[GBlist] Re: Facilities Assessment & Management Software

[Renewable News Network <rnn@rnn.com>]

Dear Fred,

Your request for information has been forwarded to the Green Building
Alliance Northeast List <gbane@yahoogroups.com>, since there are
subscribers there, who are grappling with the same matters.

Also, your message has been sent to the COTE-BSA and the BASEA List,
because of the potential for a response from those sectors of the
clean green building community.

In fact, John DiModica of the MA Dept. of Capital Planning spoke, earlier
this Month, at the BASEA Forum in Harvard Square, and mentioned the
current interest in sustainability in terms of linking the first costs
with the operating and ongoing longer term expenses -- something Ambrose
has been exploring for years, as Life Cycle costing.  Return on
Investment (ROI) formulations, likewise, include the full range of costs
and how they balance out, beyond payback.

The point John made, was similar to the reports from those who have
enjoyed success in incorporating sustainability factors into building
management and development, as to how and why its happening, when and
where sustainability is getting normalized in the process.

The thing is, everybody's very busy, but, nevertheless, there are,
established sub-networks and working groups, formed up for mutual aid and
support;  and I for one, would like to deal with --> HOW <-- this sort of
information is going to find its way to you.  After all, we (the rest of
us, here) are more superficially curious, as browsers and lurkers, than
you;  whereas, you, on the other hand, in your position, now, are vitally
interested, in answers and specific responses.

It would seem that if we were more conscious of how these online networks
and lists were structured and their compositions, you/we could pose
questions and get answers more effectively/efficiently.  It would
be like knowing the Dewey Decimal System in order to do library research.
But, here you are, on the front line, where you need answers, and may not
be able to step back to perform the deeper structural research to discover
the existing networks, to access those groups, in order to pose your
inquiry, where it will elicit a useful response.

The Big Green building list would probably be dealing with the same size
buildings that you dealing with, for instance.

There are, likewise, as I recall, peer discussion groups among your
campus client typology, especially, both, among the student green campus
activist groups, who are doing ICLEI type data gathering, often as
interns;  and the campus building managers, like Sarah Hammond Creighton
1-617-627-5517 <screight@tufts.edu> or <screight@emerald.tufts.edu>
who have their electronic peer groups.

There is, more importantly (but less likely, to be researched by you,
since you need imediate results,) the option of performing research into
the Lists of Internet Lists, and Lists of Lists of Lists (no kidding) in
order for you to discover and access those more specific groups,
including software and "green guideline" groups.

You could do google searches and the like, but its not the same as
getting on a hot topic list.

The Building Energy List <be2@yahoogroups.com> has the prospect of
establishing a structure, that would be useful for inquiries, based on
the BE2 Conference Session format.  At Yale and at Tufts, there
were a number of Sessions on your Subject: with, issues, practitioners,
clients, and the like.  There is, at least, an outline of a such a 
structure based on the Sessions, online, at the NESEA web page, so
one could at least access the Session Chairs and Speakers, on those
topics.  That's a lot of digging, because it hasn't been organized for
this, but it could be a gold mine.

I'd like to hear how it goes for you, and what your company would propose
to do for a typical suburban municipality that wants to go clean and get
green with new school buildings and other opportunities.

Good luck.

Yours truly,
Ross

encl:

On Mon, 23 Apr 2001 FUnger@aol.com wrote:

> Friends,
> 
> Does anyone know of any good software for tracking facilities assessment and 
> management that incorporates green or sustainability factors into the mix of 
> parameters being evaluated?
> 
> The company I recently started working with does campus, corporate and 
> municipal facilities management consulting for very prominent companies, 
> cities and towns and educational institutions as Harvard, Brown, Babson and 
> Tufts Universities. We are in the process of exploring ways to upgrade the 
> services and add more value for clients. Looking at software issues. 
> 
> My personal goal is to try to bring a sustainability agenda to the process. 
> Feels like the timing is right for clients to value such parameters in their 
> facilities evaluations, especially if it were possible to bring that 
> information in as part of something they were doing anyway. Being a new guy, 
> it would be much easier to sell this concept internally if I come in with 
> relatively easy to implement solutions and not just vague suggestions.
> 
> Any leads or contacts would be greatly appreciated.
> 
> Fred
> 


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