WASP Enterprises, Essay Example

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Re: Warehouse district Minneapolis – LEED certified building

Summary

My first impression of the article was that it appeared to be researched thoroughly with clear guidelines and methods as to what the study attempted to achieve. However after subsequent readings I have come to the conclusion that the authors, and associated advisory panel, might have a slightly biased view towards implementing project delivery using the DB and CMR delivery system methods (which are Integrated Project Delivery methods) with regards to Leadership in Energy, Environmental Design (LEED) certified building development. Most genuine studies always specify any limitations with regards to their methods, participants, and their impact to any subsequent conclusions or findings. It was interesting to note that there were no such limitations identified in the article.

The findings recognized four common elements in projects that, if present, could maximize sustainable design and construction efforts: Impact of Owner commitment, Impact of Green Timing, Impact of Integration and Impact of Contract Payment Provisions.

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The protocols evaluated in the articles are in regards to High-performance in sustainable design. The first mentioned impact, the Impact of Owner Commitment, in regards to sustainable green energy, the study authors note that, “green strategies should be an owner driven factor (Gransber, Korkmaz, McCuen, Molenaar, Riley, Sobin (2010).” This theory is supported by Dings in his article “Integrated Project Delivery: The preferred delivery method for Green Building” that green initiatives in construction need to have a foresight and level of leadership and planning that only the most vested stakeholder can bring to the table (2009). This is due to the fact that many green strategies currently are still in their development stage for earning back revenues. This is also why I believe the type of team members organized for a green project or one that requires collaborative or integrative building designs needs to be forward thinking managers and planners open to compromise and those who understand the new direction of sustainable energy construction.

LEED requires that buildings are to be designed and constructed to standards that are above and beyond the traditional building codes that currently exist – compound this with the fact that LEED requires the building’s environmental qualities to be certified by an impartial, neutral party. These items alone significantly increase the scope, and hence the time and cost, for any building project. Add the fact that LEED provides only a point rating system that analyzes the qualities of a green building, and it is this last point that can lead to a myriad of open questions with which to answer, since a LEED certified green building can be constructed in so many different ways. The only way to achieve LEED certification is for highly collaborative manner of working by the owner, architect and builder, from the conceptualization phase through to the close out phase.

Conclusion

In sum, the article concludes by finding that the four common elements of Impact of Owner Commitment, Impact of Green Timing, Impact of Integration and Impact of Contract Payment Provisions all maximize sustainable design and construction efforts.  The study authors note that, “The study found that all project delivery methods were used to achieve all levels of LEED certification (Gransber, Korkmaz, McCuen, Molenaar, Riley, Sobin (2010).” They go on to conclude that these integrated project delivery methods proved to be most successful options and they were used in 75 percent of the projects of study. Their final analysis is that the sustainable project delivery methods design-build (DB) and construction management at risk (CMR) demonstrate significant advantages in project performance when compared to the design-bid-build DBB alternative. The effectiveness of these methods is in turn increased by the guaranteed maximum price (GMP) payment provisions.

My recommendation is aligned with the conclusion of the study. I believe that the demand for sustainable energy growth is too profound to not implement even higher standards of construction. Furthermore, the majority of the studies finding concluded, over 70%, found that the more progressive CMR and DB when integrated in a collaborative effort produce the best results. Integrated Project delivery method in order to achieve an LEED certified building need to proceed along this path.

Reference:

Dings, R,E., (2009). Integrated Project Delivery: The preferred delivery method for Green Building. Harvard University, (Vol. 3, pp 34-43).