Category Archives: comment

Passive House Whistler (and bears!)

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I was delighted to be able to visit the Austrian Passive House in the Lost Lake area of Whistler during our recent RV travels through British Columbia.

The house was recently gifted to Whistler from the Austrian Olympic Team and provides club room for mountain biking and nordic skiing clubs.

It was designed as a family house for 5 and used as the HQ for the Austrian olympic committees, teams and press during the 2010 winter games.

Claimed to be the greenest building at Whistler, the Austrian Passive House was designed in Austria but built by local contractors using imported materials (incl timbers?) from Austria. ‘Legacy’ crops up on all the web search, that the building outlive the Olympics and provide demonstration of passiv haus concepts, using less than a tenth of energy an equivalent local Canadian house would use. It was the first (and only?) Passiv Haus accredited building in Canada

The Austrian House dominates a key entry point to the Lost Lakes area that provides stunningly smooth singletrack biking (and I guess XC skiing in winter). I couldnt shake the apprehension however of cycling around a singletrack bend into a bear. We had seen plenty of bears on our travels, including at Whistler, and the fresh bear scat, along with the ripening berries, a favourite bear treat in a food-stressed area, added to the apprehension.

Links:

Austrian passive house   The Greenest House at the Games 

Whistler Bears : Bear death toll continues to rise

Construction Video

Construction in Crisis? BIM the solution?

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Construction in crisis? buildings too complex? communication of knowledge rapidly changing? (Thoughts from the road)

Whilst I have long being a supporter of the need for the aims of BIM, it has been as seeing BIM as a technoloy to enable and enhance, better, improve collaborative working, not in a means to itself. In fact many agree collaboration in a digital age is or should be 80% people 20% technology.

In other blog posts here I have mentioned my thoughts on how BIM should in fact be FIM, Facilities Information Modelling, as the models set out or should set out the way the facilities will be used, managed, improved, adapted over time etc, not just the building. Ie the people aspects of building use. ( a recent example from a building designed on CAD, not quite BIM, being a student quiet zone for thinking and meditation littered with in the face fire exit signs and a large red fire panic button)

That BIM is being seen with both fear and salvation is interesting but not surprising, it will after all change the way the built environment sector works, and importantly works together and collaborates.

And yet BIM is perhaps just as the word processor is to creative writing, it may enable the articulation but not the creativity.

For BIM to be effective the people issues and desire for collaborative working need to be in place, to be well grounded and to be effective. To leap straight into BIM can be as ineffective as trying to write a creative masterpiece just because we have a new tool or piece of software available in the toolbox

Admist all the noise, news and promotion of BIM as a technology its therefore refreshing to read Randy Deutsch brilliant, BIM and Integrated Design, but perhaps his short but powerful summary that not only sums the book, but provides light on issues facing design, construction and fm. (extract below but view the article here: http://ow.ly/1vVNMJ)

(Update: Randy has reminded me You can read the first chapter here. Or buy a copy discounted online at Amazon, at your local bookstore or from the publisher.)

 

Q: How would you summarize your book in a single sentence?

A: The focus throughout this book is on people and the strategies they use to manage and cope with the transition to the new digital technology and the collaborative work process it enables as they initially adopt and then take the technology and process to a higher plane.

Q: Why do we need a book like this now?

A: There’s a crisis not only in the economy but in the profession. Buildings are becoming more and more complex and the way we communicate knowledge to one another is changing. At the same time the construction world is going through enormous changes, so is our environment.

We’ll only be able to tackle today’s complex problems through collaboration, and that takes work and a prepared mindset. You have to be disciplined, can’t just show up and wing it. Your teams’ efforts have to be coordinated and integrated. I noticed that there is a gap in learning along these lines in the profession and industry and this book seeks to fill it.

Q: There are a number of books that cover the subject of BIM. How is this one different?

A: Most books on BIM cover the technology or business case while this one focuses on the process that enables the highest and best use of the technology. BIM and Integrated Design focuses on the people side of the change equation, addressing BIM as a social and firm culture process and does so in four distinctive ways:

it addresses people problems, human issues, issues of communication and collaboration, firm-culture issues, issues of motivation and workflow related to working in BIM;

it explores the most commonly encountered obstacles to successful collaboration, as well as the challenges this technology and process create for individuals and organizations in their labor toward a comprehensive, successful BIM adoption and implementation;

it describes the social impacts and implications of working in BIM on individuals and firms, and how to overcome real and perceived barriers to its use; and

it discusses challenges to BIM collaboration including interoperability, workflow, firm culture, education, technological challenges, working in teams, communication, trust, BIM etiquette, one model versus multiple models, cost, and issues concerning responsibility, insurance, and liability.

Twitter Building Down Barriers

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A few tweets caught my eye on Friday between two SELCA (SE Lancs Construction Association) members, nothing really remarkable in content, but what was interesting was the exchange was between  joinery and bricklaying contractors, @rlmbrickwork and @tmjcontractors. As was mentioned, such conversations just wouldn’t happen on site.

That got me thinking, I have long maintained that organisations cannot really collaborate (few are designed to collaborate), hence the need and importance of last planner approaches, but that its people across organisations that collaborate, and of course that social media can only foster and enable more person to person connectivity.

And real collaboration.

So thoughts mused on how twitter can be used to enhance the last planner approach, enabling real time sharing of progress and issues between subcontractors. eg

@joiner: will the 2nd floor be ready for us on Tues as planned?

@plumber: @joiner first fix complete on for you to start in tues morning. Spoke with @electrics who will be done too. Good to go 

 @joiner; great thanks, will have a couple of guys there

 @contractor: delivery of plasterboard expected for 10am, loading out to level 2 for you

 @joiner @contractor ok, we can help offload ?

Dreaming or Potential? I know many SME contractors who dismissed the idea of any weekly last planner type sessions with subcontractors a few years back, but now see them as essential to construction project management. Maybe in a few years twitter will be a key project tool …. ?  (After all if  social media can be used to organise flashmobs, even dare I say riots, then surely we can use it to coordinate construction projects?)

Last Planner: There are many definitions of Last Planner in the context of lean construction, but essentially its about collaborative working, planning, scheduling and progress reviews with trade supervisors – the last planners – to reduce costs and delays, waste in its widest sense and add value. Often run as a series of weekly or daily planning and progress sessions on site.

Twitter Building Down Barriers: By the way the title above is purposely taken fromBuilding Down Barriers, a 1997 (just pre Egan) action research initaive to remove barriers between construction players that has shaped much of todays Modern Methods of Construction Management thinking.

Green Deal Bulletin July 2011

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Green Deal Update news received from DECC.

Does this mask the slowing down of Green Deal preparation or announcement for Green Deal in October 2012?  The consultation with the industry and public is a key milestone, yet this remains ‘the Autumn‘ rather than a specific date.

Green Deal Bulletin July 2011

“We’re now expecting that we get Royal Assent for the Energy Bill, including the primary legislation for the Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation, early in the autumn. I do not expect this will make any change to our plan to bring in the Green Deal in October 2012. It also remains our intention to consult on secondary regulations in the autumn, and I encourage you to write to us during this process with your views”.

Greg Barker, DECC Minister

Moving forward on legislation and consultation

The legislation setting out the framework for the Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation (ECO) has continued its passage through Parliament and has now completed the Committee stage, which saw line by line scrutiny of the Energy Bill and Green Deal. All parties agreed they wanted to see the Green Deal be a success, although naturally there was a range of views about how exactly this should be achieved.

The next stage is Third Reading and Report, then into the Lords and finally Royal Assent. Following this, we intend to consult with you in the autumn on a range of secondary legislation which will set out the detail of how the Green Deal and ECO will operate.

Listening to stakeholders

The Minister of State, Gregory Barker has met with a range of stakeholders to discuss progress and next steps. These have included senior representatives from the likely new entrants to the Green Deal market – including Kingfisher, Birmingham City Council, Travis Perkins, Carillion and Marks and Spencer.

The Minister also met with a range of senior representatives from the Social Housing Sector, and enjoyed the opportunity for open dialogue on the opportunities presented by the Green Deal.

Protecting Consumers

It’s vital that consumers have confidence in the Green Deal. Over the summer we will further develop our approach with the Energy Ombudsman Service, the Financial Ombudsman Service, Ofgem and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to ensure the consumer protection framework is robust and sufficient to protect all consumers.

Developing Green Deal Finance

We are in the process of commissioning expert advice on assessing the fraud risk in the Green Deal and ECO. We launched an invitation to tender for assessing this risk at the end of July and plan to have consultants appointed by the end of summer with a report requested during the autumn. This will be used for guidance for commercial parties, helping us to ensure we are on the right lines and provide financial assurance to interested parties.

Green Deal, the ECO and the Prime Minister

In July the Secretary of State presented the Green Deal and ECO policy to senior Ministerial colleagues, including the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Chief Secretary to the Treasury and engaged in a discussion about progress to date and next steps. The session also heard from external stakeholders.

 

Great Green Deal Re-Skilling?

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Following on from the depressing news that Construction lacks green, key business and foresight skills, in particular 43% of employers dont feel they understand the implications of green issues, or ability to identify the training needs, are we facing a green deal barrier?

Need for New Skills

We read in the Low Carbon Plan from the Government, (“much re-skilling of the construction industry to deliver the planned targets of greenhouse gas reduction by at least 34% by 2020 and 80% by 2050″),  from the IGT Report of the need for green skills, we read that PAS 2030 and Green Deal codes of conduct will access sustainability skills, training and development. The FMB Cut the Carbon programme focuses on the need for new skills.

Will it turn out OK?

Rob Hopkins in his Transition Handbook, (see my blog back in 2008 time for built environment transition?) in a futures scenario talked about the Great Construction Reskilling, the NEF paper, How it all turned out ok celebrates how we recovered our lack of traditional skills, succeeded in addressing the localism issue and turned energy ineffective buildings into models of zero carbon. (again my blog: How it all turned out OK in 2050)

Who is defining …

But do we have an understanding of what green skills mean? Is it just an understanding of good sustainability awareness (eliminating waste, reducing carbon, buying local etc), Is it technical, natural materials (see the Transition Culture archive for reskilling) or is it something more deeper, profound.

Green Re-skilling starts at the board level…

Do we imply the reskilling is just for operatives, or wider to include supervisors, managers and (in my view essential) board directors and senior managers? Maybe this isn’t a training issue to be lodged with the HR team but one of crucial CSR strategy for organisation? (see A Low Carbon Diet For Construction Boards)

A question then …

What are construction boards, contractors, installers, training organisations, industry bodies doing, plan to do, or indeed have done to understand and address sustainability skills.

Construction lacks green, key business and foresight skills

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Construction lacks essential skills. A recent poll of 1,450 construction employers, conducted by Construction Industry Training Board and Sector Skills Council, CITB-ConstructionSkills, skills gaps such as understanding the implications of green issues (43%), identifying potential new business (39%) and not having sufficient IT skills (43%) were all areas picked out by industry managers and supervisors as lacking in their organisations.

In addition, a third (32%) of employers said that keeping up to date with the latest innovations, products and techniques was an important concern for their business. A further 32% also stated that their management team’s ability to identify the training needs of staff was an area that needed improvement.

Begs the question what have we been doing in the world of construction improvement over the last two decades since these skills were identified in seminal reports, eg Egan , Latham and others.

Importantly it also demonstrates a lack of awareness and vision at board, owner or senior management levels to identify, acknowledge and prepare for emerging trends, particularly in the sustainability, IT and social media arena.

Links:

A Low Carbon Diet For Construction Boards (CSRWire post by Martin Brown)

Future Proofing the Boardroom – Part One: Grounding and Stargazing (CSRWire post by Lucy Marcus)

Link to CITB 

“the future will require us to build better places”: Preston Tithebarn

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Juxtapositoning of messages today:

… that the Tithebarn project in Preston has got (yet another) go ahead:

Preston’s £700m Tithebarn scheme has been given the go-ahead by a High Court judge. (LEP)

… that a survey from the Guardian on the future of the High St reveals that over 70% feel the high street doesn’t have a future, and that recent news re Thorntons. Jane Norman, TJ Hughes and Habitat is “a structural change and more bad news will follow”

… as James Kunstler says in  The Geography of Nowhere: Rise and Decline of America’s Man-made Landscape""  (currently reading):

 ‘The future will require us to build better places, or the future will belong to other people in other societies.’

Artists impression of Preston Tithebarn project – or is it Arndale Manchester, or the Bull Ring – or … nowhere?

Interesting times

#tweetchats … observations + how to

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What is a tweetchat? In my view: a global online brainstorm: a fast paced collection of expert opinion, links, references, questioning, learning but above all sharing around the theme of the chat.

“A tweet chat is a pre-arranged chat that happens on Twitter through tweets that include a predefined hashtag to link those tweets together in a virtual conversation” Formal Twitter tweet chats are arranged in advance and occur at set times. They may include a formal agenda with a specific leader or “speaker”, or they might involve a free flowing discussion between all participants.

Dont attempt to make too much sense of it at the time, dive in, chat and share. Make sense of it later (which makes the output and transcripts very important). A brilliant use of twitter!

Having participated in a number of tweetchats over tha last few months #futrchat, #CSRchat and the more frivolous #sugarfreetweets for example, I recently took on the task of oragnising and facilitaing #GVisChat ‘Future of Energy in Buildings’ for Green Vision.

For an inaugural chat it worked well, with thought leaders and seasoned tweeters conversing and sharing with those who made their first tweet during the chat, which has to be a result.

Here then are my thoughts and observations:

Preparation:

  • Choose a hashtag and check it hasnt been used for another chat.
  • Most hashtags end ‘chat’ which has become a notation for tweetchat.Make the hashtag simple and memorable
  • Get the word out there – through twitter but also through related groups, forums both online and real.
  • Get the time and date agreed: Check there are no other big, subject related chats scheduled around the same time: Balance between working day time (9-5) and a global enthusiast though leader chat: It does seem the popular time is 7, 8 or 9 pm UK time for a global input. (and looking at a recent spreadsheet of existing scheduled chats, USA tweeters would appear to be more comfortable with the tweetchat format.)
  • Have instructions you can point to in order to help participants, for eg: How to take part in a tweet chat and How to join up to twitter (you don’t want to exclude those not on twitter who may see the whole twitter thing a bit of a dark mystery)
  • Agree roles – I think there are three, a facilitator, a subject driver and an amplifer See below  (I did all three so it can be done but … wow – it gets busy)
  • Agree Questions in advance, say 5 or 6 but be prepared to change and flex with the direction the chat may take.

Setting up to capture: 

Register the hashtag with  tweetchat.. Tweetchat provides a nice simple format that puts you in the ‘tweetchat room’ for the chosen hashtag and automatically adds the hashtag. Overall though I find tweetdeck easier to use during the chat.

‘Facilitating’ the chat:

  • Introduce topic, and the first question.  The start of the chat was probably the most ‘awkward’: unlike real meetings there are not many signals to pick up on that people are there and ready to go so you have to dive in. I had a sense of I was waiting for tweeters and they for me to kick off.
  • Welcome – be sure to welcome people as they enter the chat, that is make their first hashtaged contribution
  • Let twitter know the chat is running
  • Feed in the questions – the skill would appear to be in introducing next question at the right time, not too soon or too late – keep the fast pace going…
  • Amplify good points (ie RT and add to)
  • Praise good points being made, thank people for links (as you would in a real world brainstorm)
  • Challenge, question, throw in off the wall out there concepts to widen the discussion (eg future of energy chat led to possibility of building on the moon)
  • Give time checks, especially towards the close  – the 60mins flies past rather swiftly!
  • Watch for contributions from people forgetting or not using the hashtag and RT them so they get into the mix. (and remind people to use the # and Q and A numbering)

During the chat I used tweetdeck so I could have a DM channel open for closed communication with other hosts and a timeline to watch for related tweets from friends who forgot the hashtag!

Post Chat

Use a service such as the brilliant Tweetbinder to capture the tweets as well as statistics on the tweetchat.

Drop the tweets into Storify to create a transcript

Use the tweets and links to craft an interview sytle article for publication on blogs or elsewhere

Thanks:  These are my observations and lessons learnt from organising a tweetchat for the first time. I do hope they help and encourage you to get involved in a chat and to facilitate, they are great fun, generate a real buzz and to me prove the potential business and learning power of twitter is yet to be fully realised

I am indebted to Cindy @Urbanverse, a great friend and seasoned tweetchat expert for help and guidance

 

Towards low carbon construction IGT Report: Government Response

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Snippets from todays launch of the Governments Response to the  industry’s Innovation Growth Team Report:

Business Minister Mark Prisk said:

“An efficient, effective and profitable construction industry is at the heart of any growing economy.

“Meeting the UK’s commitment to reducing carbon will affect every aspect of the built environment and has the potential to provide the construction industry with a 40 year programme of work creating great opportunities for growth in the sector.

“Through this joint Government and industry action plan we are making a clear commitment to the low carbon transition which will create the certainty needed for construction companies to invest in essential new skills, processes and products.”

Climate Change and Energy Minister Greg Barker said:

“Improving the energy efficiency of the nation’s buildings is a win-win response to tackling emissions and spiralling fuel costs.

“The Government’s Green Deal will radically transform the energy efficiency of our homes and businesses, and presents a massive opportunity for Britain’s construction industry.

Government Chief Construction Advisor Paul Morrell said:

“I am delighted that the Government has taken on board so many of the recommendations from the IGT report which was developed with expertise from across industry.

“To ensure that construction rises to the low carbon challenge we need to continue this new level of cooperation so I am also pleased that a joint Government and industry board has been set up to ensure implementation of this plan.”

Influence of Construction 

A copy of the Government’s response to the Low Carbon Construction Innovation and Growth Team Report can be found at: http://www.bis.gov.uk/constructionigt

 

Info from the News Distribution Centre

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Use of social media can lead to innovative #smworkplace employees

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Following my last blog on Social Media in the workplace two very interesting links have come to light:

From Business Insider:

As elaborated by the Harmon research on social media productivity … inclusive collaboration will unleash huge organizational potential for knowledge discovery with benefits including greater innovation, reducing time spent searching for information and elimination of duplicated effort.

and

Innovation comes also by multidisciplinary collaboration … with … social media are a means to this end, obstructing this opportunity will do more harm than good in the long term. Adaptation and transformation of people, processes and technology will have to occur sooner or later, because both the organization and the competitive landscape will demand this.

(my emphasis)

And from Tools for internal communications back in Jan 2010:

Melcrum have also begun a major research project into the use of social tools for internal communications; initial findings confirm “widespread adoption, a clear business case and visible return on investment for communicators.”

“Many organizations have now moved beyond the experimentation phase and begun embedding social media into the way they do business,” said Victoria Mellor, CEO of Melcrum. “There is a fundamental shift happening with how information flows inside an organization. Peer-to-peer online networks are enabling real-time feedback from employees to inform decision-making, not to mention facilitating collaboration between remote workers,” she added.