Article Number : 6118 |
|
Article Detail |
|
 | |
| Date | 11/16/2010 9:05:22 AM |
| Written By | LGM & Associates Technical Flooring Services |
| View this article at: | //floorbiz.com/BizResources/NPViewArticle.asp?ArticleID=6118 |
| Abstract | By Liz Switzer The financial benefits of sustainable design are becoming more tangible, but it can still be difficult to sell clients on green options, particularly in this economy. Financial and psychological challenges to sustainable design often make the design professional’s job more... |
| Article | By Liz Switzer The financial benefits of sustainable design are becoming more tangible, but it can still be difficult to sell clients on green options, particularly in this economy. Financial and psychological challenges to sustainable design often make the design professional’s job more difficult, but those issues don’t have to become insurmountable barriers to getting the job done, according to some of the nation’s top green design consultants. From New York to San Francisco and points in between, sustainable design professionals face many of the same problems in helping their stakeholders get past the point of green inertia. These innovators share their insights on moving toward sustainable solutions we can all live with, no matter where that may be. 1. IT’S A MARATHON, NOT A SPRINT In New York City, designer Susan Aiello’s experience, when it comes down to choosing a shade of green — dollars versus sustainable products — corporate clients in this economic climate don’t have much leeway when it comes to capital expenses. “The low hanging fruit is where a lot of people are stuck,” said Aiello, principal of Interior Design Solutions and a member of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce’s sustainability committee. “Show me a quick payback in a year or two is what I hear.” But that kind of payback comes with products that save on water and energy — two of the biggest expenses for her clients — not flooring. “The longevity is a really big part of sustainability that I think people are not focusing enough on,” she said. “You have to get people past the initial cost.” There is the perception that sustainable design is expensive, however, that is not true in the long term, said Jennifer Merchant, LEED AP, an associate interior designer in the Chicago office of Perkins and Will. “Upfront costs may be more than the conventional options, but the lifecycle costs of many sustainable products can be much lower,” she said, adding that it’s essential to get clients on board as early in the design process as possible. “That’s vital. Educating and training the end user on the benefits and lower lifecycle costs is critical.” 2. FINANCIAL INCENTIVES Cost barriers in terms of perception are beginning to change, but change is always slow in coming, and organizational incentives are just not there yet. There is movement afoot, however, to encourage financial borrowing toward sustainability, Aiello added. “Once the auditor says it matters, it will happen. Right now, when sustainability is in an annual report it’s like a separate thing. But this is being monetized and it will happen in the next year or two.” 3. INDEPENDENT RESEARCH In Aiello’s experience, clients can be fearful of that change and often feel like sustainability is a big leap of faith, particularly when the only information available to them comes from those who stand to gain financially from pushing products with green attributes. But there is a solid body of independent research to help bridge that psychological gap, she said. The General Services Administration (GSA), the U.S. Green Building Council and the CoStar Group, a leading global source of data on commercial real estate, all offer credible studies to support the benefits of green building. These independent sources offer valuable information on linking less energy usage to higher building occupancy rates and rents, as well as occupancy satisfaction and natural resource savings in green buildings versus non-green buildings. What designers have to do is “really convince people that the product is going to have a meaningful impact on their operations and on their bottom line,” Aiello said. “Look at the leaders. The people who are holding major blocks of real estate in this country are going green.” 4. EMBRACE CHANGE While there are real financial barriers to sustainable design, some issues are psychological, including the inertia that is often inherent with change of any kind, said Kirsten Ritchie, principal and director of sustainable design at Gensler in San Francisco. Add the financial burden associated with new products in the current economy, she said, and inertia quickly becomes reluctance — even objection. “From a product perspective, financially the big challenge is clearly installation and upfront costs, but the gap is narrowing between the green and non-green, and there is so much more availability,” Ritchie said. “Contractors and installers are much more aware so the cost differential is coming down a lot.” 5. SPEC BEYOND PRODUCT One solution is to work with the local market, even installation and janitorial communities, on green installation and cleaning. “Make sure they are up on what it takes to take care of the material so that doesn’t become a stumbling block,” she said. For the architectural community, Ritchie suggests that means writing specs in such a way that the more sustainable products actually do show up on the project and don’t get substituted out. “Modify and tighten up specs from a performance perspective.” Designers can’t be too familiar with options, availability, lead time or ongoing maintenance, basically “anything that might get pushback. “The point is education — more stuff we have to learn, yes — but on the other hand, this is one of the problems we’ve had. We’re in a rut with the same thing where we should always be innovating and changing. Clearly from a design perspective you always want a different look or different materials, so just add a couple of properties to that.” 6. REQUIRE CARBON FOOTPRINT ANALYSIS But for green designers, architects and engineers in the U.S., carbon loading associated with products including flooring poses a particular burden from a liability standpoint, Ritchie noted. While carbon load is priced in Europe, it is not in the U.S. That creates a big financial unknown in the specification process that leaves designers uneasy with not knowing the extent of liability they are putting on clients, according to Ritchie, who added that the toxicity of flooring products often adds to that burden. As a result, Gensler is getting serious about requiring carbon footprint analysis from the vendors in the firm’s supply chain. “That is not to say we won’t use the product,” Ritchie said. “We just need to know they are doing it.” 7. EDUCATION VS. INFORMATION OVERLOAD Too much information is sometimes not a good thing, according to Colorado sustainable designer, author and nationally known speaker Annette Stelmack, a U.S. Green Building Council faculty member. The abundance of information now available through technology via the Internet enables clients to do much of their own research, but when you toss a lack of education into the mix, Stelmack believes, it muddies the waters. “Even if they have the capability to go after the information, if they don’t have the education or the knowledge to balance that out. It can be overwhelming, frustrating and a quagmire of which is the best product, strategy or principle to pursue,” she said. “That’s a big challenge, and it has become much more prevalent in the last four or five years because there is so much available on the Internet.” 8. VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF LIFE While cost and information overload are the two biggest obstacles to sustainable design for Stelmack, those challenges are not insurmountable. In addressing cost barriers, having a wide variety of products that are sustainable and LEED compliant is extremely important. For example, many customers have a preconceived notion that going with a wool carpet is just too expensive, she said, but the longevity of the material makes it an ideal choice from a durability standpoint. “There’s an upfront cost but it is going to last two to three to four times longer than any man-made fiber and it’s going to be much healthier in the long run,” she said. “That, in my mind, outweighs any of the potential disadvantages.” 9. R-E-S-P-E-C-T Stelmack finds there is not as great an issue with wood products because of the huge variety of styles and price points. But on the downside, subcontractors who don’t have experience with the product, adhesive or sealer can make installation a real handicap. The most successful strategy Stelmack has found in dealing with that level of inexperience is very simple: “Respect.” Make sure the sustainable details are firmly set up from the spec standpoint, Stelmack suggests, then open the door and invite everyone to the table. Before the contractor even gets on the job, Stelmack shares goals and objectives, asks if the contractor has any questions, then tells them specifically what she’s looking for — an adhesive with low VOC, Greenguard approved, whatever. “Tell them what you recommend, and then ask if they can suggest another product that meets those criteria,” she said. “Respect their history and knowledge of the work. That respectful synergy makes a huge difference.” 10. SPREAD THE WORD Green product knowledge can also vary geographically, so when you find a good resource willing to share his or her knowledge spread it around. “What I’ve found is if you’ve got someone who is really good and willing to share their knowledge with other folks, that’s such a gift,” Stelmack said. “We’re all in this together. What goes around comes around.” 11. MAKE THE MESSAGE MEANINGFUL What goes around and what comes around matters not just in the green message as a deliverable but the manner in which that information gets delivered. That can be a big financial barrier to sustainable design for Aiello. Advocates of green design, she believes, don’t often express their message in a way that is meaningful to high-level decision makers. “There is so much greenwashing going on out there that it’s very difficult to help people separate the wheat from the chaff,” Aiello said. When talking with clients, particularly schools, Aiello relies on information from credible, expert sources like the USGBC. “Quote the industry leaders and be as specific as possible. Get it down to the granular level,” she said. “With flooring, I see a lot of information that I’m not comfortable with. People are selling flooring that is full of formaldehyde and it’s going to kill people. I don’t care about killing trees; I care about killing people! There is a lot of mistrust.” |