Objection handling for green project managers

Green project managers often find themselves in the position of having to justify incorporating sustainability in their projects. You may find yourself trying to convince organizations that sustainability is in their interest, in the face of objections like:

• It's not one of our current strategic objectives.
• The benefits are intangible and the ROI is too low.
• We're facing a lack of political will.
• We can't afford it.
• We're just too busy to deal with this.

The list goes on, and at times it may seem daunting trying to introduce sustainability as an integral part of project management.

But you're not alone -- there's help available!

In February of this year, a group of sustainability professionals gathered in Toronto and discussed these issues at a workshop, part of the Toronto Sustainability Speaker Series. Their excellent tips and recommendations can be found in this free discussion paper.

Check it out! And please share any tips and advice you may have from your own experience as a green project manager.

Free Green Project Management webinar

We just heard about an exciting opportunity to learn more about green PM!

The authors of Green Project Management, Rich Maltzman and Dave Shirley, will be hosting a free "lunch and learn" webinar on Green Project Management on May 16. (Note that it's lunch on the east coast and will be at 9:00 am Pacific Time.)

As noted in the webinar announcement:

"They will discuss 5 Key Assertions from their book –

1. Doing the right thing helps the project team do things right. 
2. Green PM helps better equip your team respond to project risks. 
3. Green PM helps the project and the product of the project. 
4. An environmental lens, including life cycle thinking, is a necessary part of a PM's toolbox. 
5. Greenality, like quality, must be planned in, not bolted on 

And share 5 things you can do now to apply sustainability in your career and your projects.

Their book teaches project managers how to maximize resources and get the most out of limited budgets. It supplies proven techniques and best practices in green project management, including risk and opportunity assessments."

Don't miss this opportunity -- register here.

Promising benefits of West Coast clean economy

A recent report on the West Coast Clean Economy shows that the "clean economy" in Washington, Oregon, and California is growing and is of benefit to the economy. The findings have spurred action by the Pacific Coast Collaborative, which has created the West Coast Action Plan on Jobs. The goal is to speed the transition to a clean economy, hastening the attendant benefits of the greater resiliency and pay scales of clean economy jobs, plus the robust GDP growth they bring. For more, see this article in the Sustainable Business Forum.

What does this mean for green project management? Whether you practice green project management in a clean economy job or in a position not directly related to sustainability, this acknowledgment of the benefits of going green could seep into all areas. As project managers interested in sustainability, perhaps we could even say it's our responsibility to ensure that it does. One way or another, it's bound to bring positive attention to the area. I look forward to seeing the action plan on jobs come to fruition, and I hope the ideas behind it will permeate jobs in all areas.

Upcoming Green PM Seminars

We have an exciting lineup for the coming months. If you know of any great potential speakers, please contact us!

Here's what we have in the works:

May 19: Pete Cooper from Better Place

The benefits that cars have brought over the last century can’t be overstated. At the same time, though, related oil use has created profound economic, health, and environmental problems, which will get much worse as hundreds of millions in the developing world enter the middle class. The goal of Better Place is to break the monopoly oil has on transportation, by accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles.

Pete Cooper will tell us about how Better Place is enabling the mass-market adoption of electric cars through an innovative battery-switch model that makes driving electric cars more affordable, convenient, and sustainable than driving gasoline-powered cars. The company owns and operates a network of battery-switch stations and public/personal Charge Spots, along with the supply of batteries that power the cars, to provide drivers with instant range extension and the convenience to drive, switch, and go across an entire region. Where possible, Better Place uses renewable sources of energy to deliver fully zero-emissions driving. The World Economic Forum has named Better Place a “Global Growth Company Industry Shaper” for its innovative approach in advancing the global switch to electric cars.

June 16: Joe Serrano of TentMakers Inc.

TentMakers Inc. is a nonprofit organization that assists low- and moderate-income households with housing and economic development opportunities. They also help counties, cities, nonprofits, housing developers, and the public with housing and economic development activities.

At our June seminar, Joe Serrano will tell us about the Attainable and Sustainable Housing (ASH) Model, which is a combination of the FHA 203K loan program, Energy Efficient Mortgage, and Energy Upgrade California. He'll present some case studies of Tentmakers projects and explore some of the opportunities and constraints involved.

August 18: Joel Carboni of Green Project Management

By applying a framework of sustainable methods and personal adherence of environmental ethics to project management practices, project managers can serve as agents of change by decoupling environmental degradation and economic growth. The mission of Green Project Management (GPM) is to be the catalyst in evolving the discipline to enable organizations to improve the construct and delivery of goods and services without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Joel Carboni of GPM will share his organization's PRiSM methodology for making sustainability an integral part of project management. GPM has been taking their courses in green project management around the world to great acclaim, and we're excited to have him share their insights with us!

Seminar series details

The Green Project Management Seminar Series is co-sponsored by Keller Graduate School and the Project Management Institute San Francisco Bay Area Chapter. The seminars are held on the third Saturday of each month from 9:00 am to 12:00 noon PDT, at Keller Graduate School’s Daly City location. For details and registration information, visit the PMI SF Bay Area Chapter website at www.pmi-sfbac.org/calendar.cfm or www.pmi-sfbac.org/calendarshowevents.cfm. (Upcoming seminars may not be there yet, but we'll get the listings in place soon!)

Spring of Sustainability -- FREE online seminars!

Spring is just beginning, and with it comes the Spring of Sustainability, a 3-month series of virtual and live events designed to empower us all to "connect, collaborate, and create a sustainable community and world."

The series, produced by The Shift Network and the Sustainable World Coalition, is packed with luminaries in all areas of sustainable living, from Van Jones to Bill McKibben to Frances Moore Lappe -- and others too numerous to list here.

You can call in and listen live on weekdays at noon Pacific Time, or you can access recordings later.

What do the series producers expect you'l get out of attending? In their words, you can:

• Transform fear and frustration into hope and actions you can contribute directly to creating a sustainable world for all beings 
• Learn fun, inspiring ways you can engage your family, friends, neighbors and coworkers in creating a healthy and sustainable community 
• Discover why new systems rooted in justice and sustainability principles are the only viable solution for our planet 
• Network and collaborate with other passionate people and organizations on sustainable initiatives – and help create a thriving planet 
• Get the latest cutting-edge insights into green building, green business, green living, renewable energy sources, wildlife preservation and climate change 
• Understand the role of culture and social will in creating a paradigm shift in economic, political, and social systems that are destroying the planet 
• ...And more

Sounds like a good way to get inspired to continue promoting sustainability in all our projects, whether they're at work or in the rest of our lives.

For more information and to register (free!), see http://springofsustainability.com.

"LET THERE BE LIGHT..."

Clean Energy and Global Development Community,

I just got word of an really interesting event this coming Monday, 12 March.

Drew Sloan, Army Veteran and Rachel Kleinfeld, Truman National Security Project's CEO, will be at the Marines' Memorial Club in San Francisco to discuss their recent book: "Let There Be Light."


Providing electricity to the unlit and unstable parts of the globe is crucial to jump-starting development, improving the environment, and stabilizing fragile states that ferment many of today's security threats. Let There Be Light shows the failures of centralized electricity to meet these challenges—and describes how distributed, renewable energy such as solar and wind power can work. But, Kleinfeld and Sloan argue, it is not enough to harness the power of the elements. To scale, distributed energy must harness the power of the market. Taking on the major challenges that have impeded distributed energy's success, this book describes the roles development donors, social entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, the military, and the business world can play to make lighting the developing world a reality.

DR. RACHEL KLEINFELD
Rachel is the founding CEO of the Truman National Security Project. Named one of the Top 40 Political Leaders by Time Magazine, Rachel appears regularly on national radio and television. Her passion lies in issues that fall along the seams of national security, human security, and development. She has written on building the rule of law in weak states, bioterrorism, energy, and a host of national security issues. Rachel has worked in microfinance in India, served as an election monitor in Pakistan and Bangladesh, and consulted for the World Bank, OECD, EU, and multiple private organizations on building the rule of law, work that she continues as a non-resident Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She serves as a founding member of the State Department's Foreign Affairs Policy Board, which provides the Secretary and other senior State Department officials with foreign policy guidance.
Rachel received her D.Phil and M.Phil from Oxford University, which she attended as a Rhodes Scholar, and holds a B.A. from Yale University. She grew up in a log house on a dirt road in Fairbanks, Alaska, which has one of the world's largest batteries backing up an electricity grid phone to blackouts.

DREW SLOAN
Drew currently works in the Client Solutions Department of the energy efficiency company, OPower. Prior to this, he spent five years in the United States Army, where he served in Afghanistan, was wounded, and after convalescing at Walter Reed, returned to active duty and subsequently deployed to Iraq as the aide-de-camp for a brigadier general. He was awarded two bronze stars for meritorious service and a purple heart. Since departing the military he has worked at both Rocky Mountain Institute under the direct tutelage of Amory Lovins as well and in the Commercialization Office at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
Drew holds a Bachelor's of Science in History from the United States Military Academy at West Point as well as an MBA from Harvard Business School and an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

For more information, please visit www.trumanproject.org/book

Where: Marines' Memorial Club and Hotel | 609 Sutter Street (@ Mason St), San Francisco, CA
When: 12 March, Registration at 5:30 pm | Program at 6:00-7:00 pm
RSVP: http://bit.ly/LetThereBeLight_SF

It's back: FREE Sustainability / Construction / Project Management Symposium

We have a new date for this exciting symposium! Be DOUBLE GREEN for St Patrick's Day!


Saturday, March 17, 2012 from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM (PT)
Oakland, CA

The Project Management Institute San Francisco Bay Area Chapter, in conjunction with The Green Science Academy and US Green Building Council Northern California Chapter, will host its second symposium on sustainability, construction, and project management at DeVry University Keller Graduate School of Oakland.

This event will provide you with a great opportunity to hear leaders in the field speak about current thinking on green building/sustainability as well as a chance to network with individuals from a wide variety of green companies and gain actionable information for your job search or career transition.

With four exciting knowledge tracks, this symposium will help you learn about energy efficiency and renewable energy in the built environment; managing your business’ waste stream; and the slow food and slow money movements. In the opening and closing plenary sessions, you’ll also hear about LEED rating system updates planned for 2012 and 2013, and the vital role advocacy plays in advancing the green building industry through education, awareness, and sharing research to influence policy at the national, state, and local levels.

Admission is free, courtesy of the symposium host, DeVry University Keller Graduate School of Oakland. However, space is limited to the first 180 attendees, so register now to lock in your spot!

Sponsorship opportunities are available. For details, contact dvpcr@pmi-sfbac.org.

The DeVry University campus is just one block from Oakland’s 12th Street BART station, at 505 14th Street, Oakland. Transportation, parking, and food are the responsibility of the attendee.


Click Here To Register