JOC and Green

Green is seemingly everywhere today.  For us in the facilities world, much of the focus seems to be on glamorous new LEED buildings.  But the fact is the greenest building is almost always the one you're already in.

That's because of a concept called embodied energy.  Simply put, our existing buildings took alot of energy to build--the manufacturing process for the windows and brick, the transporting of materials to the jobsite, the machinery run on site.  And it takes a great deal more energy to demolish that building down and rebuild a new one, no matter how green.  By some measures, there is a 60+ year payback on replacing the biggest energy hog with a LEED platinum building, when embodied energy is considered. 

This isn't to say that we should stop building new LEED buildings.  We will continue to need new buildings for new purposes, and the move to LEED and other certifications is an important first step in the awareness of how our buildings impact the environment.  But an AIA study reveals that 75% of existing buildings will required major renovation by 2030, and how we go about that work, and the many incremental upgrades that occur in existing buildings, will have a far greater impact on our environment and our pocketbook than the sexy new buildings that make the magazine covers.

Of course most facility managers are more concerned with current budget issues than with embodied energy that was paid for long ago, and shrinking capital budgets are requiring us to reconsider the financial viability of new construction and focus on maintaining our existing buildings and upgrading them for greater energy efficiency and sustainability wherever possible. 

Job Order Contracting has an important role to play in the greening of our existing buiding stock.  As a collaborative, performance-based delivery method focused on remodel, renovation and repair, JOC can help building owners identify and implement green and sustainability strategies.  Studies have proven that collaborative delivery methods that involve the contractor at the outset are more successful in achieving sustainabiltiy goals; the focus of these studies has been CM At-Risk and Deisgn-Build, but Job Order Contracting brings the same approach to the table for retrofits and upgrades.

JOC's focus on cyclical upgrades means that building owners can integrate green materials and systems as they have maintenance funding available, and over time they can achieve increasing sustainability, energy efficiency, and occupancy comfort without a single major capital outlay.  The joint scoping and design-to-budget capabitlies of JOC mean that an owner can determine the level of green investment, after considering a menu of options.  By incorporating energy audits and payback analysis into the JOC proposal process, a contractor can empower the owner to make wise decisions based on a balance of lifecycle costing and more altruistic sustainability goals.

An exciting development in the JOC world is the upcoming release of a Green Building Cost Data book from RS Means, which will allow JOC contractors to accurately price some of the more cutting-edge green building technologies like solar installations and green roofs.  This book is being rolled out at Greenbuild in Chicago later this month, and we can't wait to get our hands on it!