High Performance Outcomes

C. 2008 Well maybe not “long long ago”. To be real…September 17, 2014 was my last post to this blog. Almost a decade. Back then, bloggin’ was somewhat new, at least to me, having started in 2011. Writing thoughts to anonymous readers was a way to crystallize the research and application of what I’ve developed over my many years in the design and construction industry. Much of this thinkery was applied to projects that achieved great success, beyond my expectations. Many fell flat on their face, providing insult to my ego, a loss of credibility to some, humility, doubt in my mind. What the hell…let’s tweak it and try again! And the outcomes always got better in direct proportion to my learning from both success and failure. On that note, the note of courage to try again, I have a future post coming. The story of a major government project, millions of dollars, a third-party critique of the project approach, an empty office occupied by only me and a government PM (who had about 20 bosses

NREL's First DB Project If you missed my discussion on DBIA Best Practice #1 and the introduction of this series, now is the time to review . Moving on to BP#2 An owner should implement a procurement plan that enhances collaboration and other benefits of design-build and is in harmony with the reasons that the owner chose the design-build delivery system. Right off the bat, this practice charges the owner with fostering a procurement plan that enhances “collaboration”: a prominent opportunity and result of Design-Build Done Right. However, the beneficial affects of collaboration do not move from opportunity to result without a determined effort on the part of the owner. To pause here, and go deeper into collaboration, consider that this requires the owner, designer and builder to make commitments, and keep them. The owner is, and must be, the guardian of the collaborative effort: because the project owner is uniquely positioned as the default “governor” of th

If you are interested in “green” buildings (irrespective of how you define that), and want to change your project’s outcome to achieve your definition of “green”, then you may find this post interesting. If you are interested in “ugly” buildings (however you may define that), and want to create the world’s most “ugly” building, then you too may find this post interesting. In other words: if you are interested in (fill in the blank) buildings, and want to create the most (fill in the blank) building in history, then you should definitely find this post interesting.

Practice Makes Perfect Now that the design and construction 'world' is taking in Design-Build Institute of America's ( DBIA ) 10 Best Practices for Design-Build , I want to take time and convince all that this "living" document of practices is, indeed, a sort of magic.  I say 'magic', because to follow these practices is to transform an otherwise adequate outcome into a High  Performance  Outcome … and that is what I'm here to advance. I'm not going to recite the 10 BP's: you can read them for yourselves. What I want to do in this blog-series is share my  experience with  each: gained over the past 15 years, on how I've applied them (before & after their systemization)  and either succeeded or failed with each. In this way I intend to give you, the reader, a practical perspective of each, and how they have accomplished their goal implicit in the document's introduction:

Patrick Henry, 1736-1799 It's seems somewhat just that the defender of liberty spoke his famous words before citizens considering a new convention for government. To borrow from Patrick Henry's inspiration, consider these questions in the context of "conventional" project delivery strategies: What if you could name the bid-price for your next project? What if you could be certain that the price you name satisfies all of your project needs? What if the project you purchased, at the price you named, exceeded all of your expectations? What if all this could be done within a marketplace ready to respond? What if you could do the same when it comes to project delivery and the acquisition of your next project?  This is exactly what the City of Liberty Missouri is doing for their new $65 million wastewater treatment facility and collection/conveyance system improvements. That's right, Liberty!

3 Common Roadblocks to Achieving Project Performance 1- The Project Delivery Model: This is not to say that all three primary Delivery Models can't achieve a "High Performance" result. It's that the risk/cost associated with various Project Delivery Models creates a barrier to High Performance by jeopardizing the project's budget. The proof of this is evident in the inventory of High Performance Green Buildings built over the past several years. They are the exception, not the rule. All things being equal, no owner would avoid the creation of a facility that reduces their energy costs by up to 50%, unless their budget "forbids" it.

"What's right" with our evolving industry? DBIA has just released its 10 Best Practices...a recipe moving forward for true 'integration' and collaboration', and a distinguishing of their individual purpose and practice. How does one build trust? I wrote a blog post about trust a few months back; I believe trust to be an unnatural act past the age of 4 or so. Unfortunately life teaches us this. Trust is built through 'performance'. If a person agrees to do something for another (promise), and in turn satisfies the promise (the results), then trust is planted between the two. If repeated reliably, then trust grows firmly. I believe only people can be trusted. Institutions can only establish a faith in their credo.