MoneyBall | Meet the LEAN Team
As portrayed in the movie Moneyball, Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) the GM for the Oakland A’s implemented a performance metrics system that enabled his team to become one of most successful low budget teams in baseball!
By finding undervalued performance with on-base percentage players, young and older talent, the Oakland A’s have consistently outperformed the competition. In doing so the A’s have completely dispelled the myth that there needs to be tradeoffs between cost and performance. If we were to adopt this same thinking for the building industry, could we deliver a CHAMPIONSHIP building that produces as much energy as it uses at no additional cost? (Net 0-0)
Why Net 0-0?
A common theme amongst all GREAT Teams is that they succeeded because they were working towards some higher purpose like fixing our worlds greatest challenge, climate change. In a recent Fast Company post of “The Top 9 Info Graphics of 2014”, the first graphic paints a potential scary vision for our future if we do not address climate change. “In 1000 years if civilization collapses most of the buildings and bridges around today will have fallen.” I think this means there would also be no more baseball! Why risk all of this, when we currently have the ability to eliminate 40% of all GHG in North America by building to Net 0 energy performance! Europe has already committed to a Net 0 energy standard by the year 2020. Net 0 is coming and so why not start practicing now? Our industry is currently able to deliver Net 0 performance at a 10% cost premium. We just need to find a way to tweak and tune our processes to get to Net 0 additional cost.
Net 0-0 is a GREAT target and at no additional cost there can be NO EXCUSES. We need to stop acting like the Big Budget Teams!The problem with the building industry is that we act like the New York Yankees when it comes to delivering GREEN building projects. We get out our checkbooks buy sexy green technologies, field a team of disintegrated high priced performers that stumble their way to Net 0 energy performance at a significant cost premium. It doesn’t have to be this way, as there are masters in the industry that know how to get GREEN done on a beer budget! We can learn from other industries that have proven that quality and performance can be free. We need to adopt similar processes as Billy Beane did in baseball or Edward Deming, who proved that “Quality is Free” in the automobile industry. With new THINKING we can break down barriers to high performance
Is there a PLAYBOOK for the Building Industry?
Leaders in our industry are utilizing Lean and more integrated processes to deliver high performance building at less cost, in less time while providing a better quality product. Assemble a winning TEAM: With the right players, practice, discipline and focus we can deliver much higher performance at less cost. Adopt SYSTEMS like what Toyota used for manufacturing but adapted for construction. This is called Lean Project Delivery. Collaborate on creating creating flow and efficiency When we create a PLAYBOOK that focuses on winning strategies that creates VALUE for the customer everyone wins. The Customer wins with better value at less risk and cost, the Designers and Contractors win with happy customers and repeat business and the planet wins with less resource use and emissions
Cowboy Math: Is Net 0 -0 Feasible?
Current estimates are that there is a 10% to 20% cost premium to get to NetZero energy use for the cost of renewable energy systems and higher performance building systems. By tunnelling through the cost barriers with integrated designs and lean project delivery there is the potential to deliver projects at 40% less cost. When we do the cowboy math the potential saving are greater than the premium, so yes we can convert the waste of traditional approaches to high performance Net 0 levels buildings at Net 0 additional cost.
Who will win the Net 0-0 Championship?
There are two projects in Canada that have adopted Lean Project Delivery to deliver Net 0 levels of performance:
Okanagan College Trades Complex
Mosaic Center for Community and Commerce.
Integrated Designs is fortunate to be working on both of these projects for information on The Mosaic Center or Okanagan College In our search for world-class performances we will discover the secrets to win the TOUGHEST GAME in town, Net 0-0.
Murray Guy aka @Lean_tobe_Green | mguy@i-designs.ca
Integrated Designs | EcoSmart | Lean Lab
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