The Nuts and Bolts of Greening Texas Public Buildings Page: 9
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Obstacles and Opportunities
IV. OBSTACLES AND OPPORTUNITIES
he benefits of sustainable building are increasingly obvious. Why, then, are there
* so few examples? First the bad news. As building professionals; perhaps you can
* T recognize some of these common obstacles.
* HABIT
The biggest obstacle to overcome is the normal human resistance to change. We all have
our habits. Even as organizations. Conventional practices, procedures and contracts all
* have associated assumptions and behavioral patterns that are hard to change, for profes-
sional practitioners as well as agency staff. Changing takes attention and effort. It takes a
* very deep desire to do better. It takes will.
0 FIRST COST BIAS
The statutes and rules that govern procurement of professional services and construction
of public works are frequently construed as limiting sustainable design practices. In par-
*0 ticular, the requirements for competitive bidding (award to lowest responsive bid), and
* for a professional fee cap based on a percent of construction cost for many state-funded
0
projects, seem to discourage the extent of teamwork and factual preparation required
for sustainable design. These apparent limitations will not be overcome without open
discussion of your expectations with the design team and active cooperation between
0 the owner, design consultants and contractors.
SELECTION PROCEDURES
Most agencies' selection procedures for professional design consultants have not been
0 revised since legislative requirements were added for evaluation of alternatives for all
* major energy-consuming systems and design of water-efficient landscapes. Yet, over the
S past two or three years, a significant shift has occurred in professional and academic
0
* standards for sustainable design. Check to see if your own procedures allow or encour-
0 age selection of professionals with experience in facilitating an integrated design
6 approach, providing the research and analyses required to make fact-based decisions,
0 and show a commitment to ecological issues in their work.* CONVENTIONAL FEE SPLIT
The integrated design approach, whereby all architectural and engineering consultants,
building users, and maintenance personnel are included in the process from the outset,
is considered critical for implementing sustainable design. (See page 6.) However, this
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Fitzpatrick, Tom; Todd, Wendy Price & Vittori, Gail. The Nuts and Bolts of Greening Texas Public Buildings, report, 1997; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1203708/m1/13/?q=%221997~%22&rotate=270: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.