learning from past success and mistakes
the city will have a truly sustainable
future.”
The city hopes to use the Marlborough neighborhood, which is the
first to undergo the green retrofit, as a
national showcase for how sustainable
projects can have long-term financial
and social benefits.
“These are projects that need to be
done anyway. They have deadlines and
funds appropriated,” Ms. Svec says. “It’s a
great opportunity to show how incorporating sustainable solutions adds value to
the project.”
BARE-BONES BUSINESS
Making the case for strong ROI is key for
any sustainable project, but that shouldn’t
prove too difficult. Even in a low-profit
economy, organizations have much to gain
from going green, says Mr. Olson. Most
sustainability projects involve reducing
energy consumption, material use and
waste, so they have a lot to offer at a relatively low cost, he says. And, being able to
wrap a cost-cutting program in green can
go a long way toward gaining stakeholder
buy-in.
“Cost-cutting is not very sexy,”
Mr. Olson explains. “One of the most
successful contributions that I think
sustainability has made is it infuses cost-cutting with an inspiring message.”
But there is a limit to how much
businesses can achieve without making a
significant investment. “Real sustainability is created at a cost,” says Winifred
Kwofie, senior project manager at the
City College of San Francisco in San
Francisco, California, USA.
Companies frequently try to respond
to pressure from environmental groups
by initiating projects that demonstrate
their good intentions, then issuing social
responsibility reports to appease those
groups. But if organizations don’t adapt
their operations and align sustainability
goals and objectives with their strategic
goals and objectives, those short-term
projects will rarely benefit the bottom
line, Ms. Kwofie says.
Cost-cutting is not very sexy.
One of the most successful
contributions that I think sustainability
has made is it infuses cost-cutting
with an inspiring message.
—Eric Olson, Business for Social Responsibility,
San Francisco, California, USA
Along with infrastructure changes,
organizations also need to change the
way they approach project development, says Ms. Svec.
“Sustainability is not just about doing
projects the same way, then tacking on a
green element. It is about integrating decisions and strategies so that each solution
provides multiple benefits that are benefits
to the larger community, benefits to the
bottom line and benefits to the environment,” she says. “Whether it’s reducing
water usage, improving energy efficiency
or reducing transportation, those goals
have to be defined and integrated into
project decision making.”
But many businesses just aren’t ready to
make that kind of shift in a faltering economy. Across the telecom, finance, energy
and construction industries, companies
have turned away from sustainable projects to focus on their core products and
services, says Andy Crowe, PMP, PgMP,
CEO and founder of project management
training company Velociteach in
Kennesaw, Georgia, USA.
“Each of them has represented this as
a temporary move,” he says, “but, in
some cases, most of the staff responsible
for the social responsibility efforts has
been laid off.”
Yet even if a project’s budget is drastically reduced, project managers can still
play a part in salvaging some of its sustainable components. “If the budget must be
adjusted down to accommodate other
needs, communicate with the stakeholders,” Ms. Kwofie says. “Help them determine what they can forego—and what is
essential.” PM
