Sector management has been in place in the New England fishery now for several months, and while there are still some issues to be worked out, preliminary data show some positive results. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), fishing industry and the New England Fishery Management Council are all working together to address some of the initial hurdles and to help sectors operate more smoothly. For starters, on Thursday the Council unanimously agreed to establish accumulation limits for the groundfish fishery. Once the cap is in place, this will benefit small boats and fishing communities because there will no longer be excess accumulation by a small group of individuals. This will make it easier for small boats to continue to fish profitably.

The National Marine Fisheries Service is closing two valuable commercial fishing seasons in the Southeast on Oct. 6 and 7: vermilion snapper and black sea bass, respectively. With so many restrictions already placed on commercial fishing in recent years, fishermen are forced to compete with other fishermen to catch vermillion snapper and black sea bass as fast as possible before the catch limits are met and seasons closed. For several years, the limits have been met faster and seasons closed earlier. Once the seasons close, there will be few other valuable fish to catch for the rest of the year.

What happens when existing green building certification and recognition systems, such as LEED or Energy Star, do not meet your building needs?

The only answer for many major corporations is: create your own building standards.

As a 2010 EDF Climate Corps fellow, my mission this summer was to create the business case for Cummins’ Global Building Policy, while reducing the company’s environmental impact. Cummins has made a voluntary commitment to reducing GHG emissions through the EPA’s Climate Leaders program.  With energy efficiency teams already in place at many Cummins facilities, my job was to incorporate these efforts by creating building standards for future building projects.

As a consultant, I’ve had the opportunity to work with building standards and prototypes for several Fortune 500 clients, many with some of the most sophisticated building programs in the world.  Working at Cummins, however, was my first venture into a company with more varied building types where I was given the opportunity to lead the strategic development of the Global Building Policy.  Initially, I ran into a few questions:

• How do you create a standard for such a wide variety of building types and locations?
• When does a standard become too specific? Or too general?
• With so many stakeholders involved, who exactly is the audience?
• How do I best present a business case for such a broad program?

While these questions may sound simple, for a company like Cummins that is  projecting growth and quickly sprouting new facilities, the answers are complex.  Despite the benefits associated with sustainable building standards, ranging from consistent corporate branding to increased energy efficiency, the process of creating standards is challenging for any corporation, regardless of size.  However, the majority of both the biggest challenges and opportunities tend to be consistent, regardless of the corporation or building type:

1. Consensus + Collaboration

How do we synthesize so many opinions and so much knowledge?

The process of creating a building requires careful collaboration of many minds, especially in a highly technical, manufacturing environment.  Getting input and reaching agreements between executive leadership, functional experts, design professionals and end-users takes time and finesse.  Additionally, between all those stakeholders there is a vast amount of knowledge that if leveraged correctly, will create high-quality standards.

2. Scope + Scale

How do we satisfy global needs?

From a global development standpoint, the challenges are endless: diverse project goals, wide varieties of building types, multi-cultural needs. Wrapping your arms around such a broad development program is difficult in today’s global economy but still very necessary.  Ensuring that standards are consistently up-to-date with numerous building codes while guiding the creation of buildings that meet diverse needs is tough.

3. Usability

How do we ensure that people will actually use the standards?

In the world of detail-oriented architects and engineers, we have a tendency to over-communicate technical details.  But our audience (i.e. executive level managers or end-users) finds little use in hundreds of pages of technical standards.  When communicating building standards with this audience, there is a fine line between including too much detail and communicating comprehensive, digestible information. If communicated correctly, these standards are invaluable tools for planning and decision making.

4. Business case

How do you persuade managers to use life-cycle costs as a decision tool?

Historically, capital expenditures are often evaluated from an initial cost viewpoint.  However, the long-term financial, environmental and social costs of ownership can be minimized with smart planning and quality considerations that could add to initial costs.

5.  Analysis + Methodology

Does the most reliable data come from looking forward or backward?

While facility managers can easily determine the life-cycle cost and energy usage of buildings, if these systems are not indicative of the new standards then the data probably isn’t useful.  Conversely, developing in-depth energy models for buildings that you have no plans for yet presents another set of challenges.

Fortunately, I spent my summer at a company that is ahead of the curve and had already begun meeting these challenges before I arrived. With the resources provided by Environmental Defense Fund, the network of the other 50 EDF Climate Corps fellows, and a highly qualified team, I was able to turn these challenges into opportunities.

The building standards I worked to develop are designed to become an integral part of Cummins' new project process. I am confident these standards will leave a legacy of increased energy efficiency and reduced environmental impact. I think it’s safe to say, “Mission accomplished.”

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