LEAN gets us 2 Types of GREEN

In our last article “LEAN to be GREEN is a 2020 Vision for a NetZero Building Industry” we introduced the Lean to be Green strategy as a smart way to fix productivity issues in building design and construction for the purpose of creating a NetZero building industry.  Based upon the success of the two #NetZero buildings outlined in the case studies that were delivered using #LEAN Project Delivery, it is proposed that North America adopt a NetZero energy standard by the year 2020. The proposed adoption a national LEAN to be GREEN strategy will turn the over $100 Billion in year of waste into a truly sustainable NetZero Building industry plus help eliminate 35% of the green house gas emissions.

In this article we want to establish the business case and ramp up national acceptance of this strategy.

The SKY is Falling

In the fable the Sky is Falling, Chicken Little having got hit on the head with what he claimed was a piece of the sky shaped like a stop sign, got excited, rang the fire bell and warned his town of the impending disaster called climate change and told everyone to run for there lives. His father Buck Cluck could not see this chunk of sky and assumed it was just an acorn that had fallen out of the tree, hit him on the head. This made Chicken Little the laughing stock of town, until the next year when the aliens showed up.
  



In our story the aliens showing up are the extreme storms and abnormal weather patterns that are wrecking havoc causing billions of dollars of damage and creating uncertainty about our future. This should motivate our government and business leaders to jump on board, listen to what our Chicken Little Scientists and Economists have to say, but is it enough?

Why is the Building Industry Not Jumping on Board with Lean & Green?

Having stood on a soapbox preaching how a Lean to be Green strategy can help save the planet, I have come to realize that greening up our economy for the good of the planet is not enough of a motivator, although it should be. With the vast majority of the building industry still trying to decide on LEED Silver or Gold and are still fighting it our on low bids, we have a long way to go before we get to nirvana, all new building NetZero by 2020. 

The adoption of Lean Project Delivery has also been slow in ramping up as traditional processes are so entrenched in the way we do business, that there needs to be a significant trigger for firms to jump on to use lean to get us green.

How about the other type of Green?
For a select few the IDEA of a NetZero Building industry would be motivation enough jump on board with lean and make the significant investment in time and resources that are needed to build lean capabilities. To put this in perspective, my small company of fifteen people has invested five years and over $250,000 to get us to second base in the lean league. 

Our motivation originally was to prove that we could eliminate enough waste to build NetZero buildings at no additional cost, which we have. Having worked on six Lean to be Green projects, we know the strategy works and are now applying the same principles and practices to how we run our business.

Now our strategy has evolved to creating a Lean and Green consulting company that can enjoy a sustainable competitive business advantage. Through efficiency, partnerships and recognition as innovative lean and green company we hope to receive a return on a significant investment and realize the the other type of Green that comes with early mastery of a skill. 

We recognize that building high performance green building addresses our teams needs to work towards a higher purpose, but realize that the catalyst for widespread adoption of Lean Construction practice will be the based upon the extra profit and growth it will provide.  This is important differentiator for knowing WHY and HOW to sell the industry on this much better way.

In the “Sustainable Advantage” by Bob Willard we learn that companies that work towards a higher purpose like helping to solve the climate change problem are considerably more profitable. In his study he found that companies like Interface carpets that are committed to sustainable business practices are 38% more profitable.

We also know that companies that adopt lean practices like Toyota that wrote the book on lean production are significantly more profitable. In one comparison, Toyota is shown as being 2.5 times more profitable than there next closest competitor. 

Just imagine the jump in performance, productivity and profit that could be achieved when we combine the power of working for a higher purpose with the productivity achieved with lean. If we approach the building industry with the promise of both types of Green, we will ramp up the adoption of Lean Project Delivery as a means to create an economically viable NetZero building industry.

It will take two types of GREEN (sustainability & profit) + Lean to hit the tipping point for a viable NetZero building industry

Next we EXPLORE
Why a 3 Pronged Approach to Lean
Building a Team on a Trust Based Foundation
Keeping Promises is key for Reliable Work Flow

Murray Guy, @Lean_tobe_Green,
Connect on LinkedIn … Email

Integrated Designs, EcoSmart Developments & Shift2Lean

How we started a Lean Community of Practice | Murray Guy

" Today’s economy runs on knowledge, and Communities of Practice (COP) are a relatively new organizational form that that can radically galvanize knowledge sharing, learning, and change.  They are formed by groups of people informally bound together by shared expertise and passion for a joint enterprise." [1]

The Saskatoon Community of Practice was started to engage like minded individuals in learning more about lean principles and practices and how they can be used to drastically improve business and project outcomes.   For our first event we invited people from property management, construction, design, property management, manufacturing and the building industry supply chain to a Lean Coffee. 

A Lean Coffee is a great way to kickstart the formation of a COP.  It helps facilitate the group forming, storming and norming process in a democratic and collaborative way. We found a Lean Coffee Infographic that was used to guide us in how to select and discuss topics that are of mutual interest to the majority of the group members.  We used this for the first two two events that were run on the last Friday of the month for an hour. 

We discussed such topics as Study Action Teams (SAT), Value Stream Mapping (VSM), Lean Project Delivery (LPD), Lean Construction Institute - Canada (LCI-C), Target Value Design, Last Planner System, Lean Enterprise Transformational Model and Prefabrication.  We also discussed lean reference materials and books including "The Toyota Way", "Broken Buildings Busted Budgets", "High Velocity Edge", "This is Lean", "Transforming Design and Construction" and the "Commercial Real Estate Revolution".

The COP then decided we wanted to delve deeper into lean methods, tools and go on tours of businesses that have adopted lean practices. Over the next year we organized presentations and tours that were attended by ten to twenty people.

•  "This is Lean" a presentation on the Nuggets from the Lean Construction Institute conference in Boston
• "The Lean Turn Around" a tour of the POS Bio-Processing Center where they adopted lean strategies to save their industrial bio-processing business
•  Lean Manufacturing at Superior Millwork where we learned how lean is applied to manufacturing
• 5S Simulation: Why and How it helps to Build a Lean Culture

                             

Next we decided to host a larger event and called it Lean Talks. At this event we adopted the format of Ted Talks and had  twenty minute presentations on the following topics.

• With 11 Billion People on the Planet ... Is Lean Enough?
• How does Lean get us to a Green Building Industry
• Have you Created your Lean Project Check List?
• Integrated Lean at Every Step of the Way
• DIRTT Lean @ Arab Health Conference
• Changing Culture From Government Funded to Lean Entrepreneur

Most recently our group has decided pursue formal training on Lean Project Delivery and are pilot testing  the Lean Construction Institute - Canada (LCI-C) "Lean Project Delivery Certification Program   The program includes three levels of certification, our group participated in the Level 1 Lean Project Delivery Fundamentals Workshop,  will write the exam and apply for Level 1 certification. Next we will be scheduling the Level 2 Lean Design and Lean Construction workshops for February, 2017.

Starting a COP can be a great way promote the spread of best practices, develop professional skills, create a network that can result in mutually beneficial business relationships.  A community of practice may or may not have an explicit agenda on a given week, and even if it does, it may not follow the agenda closely. Inevitably, however, people in communities of practice share their experiences and knowledge in free-flowing, creative ways that foster new approaches to working together. [1]

We have shared our COP Start-up story in hope that we can help others create and sustain a community of like minded professionals interested in pursuing knowledge of lean practices.  If you are interested in getting one going in your community we hope this blog has provided a bit of a recipe. If you would prefer to get some help getting one going, please contact Lean Construction Institute - Canada to arrange for someone to help organize and facilitate the first event.  

Murray Guy | Lean Lab

[1] Communities of Practice: The Organizational Frontier: "Communities of Practice: The Organizational Frontier

Etienne C. WengerWilliam M. Snyder
FROM THE JANUARY–FEBRUARY 2000 ISSUE Harvard Business Review

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Are there Start-up Opportunities for Sustainable Minded Surfboard Companies? - Mpora

Love the ocean? Then you might want to give this a read...

How To Be An Environmentally-Friendly Surfer - Mpora
by Cynthia Krueger
9TH JUNE 2014


Spots like Indonesia are already plagued with sewage. Photo: Zak Noyles Photography

Surfers love the ocean. It’s our playground and our respite. When we’re surfing, we are immersed in nature and feel connected to the sea, the wind and the tides that influence the waves we ride.

While surfers are keenly attuned to the coastal environment, surfing typically involves products that are not environmentally friendly. Surfboards Aren’t As Eco-Friendly As You Might Think  Let’s talk about your surfboard.

Call to Entrepreneurs, Start-ups Ocean Loving People ... When there is a BIG Problem there are also lots of opportunities. Check out and develop new GREEN Products .... Join the Factor 10 Revolution.  

If it’s fibreglass laminated with polyester resin over polyurethane foam, it’s chock full of hazardous chemicals like styrene, VOCs (volatile organic compounds), and isocyanates, which can be harmful to shapers and glassers.

At the end of its life, it can’t be recycled. Your shred stick will end up in a landfill, decomposing very slowly – and because a typical surfboard is made using petroleum products, it leaves a carbon footprint"

At EcoSmart we are trying to do our part building NetZero targeted homes  the recipe is really simple check out the NetZero we submitted for an award.

Let the NetZero Revolution begin

Murray Guy
mguy@i-designs.ca


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Improving Conditions for Green Building Construction In North America | CEC

How will we Hit the Tipping point for NetZero Building Construction?

Recognizing that green building requires specialized skills and capabilities on the part of many actors in the building industry, this report reviews education and training opportunities throughout North America and compares those opportunities to the skills and capabilities that are needed now, or are likely to be needed over the next decade. It also identifies gaps between the educational offerings and anticipated needs in the industry, and makes recommendations for bridging those gaps. 

Improving Conditions for Green Building Construction In North America | CEC

All workforce sectors need specific technical skills, such as the ability to work with certain tools or install certain systems, as well as interpersonal skills—the ability to communicate and collaborate effectively. Beyond skills, however, all parties to a green building project will be most effective if they also embrace an ecological mindset of interdependence and interconnectivity and shift their thinking from the conventional, sequential hand-off paradigm of design and construction. 

Successful education and training programs typically have one or more of the following characteristics:

• Knowledgeable, charismatic trainers with experience in the field 
• Peer-to-peer mentoring
• Online education that is accessible whenever the students can make time for it 
• Short-format instructional videos 
• A focus on the “why” of green approaches in addition to the “what”

The recommendations include specific suggestions for disseminating these best practices, along with steps for addressing the following gaps: 

• Ecological mindset and awareness 
• Soft-skills training and mentoring 
• Financial benefits and evaluation
• Training in specific technical fields 
• Cross-disciplinary education and training 

In addition to these industry-specific education and training needs, the report points out the value of educating those who can drive demand for green building, especially corporate clients in the United States and Canada, and government officials in Mexico.
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If you are interested in providing support for all new construction to f be NetZero Energy by 2020, please contact me.

Murray Guy @Lean_tobe_Green
Learn: LEAN LAB. … Design: Integrated Designs … Build: EcoSmart
For inquires: Mguy@i-designs.ca or 306.934.6818
For more information on Commission for Environmental Cooperation 

Buffett’s Warning on Economic Gloom

Buffett’s Warning on Economic Gloom: "Buffett’s Warning on Economic Gloom

Daniel Gross, Strategy & Business

On February 27, Warren Buffett, the folksy billionaire who presides over Berkshire Hathaway, released his much-anticipated annual letter to the company’s shareholders. Most of the media coverage focused on the Oracle of Omaha’s contention that, despite the aura of decline promulgated by many, the U.S. is actually in very good shape. “For 240 years, it’s been a terrible mistake to bet against America, and now is no time to start. America’s golden goose of commerce and innovation will continue to lay more and larger eggs,” he wrote. This is a stance with which I agree. Welcome to the bandwagon, Mr. Buffett!

But I found another, less-covered point he made to be more compelling.  In a recent CNN poll, 56 percent of Americans said they feared their children would be worse off than they are. This has created a sour mood!

Put another way, the age of disruption, globalization, and rapidly shifting markets has actually been quite good news for companies at large — and for their owners. But it has been less good news for many of the people who work at them. 

The answer, Buffett says, is for society at large to do a better job building shock absorbers that protect all people in times of need. This includes protecting healthcare, promoting lifelong education and training, and to encourage savings would also be useful.

Of course, such programs have a cost. And Buffett would be the first to acknowledge that they do. But he’s highlighted an important point: If you’re not taking into account the impact of your company’s actions on society at large, you may be contributing to the sour mood."

Why not invest in your People with professional development training?  If you are in the Building Industry you may want to consider the following services and workshops.

• Utilizing Lean Project Delivery to create a sustainable competitive advantage in the building industry. Lean Lab | Training and Workshops 
• Facilitating the delivery of High Performance Green Building projects Integrated Designs | The Art of Project Delivery
• Building NETZero homes visit our Blog at EcoSmart | Building the Future

Murray Guy aka @Lean_tobe_Green | mguy@i-designs.ca

Integrated Designs  | EcoSmart  | Lean Lab   

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Need $$$ to Finance your Cleantech Venture? | Murray Guy

If we are going to create a Cleantech Revolution to help to Save the Icebergs that I blogged about yesterday, we are going to have to make it easy for Green Startups to kickstart their businesses.

Having recently launched two companies EcoSmart Developments and Lean Lab, I am interested in getting some help with Crowd Funding to accelerate the process of "Getting Green Done"

Let's see what Nuggets we can discover from recently published blog articles, that can help us!

How Crowdfunding Is Changing The Way Startups Raise Money | Inc.com: BY ADAM HEITZMAN Co-founder, HigherVisibility@HigherVis

The emergence of Crowdfunding has allowed entrepreneurs the ability to get their business ideas financed easier than ever. Funding your idea may now be just a few clicks away.

For those who are unfamiliar, crowdfunding is a means of raising funds from large groups. Kickstarter is probably the best example of crowdfunding. You create your business plan and idea and then upload it to the website with a financial goal in mind, and people can give money toward your goal if they believe in your business.

There are two types of Crowdfunding

Receiving Rewards it is the traditional way of crowdfunding. It is a system where investors would get a reward in return for their investment. For example, if you donated a certain amount of money to an entrepreneur who was trying to launch a new board game, they might send you the board game as a thank you for your investment.

Equity Crowdfunding is the newer way of crowdfunding. As of 2012 and thanks to the JOBS Act, companies are now allowed to collect up to $1 million per year over the Internet, so with this type of crowdfunding those who contribute could become company shareholders. This is a great middle-point between reward-based crowdfunding and the older, traditional way of pitching ideas to investors in person.

According to the Ultimate Crowdfunding Guide from BankingSense, "If you're interested in an equity campaign, your business will need to be incorporated.

If you're on the fence about which type of crowdfunding campaign is right for you and how to get started, I recommend visiting the BankingSense guide for more detailed information."

You should also check out "How Crowd-Funding Is Changing Everything and What that Means for Your Start-up"   This article is by the founders of FundersClub an equity based Crowd-Funding company.

Some Nuggets from this Article are"
Rewards-based crowdfunding can work well as a step towards de-risking customer demand and building a community of early adopters without giving up equity in the business.

“Rewards-based sites can be helpful for startups if you want people to pre-order your product to confirm demand,”

“The advantage of equity crowd-funding with the right platform is that it can make the process of raising value-added capital more efficient for founders,” says Mittal. “When we founded the company, we did it with the goal of being respectful of founders’ time, allowing them to raise quickly but to still tap into a value-added network helpful for key tasks like hiring, forming partnerships, winning customers, and raising follow-on capital. It’s not just about the money or the transaction, these types of platforms can expand your professional network for growing your company.”


It’s important to clearly outline what the startup does, how the product or service works, and other details that potential investors will want to understand.” If you’re not prepared to answer these questions, then you should ask whether you’re ready to raise any capital.
Best Practices

1) Know who you are working with. As a founder, you should do your homework on who you raise money from both online and offline.

2) Be Ready. “Your company has to be at an appropriate stage to do well on a site like FundersClub,”  "Because you’re raising capital online, traction and growth serve as important signals. Having strong customer testimonials helps, as does compiling any news or major press hits that you’ve landed."

3) Clarity is king.“You need to be crystal clear about what your product or service does and how it works.  It’s your job as an entrepreneur to clearly communicate your business and its value proposition in a way that investors can understand easily and quickly.”

4) Cover the key points. “The information you post should be no different than what an offline investor would look for. Hit the main points: What is the idea? How does the product or service work? Who’s on the team? What key milestones have you hit? What are your metrics for success? What is the market size potential? What are the investment terms? How big is the round you’re trying to raise?

Ideally, you have a pitch deck that works without you being there to explain it.”


Good luck with launching your #Cleantech the IceBergs need our help!

For more information on how to build affordable NETZero homes visit our Blog at EcoSmart | Building the Future or for commercial the Integrated Designs | The Art of Project Delivery or for Lean Lab | Training and Workshops 

  
 Murray Guy aka @Lean_tobe_Green | mguy@i-designs.ca

Integrated Designs  | EcoSmart  | Lean Lab   

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Can we save the IceBergs | Fred & Louie

In the story “Our Iceberg is Melting” we learn how a penguin colony deals with the change in the face of an impeding disaster. The penguins are living happily on their iceberg as they have done for many years. Then, one curious penguin discovers a potentially devastating problem threatening their home.   

There is a crack forming at the base of the iceberg that is worsening with time and as it fills with water and then freezes again, eventually it will cause the whole iceberg to split. Fred the scout has identified the problem, but must cleverly convince and recruit the Louie the leader and other key members of the colony to strategically work their way to a solution.

This story is analogous to the challenges we face as a society that need to address climate change. Our biggest challenge will be to get people to face up and deal with this difficult problem, as no one seems to be listening.  Maybe we can learn from Fred and Louie how to develop a plan and implement the change necessary to keep our Iceberg from melting. 

 

How would “the Penguins” do it?

As a first step Fred and Louie have established a group that recognize there is a very serious “Planet Earth Survival” problem. They have put them in charge of guiding the change, set a sensible vision of a better future and have communicated that vision to others in a way that they will understand and accept it. 

This group met at COP21, also known as the 2015 Paris Climate Conference. This is where 190 countries gathered to negotiate a legally binding and universal agreement on climate, with the aim of keeping global warming below 2°C. The conference negotiated the Paris Agreement, a global agreement on the reduction of Climate Change, the text of which represented a consensus of the representatives of the 196 parties attending it. The agreement will become legally binding if joined by at least 55 countries which together represent at least 55 percent of global greenhouse emissions. Such parties will need to sign the agreement in New York between 22 April 2016 (Earth Day) and 21 April 2017, and also adopt it within their own legal systems.

What is the Vision for a Better Future?

Next Fred and Louie, decided to create a vision for the Clean Energy Revolution. They started by gathering all of the movers and shakers to create an alliance called MISSION INNOVATION, to accelerate the development of clean energy innovation and to make clean energy widely affordable.  At the launch, 20 countries committed to double their respective research over the five years to 2020. The countries include the five most populous (as at 2015): China, India, the United States, Indonesia, and Brazil. All 20 launch partner countries represent 75 percent of the world’s CO2 emissions from electricity, and over 80 percent of the world’s clean energy R&D investment. This alliance will develop biofuel, carbon capture, airborne wind turbines, nuclear fission and nuclear fusion.

This newly formed group will add to the work of scientists and engineers called the Global Apollo Program that are working on renewable energy, energy storage, smart grids and hydrogen vehicles. Funding will also be made available through the Breakthrough Energy Coalition, a global group of 28 high net work investors that are committed to funding clean energy companies.

How will Fred & Louie, address the Culture Change Challenge?

Fred and Louie both acknowledge that the shift in culture and behavior is going to be the tough part which is WHY they are asking all of YOU to help enact this CHANGE. 

They suggest that if YOU lead by example and share your successes on social media, others will follow. If you tell somebody, and they tell somebody, pretty soon we will have started the Clean Tech Revolution.  We will have created a world where it is cool to live in a NetZero Energy home powered by the sun, built sustainably by clean tech companies and green collar workers.

Will there be a ECOnomy?

This is where it gets real exciting for early adopters, entrepreneurs and clean tech startups as they will become business leaders in a sustainable ECOnomy. Countries like Sweden, Switzerland and Norway will benefit as they are already well on their way to creating Zero Carbon economies. 

Companies like Interface Carpets, Patagonia and BMW to name a few will find demand for there products as more and more people recognize that our future depends upon making socially responsible choices, buying from companies that have bought into creating a sustainable economy.





We will see whole resource intensive industries like the building industry transform to where all building are net energy providers. Early adopters like  Okanagan College, the Mosaic Center and EcoSmart Developments are already delivering NetZero energy building that provide a positive return on investment. 

What you can do!

Fred and Louie are recommending that we all support the warriors and the countries that will make the Clean Tech Revolution come alive. They need for YOU to jump on board to support the mission. We need to become relentless in the pursuit of a new and better way, as the Icebergs are melting and we don’t want to let Fred and Louie down.

You can get started by joining the #NetZero Energy Revolution by getting your homes and building as close to NetZero energy use as possible.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article, for caring about the planet and for sharing this article with up and coming sustainability warriors.

Fred and Louie are recommending that we all support the warriors and the countries that will make the Clean Tech Revolution come alive. They need for YOU to jump on board to support the mission.

Dedicated to Fred, Louie the the ECO-Warriors out there!

For more information on how to build affordable NETZero homes visit our Blog at EcoSmart | Building the Future or for commercial the Integrated Designs | The Art of Project Delivery or for Lean Lab | Training and Workshops 

  
 Murray Guy aka @Lean_tobe_Green | mguy@i-designs.ca

Integrated Designs  | EcoSmart  | Lean Lab