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Goals that Stick: Rallying Project Teams Around Building Performance

Have you ever wondered if your projects could achieve more aspirational performance goals? While project teams committed to curbing the effects of climate change typically establish quantifiable performance targets for their projects, there is no magic bullet for defining the perfect quantifiable goals for each unique project. We’ve created this 3 min survey to examine what drives the gap between projects that meet ambitious targets and those that don't.

This survey is part of an effort to understand how we can improve our goal setting practices to push more projects to exceptional levels of environmental performance. Note that we are focusing here on goals around easily quantifiable environmental indicators, such as energy, water, and carbon impacts.

Results of this anonymous survey will help shape and will be shared at the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) BuildingEnergy Boston Conference this March in a session with Alejandra Menchaca (Thornton Tomasetti), Erik Olsen (Transsolar), Elaine Hoffman (Goody Clancy), and Lori Ferriss (Goody Clancy).
1.For sustainability attributes that are quantifiable (carbon emissions, energy use, human health indicators, etc.), how effective are numerical targets for achieving high levels of building performance?
2.Goals can be created from different sources. How likely are goals based on each of the following sources to result in high levels of performance?
Very unlikely
Somewhat unlikely
Neither likely nor unlikely
Somewhat likely
Very likely
External, non-mandatory targets, e.g. Architecture 2030, UN SDGs
Internal owner/client targets, e.g. Climate Action Plans
Team consensus to achieve the best performance possible
Green Building Rating Systems
Regulations, e.g. building performance standards
3.How often do quantitative goals for the following categories drive design decisions on your projects?
Almost Never
Sometimes
Often
Almost Always
Net energy consumption
Operational carbon emissions
Potable water consumption
Embodied carbon emissions
Human health indicators
4.How effective are each of these strategies in helping teams in achieving project goals?
Very ineffective
Somewhat ineffective
Neither effective nor ineffective
Somewhat effective
Very effective
Targeted client engagement
Consistent communication around goals
Establishing team-wide commitment early on
Iterative performance modeling & tracking
Pursuing green building certification
Tactical value management
Strong technical leadership from design team
5.How likely are each of these factors to prevent a project from achieving its goals?
Very unlikely to prevent
Somewhat unlikely
Neither likely nor unlikely
Somewhat likely
Very likely to prevent
Risk tolerance
Regulatory barriers
Owner standards
Maintenance concerns
Lack of technical knowledge
Lack of consensus around goals
Goal was too ambitious
First costs
Default to business as usual
Constructibility concerns
Aesthetics
6.Achieving high performance and meeting goals requires sustained effort throughout a project. In your most successful projects, who was the driving force in consistently rallying the team to meet the desired outcomes?
7.What is the most important marker of achieving a project's goals?
8.What is your typical role?