our upcoming book, "Sustainability in Projects, Programs, and Portfolios", as you can probably guess, we've advanced that assertion to the program and portfolio level - partially because we know that business leaders - VPs and Directors - ARE buying sustainabiilty as a business imperative and are integrating sustainability into their business plans, and partially because we've found a much more receptive audience for sustainability and long-term thinking in project management at the program and portfolio levels.

This is illustrated in the latest issue of PM Network, which features a front page showing the Ivanpah solar installation in California and is titled, "The Energy Evolution" issue, there is a quote which illustrates this.

"Because of the 20- to 50-year lifespan of typical energy capital projects, investment decisions and resulting assets from these projects will impact the organization for decades to come", says Galen Townson, PMP, PMO lead at Synergy, an energy provider based in Perth, Australia.  "Not knowing what's going to happen in longer horizons creates a lot of risk in that investment, and the uncertainty is greater and it demands even more of a portfolio management approach". 

This quote shows us that Synergy - by necessity, is buying long-term thinking in their projects.

And that takes us to the numbers.

The numbers to which we send you is the "metrics" section of PM Network this month, which features some astounding figures.  For example:

• US$700 billion: Annual additional spending on clean energy infrastructure, low-carbon transport, energy efficiency and forestry projects need to cap the rise of global temperatures
• US$271 billion: Annual cost of climate change in the United States by 2025, including hurricane damage, real-estate losses and increased energy and water costs
• US$73 billion: Annual cost to climate-proof East Asia's infrastructure per through 2050
• 85% increase in teh number of undernourished people in southern Africa by 2050 - due to climate change
• and on, and on... see page 16 of the October, 2014 issue of PM Network for the full graphic

So this is PMI (not Greenpeace, not the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, not Al Gore) simply reporting on the numbers - the facts - that are out there, whatever your beliefs are about the science.

We're depressed by some of the numbers (like the sea level rise numbers, comparing .62 feet between 190 and 2010 verus a projected 2 to 4.6 feet from 2000 to 2100, or the projected global tempurature increases of up to nearly 10 degrees F), but we are glad to see that at least the amount of investment that business and government is committing is present and public in a journal like PM Network.

So we hope that you are "buying' at least the concept that projects focused on sustainability are on the rise - and that you can also make the connection to the concept that projects (at all levels, and whether or not they are related to climate change) should be integrating sustainability, holistic, long-term thinking, if for no other reason than to tether them more firmly to the mission and vision statements of the enterprise.

The altruism is there but often silent.

The numbers - well, they're a little louder.

Are you buying?