Lean & Green or Resource Intensity? « Building towards sustainability

We are in a quandary and a state of denial. Our quandary is how we enable change in our cultural values to continually reduce the proportion of the resources affordable to us as a society, to the creation, use and deconstruction of our built environment; the ‘Resource Intensity of the Built Environment’.

Our state of denial lies in the fact that we choose to ignore the immutability of the ‘One Planet Equation’ and the ‘Net Useful Energy Curve’, which, ignore them or not will lead to us having to take pragmatic decisions soon as to how we stay warm and continue to function effectively.

Our failure to look to the downside of our actions and decisions has already put our economic viability as a society at risk and unless we take a systems and strategic view of our strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats, then our future is bleak.

Culturally we are ingrained with a reductionist viewpoint, Lean and Green, seeking a destination using a set of tools and technologies, when we need to steer a course on a journey of continual reduction in the resource intensity of society, of which the Built Environment is a critical part.

Many of the tools and technologies will be useful, but that’s what they are tools, not solutions. The solutions lie in the creativity and ingenuity we can liberate by working round the ‘Virtuous Circle’

Unfortunately most of the change will now be driven by circumstances rather than choice, but still, unless we grasp the drivers at a system level we will continue to apply, ineffectively, reductionist and ’end of pipe solutions’; attempting, eventually in vain, to increase the ‘resource intensity of society’ in an environment constrained by the First Law of Sustainability, that ‘in a resource constrained environment, goods and services can only grow at the rate at which they can be dematerialized’.

http://trailblazerbusinessfutures.wordpress.com/the-oil-curve/

http://trailblazerbusinessfutures.wordpress.com/2009/01/29/the-virtuous-circle/

Lean Construction Task Force Report

Download report lean-constructon-report

Penn State University Research Program, Lean and Green

High performance buildings as those with energy, economic, and environmental performance that is SUBSTANTIALLY BETTER than standard practice. They pay particular attention to ENERGY EFFICIENCY and INDOOR AIR QUALITY. The Lean and Green Research Program focuses on high performance capital facilities such as office buildings, educational facilities, and healthcare facilities.

Goal and objectives

Define the PROCESSES and COMPETENCIES for delivering high performance capital facilities.

Define integrated design and delivery processes

Identify enabling delivery and procurement strategies

Develop project management tools and metrics

Define core competencies of integrated project teams

Educate students and professionals

The most significant research focus areas we are pursuing are summarized. Further details can be obtained by e-mailing the graduate researcher directly, reviewing our publications (esp., J. Green Bldg), or contacting the Director. Our latest Program Brochure can also be downloaded.

Focus areas

Alignment of sustainability and constructability: The continuous value enhancement process
GOAL: Enable project sustainability goals to be achieved in an efficient and cost effective manner
OBJECTIVES:Work with the Pentagon Renovation and Construction Program Office to develop, implement and validate a process that enables project teams to identify sustainable solutions that also improve project constructability. PI, Publication

Operations and Maintenance Knowledge for Sustainable Construction
GOAL: Improve the quality of operations and maintenance input in the design and construction phases of projects
OBJECTIVES:Work with the Pentagon Renovation and Construction Program Office to accomplish this goal using tools such as a DBOM contract approach. PI, Publication

Mapping the Toyota Delivery Process for High Performance Green Buildings
GOAL: Capture critical value-added steps and identify opportunities for improvement by mapping Toyota’s delivery process for green projects
OBJECTIVES:Develop a modeling approach to map the RE&F delivery process, apply it to a case study project, and highlight key components that enable successful HPGB delivery. PI, Publication

complete details at http://www.engr.psu.edu/leanandgreen/research_program.aspx#IntegDesign

see also http://www.engr.psu.edu/leanandgreen/publications/publications.aspx?p=4

              Toyota



more details at http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/environmental_rep/03/jigyou.html



                   In the new “SINCÉ RAISON” series launched in April 2003, Toyota adopted “Next-generation energy-saving standards”¹ as standard specifications, and worked on the development of new products that take into account environmentally considerate features such as the elimination of asbestos from housing construction materials and expanded use of recycled materials.

The new “SINCÉ RAISON” series of houses are built under the “S&I Home Making Concept”² as long-life houses that achieve top levels of environmental performance. Energy wastage is reduced by enhanced heat insulation through the standard adoption of insulating double-glazed windows and other features, while CO2 emissions are approximately 30% lower than the “Next-generation energy-saving standards.” Toyota has adopted a number of measures to use clean natural energy sources and reduce energy consumption, including photovoltaic power generation and a rainwater recycling system.

1. Next-generation energy-saving standards: Hermetically sealed and well insulated housing able to reduce by 20% the amount of energy needed for heating and air-conditioning as a means of reducing CO2 emissions to prevent global warming
2. S&I Home Making Concept: Super Skeleton & Intelligent Infill – functions which continue to respond and change according to changing lifestyles within reinforced supporting structural elements that do not change