CMAdvisor
Advancing Professional Construction and Program Management Worldwide
Sustainability: Already “Old Hat?”
LEED® De -Certification? Maybe!
January/February 2011
Volume XXX, No. 1
Contents
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10
January/February 2011
Volume XXX, No. 1
Sustainability Already “Old Hat?”
For some in the construction industry,
sustainability has already become a “given,”
something that can be taken for granted.
But is the whole business ready for that?
And how can CMs/PMs help?
Private Owners Sessions a Key
Component of 2011 Owners Forum
Construction program owners will have opportunities
to interact with their peers during “owners-only”
dialogue sessions at the upcoming forum.
What happens when LEED certified buildings
don’t deliver the promised performance?
CMAA’s new CMpat™—makes it easy to:
2
CMAdvisor January/February
•Record and verify your experience for the CCM.
•Convey your qualifications to employers and clients.
•Plan your future professional development needs.
COLUMNS
5 Chairman’s Report
By David R. Conover, CCM
29 President’s Report
By Bruce D’Agostino, CAE, FCMAA
This simple, powerful career management tool helps you gauge
where you are today, where you want to be, and how to get there.
DEPARTMENTS
12Professional Practice Corner
CMpat is available to CMAA
members for just $75 annually.
See how CMpat works and start using it today!
14 Legal Corner
16 Sustainability Corner
Cover photo and above photos: LEED Gold
Washington-Lee High School in Arlington,
VA. CM by MBP/AECOM joint venture.
2010 Project Achievement Award Winner.
Photo courtesy of MBP.
18 News
22 Foundation
23 Certification
24Roundup
CMAdvisor January/February
CMAA’s Practitioner Assessment Tool
3
Introducing CMpat™
IN THIS ISSUE OF LEGAL CORNER:
LEED De -certification?
CMAdvisor
Chairman of the Board
David R. Conover, CCM
HDR, Inc.
President and Chief Executive Officer
Bruce D’Agostino, CAE, FCMAA
Editor
John McKeon
MWH Constructors teams with the
Contributing Writers
Kathleen Davenport
Martha Montague
communities in which we serve,
providing management expertise
Design
TGD Communications, Inc.
and innovative construction
solutions. Our philosophy of giving
back is exemplified by stimulating
CMAA is a construction industry
association of 6,400 firms
and professionals who provide
management services to owners
who are planning, designing and
constructing capital facilities
and infrastructure projects.
the local economy and partnering
with local firms. Our reputation
for teamwork within the industry
is well recognized.
SERVICES:
CM-AT-RISK
CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
CMAdvisor, published bi­‑monthly
by CMAA, reports on and follows
the industry as a service to its
members. Submission of articles,
ideas and suggestions is appreciated
and encouraged.
DESIGN-BUILD
TEAM.Work
Keeping Members Involved
By David R. Conover, CCM, HDR, Inc.
CMAA should be proud of the membership retention
rates we have achieved recently. Despite a recessionary
environment, we’ve been posting annual member
retention rates significantly above the national average—
in fact, often above 90 percent.
This success also hides a challenge. When we lose 10
percent of our members each year, that represents more
than 500 people. When we boast of having achieved net
growth of 11 percent in the past year, that statistic actually understates the success
of our new member efforts.
I believe we need to work harder to keep current members as a fundamental tactic
to help CMAA grow even more robustly. Lost members are not just numbers. They
also represent lost energy, new ideas, opportunities, and fewer CM “ambassadors”
out there showing our profession’s best face to our industry.
The best way to keep members, especially new members, is to get them involved right
away. The national Board of Directors has adopted the 30-60-90-90-60-30 principle,
which calls on CMAA leadership to reach out to the new member 30, 60 and 90 days
after he or she joins and again 90, 60 and 30 days before renewal time. Chapter
leaders should adopt the same goal for new member communications.
Our chapters are the most effective vehicle for this effort, offering lunches, dinners,
awards programs, speakers, site tours, SOP courses, scholarship programs, educational
outreach, committee involvement and a variety of other ways for new members to
get into the flow.
CMAA is working hard to offer the kind of programs and services that deliver high value
to our members, and to be sure members are aware of all of these opportunities.
7926 Jones Branch Drive, Suite 800
McLean, Virginia 22102-3303 USA
Phone: 703.356.2622
Fax: 703.356.6388
Email: info@cmaanet.org
Web: www.cmaanet.org
We’re set to launch our renewed “refer-a-friend” membership campaign for 2011,
and I encourage all members to think about people you know who could benefit
from CMAA membership. Just think how easy it is to recommend or sign-up just one
person, and that small effort could easily increase our membership in the thousands!
Your personal recommendation really does matter, so please visit the refer-a-friend
section of our Web site and take advantage of this convenient, effective tool.
CMAA ©Copyright 2011,
ISSN 1084-75327
Right now is a prime opportunity to act. Recruit a colleague to join CMAA, and
invite him or her to join you at the Owners Forum in San Antonio. Being part of
this excellent event will get your new member “fired up” about CMAA.
Reproduction or redistribution in
any form is forbidden without
written permission of the publisher.
+1.303.410.4000
mwhglobal.com
CMAA members receive this
newsletter as a member benefit.
For advertising information, contact
Tom Egly at tom.egly@tgdcom.com.
Even though our retention rates have been excellent, let’s not be satisfied. Let’s
keep more of our members’ energy and talent working for us, to help make CMAA
better than ever.
CMAdvisor January/February
But the most important factors in keeping members are personal involvement and
relationships—positive experience with CMAA activities and strong relationships
with fellow members.
5
STRATEGIC
Our Mission is to Promote and
Enhance Leadership, Professionalism
and Excellence in Managing the
Development and Construction
of Projects and Programs.
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
Sustainability Already
“OLD HAT?”
By John McKeon
Last fall the U.S. General Services Administration changed Lance Davis’s job title, a small
change with big implications. Once titled “Sustainability Expert for the Chief Architect,”
Davis became “Program Manager for Design Excellence, Architecture.”
Gone was the word sustainability, and the change made Davis happy. “There was no need
for sustainability to be done by a separate person off on the side,” he explains. “Every single
building that GSA is producing is supposed to be a high performing green building. We don’t
need a special sustainability person, we need every single person doing sustainability.”
6
“The market is still broken up into two groups,” he says. “A part
of the market does ‘get it,’ but there is a large portion that still
needs to be educated.”
Michael Germinario, PE, CCM, program director at U.S. Customs
and Border Protection, compares today’s sustainability mindset
with the origins of another critical design element a century
or so ago.
“For a hundred years or more, buildings weren’t built with any
kind of fireproofing,” he says. “All of a sudden, there was a push
to improve fire safety, and codes came out, and it created a whole
cottage industry of fire protection engineers. How is what we’re
doing in sustainability today any different?
Christopher J. Griffith, PE, CCM, senior vice president of KCI
Technologies, Inc., thinks both the cost of sustainable design/
construction and the industry’s understanding of the process
have progressed rapidly in recent years. In the early years,
he comments, “it probably added 15 to 20 percent to the
cost of a project. Nowadays, it’s maybe 5 percent, and maybe
not even that much. It’s just part of the process now. The
manufacturers, suppliers, everybody has become accustomed
to the requirements. It’s what the industry has geared up for,
and it’s what is expected.”
WEIGHING THE ECONOMICS
Griffith also notes, however, that some of the old assumptions
have held on stubbornly, particularly among less experienced
owners. “With some of the laggards, they may still have the
concept that it’s going to cost extra money, they’re still thinking
of years ago. You may have a small municipality doing their
first building in a couple of years, and they don’t know how
much has changed.”
CMAdvisor January/February
CMAdvisor January/February
A large part of the A/E/C industry is preparing to dance to
whatever tune GSA calls, yet Davis himself frankly admits that
only a minority of the industry is really ready for an environment
in which sustainability is a given.
“We have to realize that this is just what we do and not make
such a big deal out of it, but conversely, make a big deal when
it’s not included. I don’t think we’re there yet.”
7
GSA has launched a much-publicized effort to end its facilities’
reliance on fossil fuels by 2030 and to have all “net zero”
energy efficient designs by 2020. “In the very near future,
we won’t expect architects or engineers to come to us with a
LEED consultant,” Davis says. “We expect them to have that
expertise in-house.”
—Lance Davis, AIA, LEED, of GSA
“The contractors have really bought into it, especially the MEP
contractors. But there’s still a reluctance on the design side.
The return on investment isn’t as great. We’re sadly still in a
position where designers are saying, ‘Do I really have to do this?’”
One big difference between designing for sustainability
today and meeting fire codes in the last century is obvious:
Sustainability goals leave a lot more room for discretion and
decision-making. “In fire protection they quickly came out
with a code and you couldn’t mince matters,” says Germinario.
In the sustainability world, though, “we do trade-off analyses
all the time.”
Deke Smith cites another complicating factor, the sheer volume
of information available to today’s decision makers, coupled with
the fact that this information can lead in multiple directions.
“There are a lot of cases where one decision is in complete
opposition to another,” he explains.
Consider the humble parking lot. “One argument says, put all the
cars under the building,” says Smith. “The security guys say, don’t
do that, spread them out on the site. Then the environmental
guys say, don’t do that, you’re just paving the whole world.”
8
CMAdvisor January/February
MORE THAN JUST ENERGY
Moreover, Smith and others point out, sustainability has to
address more than just energy savings: Water, wastewater,
recycling, jobsite waste reduction and a project’s impact on an
area’s transportation infrastructure all have to be considered.
“If you look at how much raw material goes into construction
as opposed to other industries, construction is way, way out
ahead. We haven’t really addressed things like modularization,
prefabrication, but these things really control the waste
stream.” Smith observes that the manufacturing community
as a whole wastes about 26 percent of its raw materials, but
57 percent of construction materials are wasted.
The best CM/PM education in the business.
It’s particularly important, Lance Davis says, to keep sight of
both the forest and the trees. “We can get so focused on energy
efficiency that we forget why we have these buildings. We have
these buildings so that people can do their jobs.”
CMAA is your partner for high value professional education
for every member of your team at every level.
Helping owners keep these goals in mind, and navigate a
confusing array of decisions and trade-offs, is a natural job
for the Construction Manager.
For new hires, our Construction Manager In Training (CMIT)
program supports the transition into the workplace. At the
high end, the Certified Construction Manager (CCM®) credential
identifies the best in the business.
“It’s important that the CM be the honest broker,” says
Germinario. “Unveiling the mysteries of the cost benefit of
sustainability is a role for the honest broker, the CM, protecting
the owner’s interest.”
Stressing sustainability creates yet another argument for getting
CMs involved earlier in projects and programs, Germinario says.
“For the CM to have an impact these decisions have to be made
as early in the process as possible. You need the CM in earlier to
protect your interests in terms of constructability. To the long
list of reasons we should be involved earlier, sustainability is
yet another, and maybe among the most important.”
Deliver SOP-based training to your entire team for as little
as $35 per hour of expert instruction with flexible licensing
of our online SOP modules. Or select from a broad menu of
events, interactive webinars, and other programs.
To learn more, visit www.cmaanet.org/pd-home.
“Unveiling the mysteries of the cost benefit of
sustainability is a role for the honest broker,
the CM, protecting the owner’s interest.”
—Michael Germinario, PE, CCM,
of U.S. Customs and Border Protection
For Deke Smith, the future of sustainable design and construction
“all comes down to leadership. Who is supposed to be the leader?
“It will ultimately be the progressive owner,” he answers. “It’s
up to the owners because they are the ones that pay the bills.
There’s a job to be done, and whoever steps up to it first is
going to be the winner.”
John McKeon is vice president of CMAA. He can be reached at
jmckeon@cmaanet.org.
STANDARDS
CERTIFICATION
LEADERSHIP
Professional Construction Management
based on CMAA’s Construction Management
Standards of Practice will improve your
project outcomes and build your business.
Certified Construction Managers™ deliver
these values on every job, every day.
CMAA is the home of professional
Construction Management.
Learn more at www.cmaanet.org/enr.
“Apply that 31 percent waste differential to $1.288 trillion in
design and construction in the United States, and we’re talking
about huge amounts of money.”
And even more data to analyze, factors to weigh.
This new half-page ad will appear regularly in 2011 in Engineering News–Record and the American Public Works Association
Reporter. CMAA also will promote professionalism and certification with banner advertising on APWA’s Web site.
CMAdvisor January/February
“We can get so focused on energy efficiency that we
forget why we have these buildings. We have these
buildings so that people can do their jobs.”
“We have all these tools,” Smith concludes. “None of them
give the same answer, and are any of the answers equal to
the actual performance of the building?”
9
Economics also play a big role in the pace at which different
specialties embrace sustainability, observes Dana K. “Deke”
Smith, FAIA, executive director of the buildingSMART Alliance,
National Institute of Building Sciences. He sees a close
relationship between high performance buildings in general,
and sustainability in particular, and the adoption of Building
Information Modeling.
“OWNERS-ONLY” SESSIONS, THREE SUMMITS
HIGHLIGHT OWNERS FORUM
THE WESTIN RIVER WALK
Special, facilitated issue discussion sessions for
owners only will be among the highlights of the
2011 CMAA Owners Forum in San Antonio, TX, on
May 15–17.
Side by Side Summits
Led by owner members of CMAA’s Board of Directors,
the owners-only sessions will allow owners to have
candid discussions with their peers, sharing their
plans, successes, opportunities and challenges.
Once again—continuing an innovation that was well received
last year—owners can register for the forum for just $50.
“The Owners Forum is meant to be an event where
owners can talk frankly with their peers and develop
strategies for more successful programs,” says CMAA
President Bruce D’Agostino. “These private sessions
will add significant value to a program packed with
informative and timely presentations showcasing
owners from all over the country.”
This year’s owner-focused event is unparalleled in
combining a broad view of tomorrow’s challenges
with a detailed exploration of specific, critical
infrastructure markets.
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CMAdvisor January/February
Invited speakers include representatives of major city
capital construction agencies, state departments of
transportation, turnpike and port authorities, water/
wastewater systems, and private sector owners.
On Sunday afternoon, key military organizations
will present a special session on Military Design,
Construction and Energy Programs.
The session will consist of panels “The Construction
Challenge” and “The Energy Challenge.”
CMAA will offer the military owners program as a
separately ticketed event for members of SAME’s
local post so they can attend it (together with the
Forum welcome reception) independently of the
main forum program.
The Sunday afternoon program kicks off CMAA’s annual
Owners Forum, a national Association gathering devoted to
exploring the needs and priorities of construction program
owners across all market segments.
The forum spotlights how owners are working to secure the
future of their organizations. Session topics and speakers are
being selected by inviting leading owners to (a) present their own
projects, programs, initiatives and experiences, and (b) identify
topics they’d like to explore and speakers they want to hear.
In addition, the forum program provides an unsurpassed
opportunity for service provider executives to meet and
exchange ideas with key owners. And while service providers
are engaged with education sessions owners will gather
privately for three separate one-hour dialogues facilitated
by one of CMAA’s owner board members.
The 2011 forum is organized into three concurrent “summit”—
style conferences, focusing on:
Building Strategies, chaired by Rob Chomiak, PE, LEED® AP,
Vice President of Heery International;
Transportation, chaired by Scott Smith, Senior Vice President
of HNTB Corporation; and
2011 CMAA OWNERS FORUM AGENDA
Building
Strategies
Sandy Hamby, AIA, CCM, Vice President of Moca Systems, Inc.,
is general chair of the Owners Forum.
Each summit will include two, one-hour panels with high-level
owner representatives, a service provider executives roundtable
session and five breakout education sessions. The entire
audience for all three summits also will come together for
several plenary gatherings.
The program is being developed with the guidance of an
Owners Forum Leadership Group that includes AECOM,
ARCADIS, Black & Veatch, CDM, CH2M HILL, HDR, Heery
International, HNTB, Jacobs, MOCA Systems, MWH Global,
Parsons, Parsons Brinckerhoff and URS.
Additional information and online registration for the forum are available at www.cmaanet.org/owners-forum-2011.
Transportation
SUNDAY, MAY 15
1:00 – 6:00
Forum Registration
2:00 – 4:15
Military Design, Construction and Energy Programs Briefing
4:30 – 5:30
Forum Welcome Reception
MONDAY, MAY 16
7:30 – 9:00
Forum Breakfast with Summit Honorary Chairs’ Remarks
9:00 – 9:30
Networking Break
9:30 – 10:30
Owners Panel
Presentations
10:30 – 11:00
Networking Break
11:00 – 12:00
2 Breakout
Educational Sessions
12:00 – 1:30
Forum Luncheon with Featured Speaker
1:30 – 2:30
Service Providers
Roundtable
2:30 – 3:00
Networking Break
3:00 – 4:00
Owner Private
Discussion
Water/Wastewater, chaired by Gary Brasser, Senior Vice
President of Jacobs Engineering Group.
Water and
Wastewater
Educational Session
4:30 – 6:00
2 Breakout
Educational Sessions
Service Providers
Roundtable
Service Providers
Roundtable
Owners Panel
Presentations
Owners Panel
Presentations
2 Breakout
Educational Sessions
2 Breakout
Educational Sessions
Owners Panel
Presentations
CMAA Foundation Event
TUESDAY, MAY 17
7:30 – 8:30
Forum Breakfast with Summit Chairs’ Remarks
8:30 – 9:30
Owners Panel
Presentations
9:30 – 10:00
Networking Break
10:00 – 11:00
2 Breakout
Educational Sessions
Owner Private
Discussion
Educational Session
Owners Panel
Presentations
11:00 – 11:30
Networking Break
11:30 – 12:45
Closing Forum Town Hall Session with Owners
2 Breakout
Educational Sessions
Owner Private
Discussion
Educational Session
CMAdvisor January/February
SAN ANTONIO
11
MAY 15–17
PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE CORNER
12
In today’s world, meeting sustainability goals is
increasingly part of the early planning on nearly
every project. In the most general terms, the goal
of sustainable building design is to minimize a
building’s impact on the environment. As a result,
there have been many innovative planning and
design concepts developed over the past few years
to achieve this goal.
thorough assessment and understanding of capital
costs versus true building costs, propelled in large
measure by the fact that the PPP must maintain
the facility for the long-term, sometimes for as long
as 30-50 years. When you take a long-term view, it
can drive different short-term decisions in terms of
materials and other first-cost items involved in the
capital cost of a project.
But this isn’t innovation for innovation’s sake. The
operational savings that owners can achieve justify
taking a sustainable approach to most buildings
even before calculating the benefits that accrue
when there are fewer occupant complaints and less
material headed to landfills, among other things.
One of the side benefits of the sustainability push
has been that it forces the question: What is the
true cost of building ownership? The true cost of
building ownership is the capital cost of construction plus the operational cost of the building over
some specific period of time minus the value of
the building to the owner.
The PPP business model is accelerating adoption
of more sustainable infrastructure and facilities—
especially with budget-challenged municipalities
and utilities. By leveraging private-sector debt and
expertise and sharing in risks, entities are able to
eliminate the most common barrier to implementation of sustainable practice—upfront, available
funding. The PPP model has been leveraged heavily
in Europe and is quickly gaining traction in Canada
and the U.S. Heery has found the model most
beneficial in allowing us to maximize best practices,
allowing our clients to not just become sustainable
but profitable over time.
“Integrated Project Delivery creates a
whole-team environment from beginning
to end, and it is this holistic thinking that
is at the heart of truly sustainable design
and construction.”
In many cases, capital and operational costs are
coming from two completely different pots of
money, and therefore, the analysis of the capital
elements often does not go beyond a cursory review
of the long-term operational costs, particularly
when a reduction in operational costs will lead to
additional capital expenditures.
One area of the industry that shows the most
activity in terms of engaging owners and occupants
in examining true building costs is in the Public
Private Partnership process. A PPP project calls for a
Another reason that the PPP model fosters
sustainable thinking is that it is by definition a
highly integrated team. Integrated Project Delivery
creates a whole-team environment from beginning
to end, and it is this holistic thinking that is at the
heart of truly sustainable design and construction.
Most owners value designing and constructing
the most sustainable facility their budgets allow
because of the operational savings and impact.
The question for them is increasingly becoming
whether or not to seek formal certification. Among
the various certification programs for sustainability
that exist today, the U.S. Green Building Council’s
Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design
(LEED) program is the one most cited. The organization has continued to expand and modify guidelines
for attaining the various levels of LEED certification based on project type, and now there are nine
different categories: new construction, commercial
interiors, core and shell, schools, retail, healthcare,
homes, neighborhood development and existing
buildings/operations & maintenance.
“As Program and Construction Managers, our role
is to manage the process, guide our clients with
our expertise and verify that the facility envisioned
is the facility delivered.”
On occasion, a building owner will look to obtain LEED
certification because it is the latest trend, without focusing
on what sustainability really means or the benefits it offers. In
this case, Construction Managers should replace the “checking
boxes from a LEED checklist” mentality with a true evaluation
of the long-term impacts and benefits associated with being
sustainable. This is where Construction Managers can add value
for owners—making sure they know what they are buying and
that it is delivered by all the members of the project team.
The ultimate question for most owners is how does a facility
perform? Are there lower operating costs and fewer occupant
complaints that translate into true savings on the bottom line?
Consider this recent project. Heery designed a hospital that has
become the largest, most complex LEED Gold healthcare facility
in the nation. Right now, though, the goal is to test actual energy
consumption. Actual energy consumption isn’t something that
can be mapped immediately in this instance because hospitals
aren’t fully occupied when they first open. To validate systems
and determine whether they are operating as planned requires
actual performance data. Depending on the actual figures, i.e.,
whether water consumption during the summer is higher or
lower than anticipated, the next question is how to design and
construct such a building differently in the future to achieve even
more optimum results. The bottom line for this client isn’t being
able to put a plaque on the wall—although they do have that—
but being able to see the natural resources and money they’ve
saved. Another tangible benefit that often can be overlooked is
how does patient care improve in a LEED Gold facility? In other
words, the future may not be as tied to LEED certification as it
will be to actual building performance.
The topic of sustainability will not go away—it is ubiquitous
these days and contained in product marketing of all types.
Just as Heery’s energy consulting practice that began in
the 1970s became embedded as part of the firm’s standard
approach to designing and managing construction of projects,
sustainability will remain relevant, but will become more a
part of standard operating procedure. The natural progression
observed in Heery’s energy consulting practice, where it simply
becomes more and more a natural part of the initial design
and construction conversation, will become the norm.
As Program and Construction Managers, our role is to manage
the process, guide our clients with our expertise and verify
that the facility envisioned is the facility delivered. It is very
difficult to manage a process if you have no knowledge of
it, so it is incumbent upon us to encourage professionals to
secure their LEED accreditation or other advanced training in
sustainability. The training provides them with the tools they
need to effectively counsel clients and guide the design and
construction process. Our goal isn’t just to be a bystander
following the lead of the design or construction team, but to
take an active role from day one, helping point out potential
areas where more efficient systems, resources and processes
can be integrated into the process. Where LEED certification
is being sought, it’s critical that PMs and CMs monitor each
contractor to verify that targeted points are being addressed
in the most appropriate manner.
Rob Chomiak is vice president and national director of Program
Management for Heery International. He is based in Atlanta, Ga.
CMAdvisor January/February
CMAdvisor January/February
By Rob Chomiak, PE, LEED AP, of Heery International
Since the beginning of sustainability rating systems, there
have been owners who have wanted to model their facilities
according to an organization’s certification criteria, but didn’t
necessarily want to spend the additional dollars and effort
to get that “Good Housekeeping” seal of approval. Others
have clearly seen the benefit associated with an unbiased
outside party’s clear guidelines that define different levels of
sustainability. For many owners, the benefits of the formal
approval include a marketing advantage, either in terms
of attracting tenants, addressing employee environmental
concerns or highlighting their organization’s environmental
consciousness with the local community.
13
Sustainability Is the New Normal
LEGAL CORNER
The U.S. Green Building Council’s launch of LEED 2009 caused
an immediate outcry over the specter of performance-based
LEED “decertification.” The concern primarily was based on
LEED 2009’s addition of Minimum Program Requirements
(MPRs) to the previously established LEED prerequisites and
credits. The general purpose of the MPRs is to filter out projects
unsuitable for the LEED program. For example, MPR 2 states
that a project must be “designed for, constructed on, and
operated on a permanent location on already existing land ”—
in other words, no boats or airplanes.
14
CMAdvisor January/February
One of the MPRs, however, has a prospective rather, than a
gate-keeping, function. MPR 6 states, “All certified projects
must commit to sharing with USGBC and/or Green Building
Certification Institute all available actual whole-project
energy and water usage data for a period of at least 5 years.”
And therein lies the decertification rub. What does USGBC
and/or GBCI intend to do with this data? What, if anything,
will happen if USGBC and/or GBCI learns that a LEED-certified
building’s actual energy and water usage falls short of the
LEED rating system criteria?
USGBC also included the following in its initial release of
LEED 2009: “NOTE: CERTIFICATION MAY BE REVOKED FROM
ANY LEED PROJECT UPON GAINING KNOWLEDGE OF NONCOMPLIANCE WITH ANY APPLICABLE MPR.” This note does not
expressly link certification revocation to unsatisfactory energy
or water usage. The connection between revocation and an
MPR requiring the reporting of actual energy and water usage
data, however, caused many LEED-watchers to suspect that
USGBC/GBCI intended to use the MPR 6 data to monitor building
performance and possibly serve as a basis for “decertification”
when actual building performance fails to conform to LEED
rating system criteria.
Concern over performance-based decertification is understandable given the documented shortcomings of some LEED-certified
projects. A 2008 study performed by the New Buildings Institute
on behalf of USGBC reported that while LEED-certified buildings are, on the average, 25-30 percent more efficient than the
national average, the measured Energy Use Intensity for a
number of buildings in the study was significantly worse than
design projections. The NBI’s conclusions for relative savings
predictions on an individual project basis are similar.
USGBC, itself, acknowledges the gap between design and
performance for some green buildings. In a document
discussing USGBC’s Building Performance Partnership,
USGBC states,
There has long been a disparity between how buildings
are designed to perform and how they actually perform.
The conception that green buildings do not meet higher
performance metrics than an average building stems from
the reality that green building design, construction and
operations teams have not identified a solution to the
performance/prediction gap.
The USGBC’s November 2009 release of its Supplemental
Guidance to the Minimum Program Requirements provided
at least some comfort to those worried about potential
performance-based decertification. The Supplemental
Guidance states, “This MPR does not intend to . . . penalize
project teams with buildings that do not perform as well as
intended.” A few months later, USGBC officials further clarified
the purpose and reach of MPR 6. In an article by Rachel Z.
Azoff for Multifamily Executive, USGBC Communications
Manager Ashley Katz was quoted as saying
MPR 6 specifically is an exercise to improve the future
iterations of LEED rather than to strip the certification from
prior program participants and all information remains
confidential. LEED certification is granted based on a
building’s design and construction at the time certification
is sought. LEED certification does not evaluate the ongoing
operation or maintenance of a building—there are too many
factors that have to do with how the building is operated.
So, in light of the Supplemental Guidance and public statements
made by USGBC officials regarding the intent of MPR 6, can
USGBC/GBCI “decertify” a LEED-certified project? Absolutely. The
USGBC/GBCI’s authority to “decertify” or revoke certification is
clear. Currently, decertification can occur in at least three ways.
Second, decertification can occur if MPR compliance is in
question. The 2009 Supplemental Guidance states, “If it
becomes known that a LEED project is or was in violation
of an MPR, certification may be revoked, or the certification
process may be halted. These situations will be handled on
a case by case basis according to GBCI’s challenge policy.”
Third, GBCI’s Certification Challenge Policy not only provides
for the revocation of LEED certification, it “encourages” third
parties to submit a complaint or report information affecting
the grant of LEED certification based on “specific personal
knowledge of an event or condition that would prevent a
project from satisfying a particular credit, prerequisite, or MPR.”
“Hasn’t USGBC made it clear that LEED does not
evaluate the ongoing operation of a building?
Maybe. At least for now. But there is reason to
be concerned about the future.”
These three certification revocation mechanisms appear
intended to address flaws in the initial LEED certification process,
not the failure of actual building performance to comply with
LEED criteria. What about performance-based decertification?
Hasn’t USGBC made it clear through its Supplemental Guidance
and public statements that LEED does not evaluate the ongoing
operation of a building? Maybe. At least for now. But there is
reason to be concerned about the future. Recently, in an article
by Franklyn Cater for National Public Radio, Rick Fedrizzi, CEO of
USGBC, responded to harsh criticism of the LEED certification
program by outspoken LEED critic Henry Gifford. Gifford contests
the NBI/USGBC claim that LEED-certified buildings are 25-30
percent more efficient than the national average, and points to
LEED’s lack of performance-based requirements as an Achilles
heel for the entire LEED program. As stated by Gifford, “LEED
certification has never depended on actual energy use, and it’s
not going to. You can use as much energy as you want and report
it and keep your plaque.” In response, Fedrizzi predicted that MPR
6 data will be used to enforce performance in the future. “Once a
LEED plaque is assigned to a building, and there is proof that the
building is no longer performing the way that it should, there’s
a very good chance that that information will then result in the
ability for USGBC to remove the certification from the building—
most likely on our website.”
Consistent with Fedrizzi’s comments, the upcoming release
of LEED 2012 already seems headed in a performance-based
direction. The current public comment draft includes a new
performance section comprised of a combination of new
prerequisites and credits, as well as existing, relocated ones.
For example, participation in USGBC’s Building Performance
Partnership would be a requirement under the new BuildingLevel Energy Metering Prerequisite. Participation in the BPP
also would be required by the new Advanced Energy Metering
Credit, which lists its intent as “To provide for the ongoing
accountability of building energy consumption over time.”
With pressure for performance-based criteria mounting from
a variety of stakeholders, it should come as no surprise if the
final LEED 2012 version includes performance-based criteria
for maintaining LEED certification, and potential decertification
for performance that fails to conform to the criteria upon
which certification was based.
In the meantime, CMs should exercise more care than ever
when contracting for services involving a project aspiring to
LEED certification, and should continue to avoid any language
that smacks of a guarantee regarding initial certification or
ongoing building performance. If the day arrives when owners
of LEED-certified buildings see their buildings decertified due to
deficient ongoing building performance, the era of widespread
“LEEDigation” that many have been predicting for some time
may become a reality.
J. Willcox Dunn III, Esq., of Vandeventer Black, LLP in Richmond,
Va., serves as an ex-officio member of the CMAA Board
of Directors and chair of the CMAA Board Legal Counsel
Committee. He can be reached at WDunn@vanblk.com.
CMAdvisor January/February
By J. Willcox Dunn III, Esq., of Vandeventer Black, LLP
First, according to Scot Horst, senior vice president for LEED,
USGBC always has had the inherent power to revoke certification under certain circumstances. “[L]et’s say that there was
someone out there who lied about the prerequisite information or unintentionally provided inaccurate information. We
have always had a policy to go back and say this wasn’t what
it was represented to be. That is nothing new.”
15
Performance-based LEED Decertification—
the Good, the Bad and the Maybe
SUSTAINABILITY CORNER
If building commissioning saves the average
building owner 10 percent of their annual energy
and water costs and extends the life of systems
and equipment, why don’t more building systems
get commissioned?
16
CMAdvisor January/February
Good question, we’re wondering the same thing.
The practice of building commissioning has
been in existence for more than 30 years, yet,
it’s misunderstood by building owners and the
construction industry alike. Commissioning is not
testing, adjusting and balancing (TAB) or a punchlist
item, and it’s not building maintenance—it’s the
process of verifying that systems are designed,
installed, functionally tested and performing in
conformity with the building owner’s expectations
and operational needs. New buildings should be
thoroughly commissioned prior to the turnover
to building operators to validate the system
installations, meet the occupant’s operational needs,
efficiency goals and expectations. In a perfect world
the commissioning process continues forward
through ongoing commissioning. Ideally, facilities
should then be formally re-commissioned every
five years after to identify over-arching or hidden
problems and improve performance in existing
buildings. Regular building commissioning can
extend the life of equipment, lessen the demand
for virgin materials and reduce energy and water
consumption, increasing the sustainability and
performance of the building.
Now that we’ve established the basics of
commissioning, let’s talk about what it’s going
to cost and save, clarify how it can be useful to
owners and Construction Managers—and why
every owner should do this.
You might have thought that commissioning
was cost prohibitive. Is that true? No! Looking at
a broad sample of studies provided by Portland
Energy Conservation, Inc. we’ve determined that
the industry standard for the cost of commissioning
a new building is an estimated $1/sq. ft. and
an existing building is about $0.50/sq. ft. When
you compare these costs to the average industry
savings of 10 percent of the facility’s energy
bill, the building owner that engages a quality
commissioning firm with experienced Certified
Commissioning Agents is highly likely to save
themselves money. To encourage commissioning,
many jurisdictions actually incentivize it by
subsidizing the first $0.15 to $0.50/sq. ft. incurred
by an existing building owner undergoing building
commissioning. Furthermore, commissioning is a
prerequisite for the U.S. Green Build Council rating
systems for LEED NC, CI and CS, as well as offering
the potential for additional points for enhanced
commissioning. Meeting these LEED requirements
may be a factor in securing certain utility rebates or
incentives. On average the costs (not subsidized by
any incentives or rebates) and savings of building
commissioning break even and begin paying the
owner back for their investment within three
to four years of fixing problems identified and
sometimes drastically quicker.
Advanced Building Commissioning, a member of
the nationally recognized Building Commissioning
Association, estimates about 13 percent energy
saving for new buildings and 16 percent energy
savings on average after existing building
commissioning. See Figure 1 below.
% Energy Savings After Building Commissioning
New
Bldgs
Existing
Bldgs
0
5
10
Above chart based on commissioning
results of 643 projects throughout U.S.
15
20
% Savings
“Commissioning is not testing, adjusting and balancing
(TAB) or a punchlist item, and it’s not building
maintenance—it’s the process of verifying that
systems are designed, installed, functionally tested
and performing in conformity with the building
owner’s expectations and operational needs.”
But why would you need to commission a new building? It’s
new, so by definition it works, right? Yes, prior to building
turnover the systems will be tested for basic functionality but
not to optimize efficiency. Building construction is a fractured
industry and more than likely, a number of different firms
have worked together to conceptualize, design, engineer and
construct your building. A third party commissioning agent
is contracted directly by the owner to give a qualified, pullno-punches assessment of the building systems throughout
the process of design and construction. If contracted early, a
commissioning agent will review the design during the design
stage to confirm that the building will meet the expectations
of the owner and intercept any problems that could be costly
to fix later. During the startup of equipment and systems, the
commissioning agent confirms that the systems have been
installed properly and that the system controls are in working
order. After construction is complete and prior to owner
occupancy, the commissioning agent is responsible for verifying
and thoroughly testing the systems in addition to confirming
that the facility engineers have been properly trained on
system operation. The end result is a more sustainable and
higher performing building with lower utility demands and
fewer ongoing building issues that are costly to repair.
How does it benefit the Construction Manager? Working with
the commissioning agent on a new construction or renovation
project results in a better performing building overall. Fewer
issues and better building performance results in a happier
client who is more likely to return to your firm when it’s time
to begin phase two on the empty patch of ground next door.
So again, if building commissioning can reduce utility and
annual service and maintenance costs, improve the sustainability
of buildings and make both the building owner and the
Construction Manager’s lives easier, why don’t more buildings
get commissioned?
Do you have an answer? Send your observations to
Jennifer Creighton, CMAA Sustainability Committee, at
JenniferC@mckinstry.com. Together, we’ll get to the
bottom of this mystery!
Established in 1960, McKinstry is a full-service design, build,
operate and maintain (DBOM) firm with more than 1,600
employees and approximately $400 million in annual revenue.
Jennifer Creighton can be reached at JenniferC@mckinstry.com.
CMAdvisor January/February
By Jennifer Creighton, Kelly Kosco, Greg Bogard and Peter Locke of McKinstry
The owner’s benefits from re-commissioning an existing
building are easy to identify; energy and water cost savings
over time and lower corrective service and maintenance
expenses as your systems begin to age. Commissioning
often identifies opportunities to reduce the greenhouse gas
emissions from the facility. The results of commissioning
provide a baseline and can be compared directly to the
information gathered after the previous commissioning
effort or to EPA Energy Star or Commercial Buildings Energy
Consumption Survey (CBECS) data. The process of ongoing
commissioning can be used in buildings to verify hourly
performance to find energy use patterns due to weather
condition and building use. In part, the commissioning agent’s
assessment can even be used to gauge the soundness of a
property management firm responsible for the property.
17
Why Don’t More Buildings Get Commissioned?
NEWS
Powerful CII Benchmarking Tool Now
Available to CMAA Owner Members
CMAA Board Approves Two
New Membership Categories
CMAA owner members have a new opportunity to benchmark
their projects against an extensive national database of some
2,000 completed projects, as a key benefit of the Association’s
growing alliance with the Construction Industry Institute.
CMAA has added flexibility and added membership value
with two new member categories designed to appeal to a
wide range of members and prospects.
CMAA Rolls Out Free Webinars for 2011
Each CMAA member will be able to take part in educational webinars during 2011 at no additional
charge, in a major enhancement to the value of CMAA membership.
In the past, registration for CMAA webinars has cost $80 per site for members, with no limit on the
number of people who could participate at a shared site. The Association produces about 24 webinars
in a typical year.
The CMAA Board of Directors, meeting in October in San Diego, noted that professional development is
a key function of the Association and one of the chief reasons people join CMAA. “We felt strongly that a
significant amount of continuing professional education ought to be accessible to members as part of
their basic dues, with no additional charge,” says Board Chair Dave Conover, CCM, of HDR, Inc.
18
CMAdvisor January/February
CMAA President and CEO Bruce D’Agostino, CAE, FCMAA, adds that “the quality of our webinars has
been consistently high, the leadership did not want cost to be an impediment to members’ taking fuller
advantage of this resource.”
Responding to this mandate from the board, staff prepared a 2011 budget and business plan that allows
each member the opportunity to register for CMAA webinars free of charge. Each session has a capacity
of 200 seats, and is free to members until that limit is reached. Members who wish to receive the content
from a session that has reached capacity, or were not able to register for the initial live broadcast, will be
able to do so in the “members only” area of CMAA’s Web site.
Webinar registration will continue to be on a site basis. Thus, a member can register for a webinar and
gather a group to take part at no additional cost.
Non-members can register for CMAA webinars for $110.
The current schedule of planned webinars can be found at www.cmaanet.org/courses-and-events.
The free webinar program is made possible by a number of sponsors, each of whom is contributing
to the support of the entire program. At press time, those sponsors included Autodesk, Chubb Group,
Meridian Systems and Price Waterhouse.
The size and detail of the CII database means that “new projects
input by CMAA members would immediately be compared with
very robust and reliable data. This provides an immediate benefit
to CMAA members interested in better understanding the performance of their projects in context with those of their peers,” says
CMAA President and CEO Bruce D’Agostino, CAE, FCMAA.
The annual cost for this participation will be $5,000 per organization. Normally, CII would charge a fee for additional projects
beyond five, but as part of the charter group initiative, this fee
will be waived for owners in their first two years of participation.
Other highlights of the program include:
• CII will design a special Web portal site for CMAA participants,
allowing secure remote entry of project data;
• CII will provide training three times a year for “Benchmarking
Associates” designated by each participating owner, equipping
owner personnel to use the system successfully; and
• CII will deliver an initial training session in New York for the
first group of participants.
“CII has designed this method of participation for CMAA
owner members with the belief, shared by CMAA, that owners
and service providers will realize continuing improvement in
construction project delivery by measuring performance using
key metrics and comparing their projects with many others
across the industry,” says Stephen P. Mulva, PhD, the CII associate
director who manages the BM&M program. “Bringing more
projects into this program will increase its value exponentially,
thereby benefitting our entire industry.”
Launching the benchmarking program for CMAA members will
require a minimum of 15 participant organizations. The program
will begin as soon as this threshold is achieved. For complete
information, contact Dennis Doran, vice president of professional
development at CMAA.
The first owner member in this new category is Massachusetts
Port Authority, whose director Houssam Sleiman, PE, CCM,
serves on CMAA’s Board of Directors. Architect of the Capitol is
the second owner taking advantage of the membership benefits
offered at the new Mid-level category.
For larger organizations, the new Mega level bundles CMAA’s
most popular professional development offerings for an unlimited number of individuals. Mega members receive unlimited
access to CMAA online training and the full compendium
of published Standards of Practice and associated guidance
documents as well as unlimited users for the newly launched
CM Practitioners Assessment Tool™ used to record and assess
individual career progress and goals.
AECOM, ARCADIS, HDR, HNTB and URS are among the service
provider members that have upgraded to the all-inclusive
category since Mega membership rolled out at the end of 2010.
“The rapid acceptance of the new Mega Corporate classification,
with unlimited SOP modules as the core component, says a
lot about industry’s reliance on CMAA’s body of knowledge,”
says CMAA President and CEO Bruce D’Agostino, CAE, FCMAA.
“The design of the 2011 expanded membership structure
makes it easier to take advantage of our professional
development programs.”
Discount for Future Tech Conference
CMAA is co-sponsoring the
McGraw-Hill conference
Construction FutureTech:
Applying Advanced Technologies
to Drive New Solutions on
April 6 in New York City. CMAA
members get $200 off the
standard rate and can attend
for only $295.
CMAdvisor January/February
Through a new CMAA “charter group” program, owner members
will be able to submit up to five projects each for inclusion in the
database and benchmarking against comparable projects.
The Mid-Size Owner category is a response to the need for a
membership level in between the regular Owner Organization
category, which includes up to 12 individuals, and the Large
Owner Organization level, which covers 120 individuals. MidSize Owners can enroll up to 30 individual members for annual
organizational dues of $3,000.
19
CII’s nationally recognized Benchmarking and Metrics (BM&M)
program collects up to 1,000 distinct data points for each project
it evaluates. The nationwide project database currently includes
approximately 2,000 projects of all kinds, with a total installed
cost exceeding $100 billion.
NEWS
CMAA and CII Working to Assess SOP, Best Practices
The conference is presented by the Transportation
Construction Management Group, which includes
representatives of the Federal Highway Administration, state transportation departments (through
the American Association of State Highway and
Transportation Officials—AASHTO), academia and
industry whose shared goal is the improvement of
transportation Construction Management practices.
It takes place on February 7–10 in Orlando, Fla.
CMAA is a sponsor of the event and is organizing
two program sessions, which will be introduced and
moderated by CMAA Vice President John McKeon.
20
CMAdvisor January/February
The first session, part of a track on “Controlling
and Constructing Projects,” will include three
presentations:
• “Performance Based Contractor Prequalification:
Michigan DOT Case Study Analysis,” with Douglas
Gransberg, Iowa State University, and Keyur Shah,
Dye Management Group; and
The second session organized by CMAA will be
part of both the Financing and Quality tracks of
the conference, and will include:
• “Innovative Procurement, Funding and Incentives
Facilitate Two Mega-Projects in Virginia,” and
• “PPP Design-Build Quality Management Planning:
Evaluating the I-495 Capital Beltway HOT Lanes
Project as a Model for Success.”
For this session, CMAA has helped assemble a panel
that includes speakers from the Virginia DOT, the
Virginia Mega-Projects Program, Dulles Transit
Partners, Capital Beltway Express and Fluor-Lane.
In addition, CMAA Past Chairman William Van
Wagenen, CCM, FCMAA, is scheduled to participate
in a plenary session on international issues and
opportunities on Thursday, Feb. 10.
• “Measuring the Impact of Effective Construction
and Program Management on Large-Scale Capital
Infrastructure Projects.” Scheduled speakers will be
CMAA Board Member Judith Kunoff, AIA, CCM,
LEED® AP, Chief Architect, New York City Transit
Authority, joined by Stephen Mulva, Associate
Director of the Construction Industry Institute.
“Virginia DOT is among the owner organizations
that have enthusiastically embraced CM certification
and our Standards of Practice,” says CMAA President
and CEO Bruce D’Agostino. “CMAA’s high profile at
this authoritative conference will send a powerful
message to transportation managers all over the
country about the linkage of the SOP, certification
and positive project outcomes.”
• “A Multi-metric Performance Measurement
Framework for Transportation Projects,”
presented by CMAA members Mehmet
Ozbek, Colorado State University and Jesus
de la Garza, Virginia Tech University.
The conference is being managed for The TCM
Group by the American Road and Transportation
Builders Association (ARTBA). Details are available
at www.tcm-2.org.
The Construction Industry Institute at the University of Texas,
CMAA’s strategic ally, publishes a library of 14 industry best
practices documents based on its own research and input from
a membership that includes contractors, architects, owners,
CMs and academics.
Certain CII-specific content, such as benchmarking and metrics
and “implementation of CII research” were not represented, as
reasonably expected, in the CMSOP.
As part of their alliance, the two groups have been working in
recent months to compare the two resources and identify the
degrees to which they are in harmony, as well as areas where
they differ.
The project is expected to be completed in the first half of 2011.
The assessment is being conducted by a 23-member team
that includes such CMAA leaders as Immediate Past Chair Gary
Cardamone , PE, of the Port of Long Beach and CMAA Fellows
Bob Hixon, PE, CCM of Hill International, Joseph McAtee, PE, of
Urban Engineers, Joseph Seibold, PE, of ARCADIS and Rocco Vespe,
of Trauner Consulting.
The first stage of the assessment included a 105-question
electronic survey in which participants determined whether
individual statements drawn from the CII Best Practices were
covered in the CMSOP. Following completion of the survey a series
of “discernment sessions” were held to clarify divergent entries.
Participants found strong levels of alignment between the CMAA
and CII documents in the areas of front end planning, alignment,
Looking ahead, the assessment team will spend the first several
months of 2011 disseminating its findings within the two
organizations and reviewing specific content elements in the
CII Best Practices that should be incorporated in the CMSOP
itself, other CMAA published guidance documents, or included
as separate CII published documents. The resulting potential
expansion of our body of knowledge would then become
the basis for future versions of the examination taken as the
final step toward earning our highly respected credential as
a Certified Construction Manager.
Within 18 months, the team hopes to include enough
questions on the CCM exam to meaningfully address each
of CII’s Best Practices.
“This assessment process will strongly cement the connection
between CMAA’s Standards of Practice and the actual practices
that have been proved to lead to successful project outcomes,”
says CMAA President and CEO Bruce D’Agostino. “The result
will be an authoritative, comprehensive guide to the right
way to build.”
CMAA Needs Your Best Pics!
CMAA is putting finishing touches on the manuscript of a book entitled Becoming a Construction
Manager, to be published in 2012 by the prominent professional and educational publisher John
Wiley & Sons.
A key part of this book will be high quality photos of exciting and distinctive projects. These
photos will be spread throughout the 300-page book, some with captions and some without.
CMAA invites you to take advantage of this opportunity. If you have a recent project you think
merits national exposure, send one or two small, low-res images to John McKeon by February 18.
If your photo is selected for inclusion, we’ll get back to you to obtain a high-res file and the
necessary credits and usage permissions.
We look forward to seeing your shots!
CMAdvisor January/February
Executives from state Departments of Transportation
and other transport-focused agencies nationwide
will be in the audience in early February when
CMAA takes a prominent role in presenting the
Second International Transportation Construction
Management Conference.
constructability and change management. Less complete
agreement was found in materials management, planning for
startup, team building, partnering and quality management.
21
Transportation Execs Hear from CMAA Members
CMAA is the publisher and promoter of the Construction
Management Standards of Practice, the broadly recognized guide
to the content of the CM and Program Management profession.
New Web site in the Works
Congratulations to Our Newest CCMs!
Around late spring, the Foundation will have a fresh new look for its Web site.
Work has begun on a new design that will give the Foundation its own “home on
the Web” for the first time, while maintaining close ties to the parent CMAA site.
Gary Adams, CCM
Jacobs
Darien Christopher Grant, CCM
Turner Construction Company
Robert Amaya, CCM
Heery International, Inc.
Ken Hershner, CCM
It also will be easier than ever to donate to the Foundation, including expanded
information on bequests, planned giving and other options.
Updated Scholarship Application Available
The updated CMAA Foundation scholarship application for 2011 is now
available for download at the CMAA Web site at www.cmaanet.org/
cmaa-foundation-scholarships.
Whenever possible, applications for these national scholarships should first
be submitted to a regional chapter. However, students who live in an area
not served by a regional chapter or where the regional chapter does not have
a scholarship program may submit directly to the Foundation, following
directions in the applicant information package available on the Web site.
National winners are selected from the applicants received via both of these
submission methods.
New Brochure Promotes CM Careers
ConstruCtion
ManageMent
as a Career
CMAdvisor January/February
erested in construction?
e working in a team environment?
od at assigning tasks and
sibilities?
nt to oversee all aspects of a
ction job?
nt to be involved with the
ction of widely-recognized buildings
uctures?
nt to work directly with clients to
em meet their goals?
nt to work on a construction site?
22
wered yes to any of these questions,
n construction management might
u. Talk to your guidance counselor to
e.
Are you interested in a technically
challenging, dynamic career that is
stable, well-paying and exciting?
Prepare for a career in
construction management today.
The CMAA Foundation has created a new
tri-fold, #10 size brochure promoting careers
in Construction Management to high school
and college students. Member companies,
chapters and others are encouraged to obtain
reproduction-ready PDFs of the new brochure,
incorporate their own logos and distribute
copies as widely as possible.
The creative work on the brochure, including
design and preparation of the final PDF, was
donated by STV, Inc.
The PDF can be downloaded from the
Foundation Web site.
www.cmaanet.org/careers-cm.
John Becker, CCM
Kraus-Manning, Inc.
Melvin Beers, CCM
CH2M Hill
Ruben Esteban Belen, CCM
Heery International, Inc.
Marissa Elena Benziger, CCM
The Trevino Group
Lawrence Caprio, CCM
Barnhart Balfour Beatty, Inc
Arthur Carluccio, Jr., CCM
Hill International, Inc.
John Chubb, CCM
MOCA Systems, Inc.
Matthew Doyle, CCM
Fairfax County Department
of Public Works
CMCI Expands Disciplines, Accredited Institutions
in Education Degree Requirements Policy
Recently, CMCI and its Board of Governors
revised the education degree requirement
policy to consider more disciplines for
the program. Previously degrees in CM,
architecture or civil engineering were the
only degrees accepted. The new policy
expands the majors accepted including
additional engineering disciplines along
with other majors. The majors now
accepted are:
The BOG also reviewed the issue of
accreditation. The previous policy
stipulated that degrees needed to be
awarded by educational institutions
accredited by one of three voluntary
accreditation bodies—American Council
for Construction Education (ACCE),
Accreditation Board for Engineering
and Technology (ABET) or National
Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB).
Samir Mehrotra, CCM
URS Corporation
• Construction Management
Judy Mewborn, CCM
Jacobs
• Construction Science
In October 2010, the board voted to accept
degrees from educational institutions
that are accredited by voluntary bodies
recognized by the Council for Higher
Education Accreditation (CHEA) and/or
the U.S. Department of Education.
Philip Hutson, CCM
Maryland Stadium Authority
John Jones, CCM
MOCA Systems, Inc.
Paul Darren Laban, CCM
Black & Veatch
I. Mark Newland, CCM
Unemployed
Martin Francis O’Doherty, CCM
URS Corporation
Allen Pakandam, CCM
AECOM
• Electrical Engineering
• Chemical Engineering
• Civil Engineering
• Architectural Engineering
Please visit CHEA or the Department
of Education for the lists of accredited
schools now accepted by CMCI.
• Mechanical Engineering
• Architecture
J. Alden Porter, CCM
KDW, Inc.
Steven James Farrell, CCM
Farrell Consulting Group, Inc.
James Rotatori, CCM, LEED AP
Shawn Fisher, CCM
Barnhart Balfour Beatty, Inc
David Satterlee, CCM
Sodexo
Daniel Flickinger, CCM
Alexander Building
Construction Company
Thomas Turlip, CCM
Abbott General
Construction, Inc.
Larry Franklin, CCM
Heery International, Inc.
Robert Uvalle, CCM
Administrative Office of the Courts
Expertise. Technology. Results.
Scotty Galloway, CCM
Vanir Construction
Management, Inc.
Jeronimo Tony Valdez, CCM
Parsons Brinckerhoff
ENERGY AND SUSTAINABILITY MANAGEMENT
Joel Garnica, CCM
Vanir Construction
Management
Lynn Whitenack, CCM
McDonough Bolyard Peck, Inc.
CAPITAL BUDGETING AND PROGRAMMING
SUSTAINABLE PLANNING AND DESIGN
PROGRAM AND CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT
www.mocasystems.com
CMAdvisor January/February
The new site will make it easy to find information about CM careers, scholarships,
job opportunities and other topics, and will provide a variety of social media
and other interactive “community” tools to help students, faculty and industry
members stay in touch.
onstruCtion
ageMent For Me?
rself…
CERTIFICATION
23
FOUNDATION
ROUNDUP
McDonough Bolyard Peck, Inc. has
named Robert Fraga, AIA, FCMAA, as
the firm’s regional operations manager
of its Northeast Region and director of
Facility Portfolio Management Services.
MBP’s Northeast Region includes the
company’s Columbia, Philadelphia and
New York branches. As the director of
Facility Portfolio Management Services,
Fraga will lead the firm’s Facilities
Portfolio to include services such as
management support, property/asset
management, property development management and operations
and maintenance management.
“We are extremely pleased to welcome Robert Fraga to the MBP
team,” says Charles E. Bolyard, Jr., PSP, CFCC, chairman of the board
and CEO. “We greatly admire Bob’s experience and overall dedication
to the Construction Management industry and are excited to have
him join us.”
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CMAdvisor January/February
Fraga joins MBP after a career in the private and public sector,
primarily with the federal government. Most recently, Fraga served
as the director of the Office of Contracting and Personal Property
Management for the Smithsonian Institution. He also served as
president of CMAA in 2005–2006.
Jacobs Awarded CM Contract
for AOC Work
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. has received an
estimated $30 million Construction Management
contract from the Architect of the Capitol. The
contract period covers one base year and four option
years, with each work period valued at $6 million.
“This contract allows us to build on our relationship
with the Architect of the Capitol in support of
their overall mission of preserving the U.S. Capitol
campus,” Jacobs Group Vice President Tom McDuffie
said. Jacobs will provide Construction Management,
inspection, scheduling, claims analysis/defense,
KBR CM Contract Includes Upgrades
to Four DFW Terminals
KBR has received a contract to provide Construction
and Program Management for the Dallas/Ft.
Worth International Airport’s $1.7 billion capital
development program. With a base contract period
of three years and five option years, the agreement
calls for upgrades to four original terminals as
well as improvements to the public access and
operations sides of the airport. KBR will team with
Freese & Nichols and Chiang, Patel & Yerby—the
same companies KBR collaborated with on design
and construction of two previous capital programs
at the airport.
Hill International Part of CM
Team on CSX Contract
Hill International, in a joint venture with transportation consultant TransSystems Corp., has received
a $11.4 million, two-year contract to provide
Construction Management to CSX Transportation
Inc. The Hill and TransSystems venture will oversee construction of 43 projects in Maryland, West
Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio, including raising
bridges, expanding tunnel clearances and building
new terminals to accommodate double-stacked
containers on rail cars. Hill’s contract is part of the
$842 million national gateway effort to build a more
efficient rail link for freight between Mid-Atlantic
ports and Midwestern markets.
GSA Rocky Mountain Region Contract
Awarded to MacDonald-Bedford
The General Services Administration Rocky Mountain
Region has awarded a five-year, $5 million dollar
ODOQ contract to MacDonald-Bedford LLC, along
with its notable subcontractors Faithful+Gould and
Ulteig, to provide CM and inspection services for GSA
projects throughout the states of Montana, Utah,
North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming and Colorado.
GSA Rocky Mountain Region is a main
builder, developer and manager of more
than 605 federally owned and leased
properties within the region. The contract will include renovation projects,
facility repairs, work in historic buildings
and new construction.
Hill International to Manage
Tucson Medical Center Project
Hill International has been contracted
by the Tucson Medical Center to provide
project management services for an $80
million renovation. The project involves
expanding and renovating the pediatric
and mother/baby center and the surgery
center as well as building a new east
entrance. TMC is the largest hospital in
southern Arizona, and Hill’s contract falls
under the center’s strategic capital plan,
continuing through 2014.
Shaw Wins CM Contract
for Clean Fuel Project
The Shaw Group Inc. will provide
Construction Management services for a
benzene reduction project at Marathon
Oil Corporation’s refinery in Robinson,
Ill. Under the capital contract, Shaw will
oversee contractor selection, materials
management, project controls, safety
warning and other construction site
activities. The project is expected to
be completed by the time new EPA
standards go into effect for reducing
benzene content in gasoline. Shaw
won an earlier contract to conduct
Project Management, engineering
and procurement for the feasibility
and definition phases of the project.
Totum Is CM for L.A. Port
Dispatch Hall
Totum Consulting will serve as Construction Manager for International Longshore
and Warehouse Union Local 13’s new
dispatch hall. A collaboration with PMA,
BOA Architects, Broadmoor Partners and
Swinerton Builders, Totum will provide
expertise for the 32,000-square-foot
facility serving Los Angeles and Long
Beach, Calif. The LEED Gold certified
project is expected to take about a year,
with ground breaking in early 2011.
Parsons Appoints Executives
Parsons has appointed
Vice Admiral Michael
Loose, retired United
States Navy, to
senior vice president
and manager of
the Installations &
Environment Division
for its Infrastructure
& Technology group. Loose has more
than 30 years of senior leadership
and management experience leading
organizations with up to 17,000
employees and an annual budget of up
$32 billion. In his new role, Loose will
ensure Parsons’ markets and services
that encompass the full life cycle of
natural and built environments are
applied to federal government clients,
including Department of Defense and
the General Services Administration.
James O’Reilly has
been appointed as
vice president and
West region manager
of Buildings Division
for its Commercial
Technology group.
O’Reilly has more than
20 years of project,
Construction and Program Management
experience and will lead all Parsons’
activities in the West region. Operations
and business development for Parsons’
education, municipal and healthcare
markets also are his responsibilities in
the new post.
Navigant Hires 40-year
Industry Veteran to Lead
Construction Forum
James Zack, Jr., CCM,
PMP, CFCC, has been
named executive
director of the newly
created Navigant
Construction Forum.
With nearly 40 years
of CM and dispute
resolution services
experience, Zack will lead the Forum team
in establishing the industry’s premier
global resource for best practices on
avoidance and resolution of construction
project disputes. He has been involved
in more than 5,000 public and private
claims throughout the United States and
across the globe, including Egypt, China,
Kazakhstan and Trinidad & Tobago. Before
joining Navigant he served as executive
director of Corporate Claims Management
for Fluor Corporation.
EADOC Wins 5-year
Deal with EBMUD
Web-based CM solutions provider
EADOC has been awarded the RFP bid
to provide construction document
control on all of East Bay Municipal
Utility District’s projects for the next five
years. EADOC’s solutions—which offer
efficiency gains to the entire project by
allowing the team to quickly exchange
of change orders, pay requests, RFIs
and submittals electronically—are
specifically designed for owners like
EBMUD and CMs. EBMUD joins a fastgrowing client list for EADOC, including
City of Englewood, Colo., North Tahoe
Public Utility District and HDR Inc.
CMAdvisor January/February
MBP Appoints Fraga
quality control, testing and inspection services as
well as estimates and value engineering as they
pertain to change order packages.
M-B will manage the work from its new
branch office in Denver. Faithful+Gould
is a construction consultant with whom
M-B has collaborated on numerous
efforts. Ulteig is a fast-growing multidisciplinary and full-service firm that offers
building, civil, energy and land services
across the Rocky Mountain Region.
25
Member News
ROLL OUT
I NSU RANC E
ROUNDUP
Chapter News
Let us show you
what our focused
expertise
can do for you.
National Capital Chapter
The chapter hosted its annual holiday
event at Maggiano’s-Tyson’s Corner in
McLean, Va., and it was a huge success.
This year, in addition to a great turnout
of more than 120 members, it was
the chapter’s honor to host several
national board members including
Bruce D’Agostino, CAE, FCMAA, CMAA
president & CEO, and David Conover,
CCM, CMAA chairman of the board.
CMAA Board Chairman Dave Conover, CCM, HDR Inc.,
attended the National Capital Chapter’s holiday bash.
The event began with member
networking, followed by the elected
board members speaking about the
chapter’s new goals and upcoming
chapter events. It closed with comments
from D’Agostino and Conover. Specific
mention was made by all, reminding
the members to keep their calendars
open in November for the 2011
National Conference and Trade Show
in Washington, DC, as this event will be
hosted by the National Capital Chapter.
The chapter’s board thanks everyone
for making this event such a success
and wishes everyone a Happy New Year!
Professional Liability Insurance
Specialists for Construction Managers
(800) 597–2612 www.hallandcompany.com
EVENTS
Owners FOrum
2011
Colorado State University
In December, the chapter hosted a site tour of the East Side Access Project in New York
City. The NY/NJ Chapter held a lottery, which resulted in 15 lucky members getting a
tour of the project, currently under construction within Grand Central Station, to bring
Long Island Railroad Service to the East Side of Manhattan via Grand Central Station.
Currently Long Island commuters enter Manhattan on the West Side at Penn Station.
The tour, led by Jeffrey Vladyka of URS Corporation and Paul Dalida of ARCADIS,
allowed the members to view the newly formed caverns where the Long Island
Railroad trains will enter into Grand Central. The tour also showed the complexity
of underpinning the structures above Grand Central as well as the deep excavations
to form the escalators where the LIRR passengers will rise up to access Grand Central
Station. The new track alignment, which is approximately 150 feet below the street
grade and below the existing Metro North tracks, runs below Park Avenue from
approximately 63rd Street to 44th Street.
This tour was the first in a series of members-only site tours targeting high-profile
projects around the NYC Metropolitan Area.
Colorado State University’s AGC and
CMAA Student Chapter Members
NREL is a design-build project owned by
the U.S. Department of Energy. The RSF
is a 220,000-square-foot, LEED Platinum
NC attainable office building positioned
to be one of the world’s largest net-zero
energy buildings. During this site visit,
students toured the completed portion
of the RSF following a site and projectspecific presentation.
Newly proven processes and energy
sustainable methods used in the design
and construction of this facility were
explained to the students.
M AY 1 5 - 1 7 h S A n A n T O n I O h T h e w e S T I n r I v e r w A l k
Advertise in ROLL OUT
On a tight budget, but interested in reaching a
targeted, highly qualified audience of professional
Construction and Program Managers? Call today.
If you want to advertise in the special Roll Out
Section contact Tom Egly at 703-548-0200 x117
or email him at tom.egly@tgdcom.com
27
26
CMAdvisor January/February
Metropolitan New York/New Jersey Chapter
CMAdvisor January/February
The CMAA and AGC student chapters
partnered on a site visit to the Research
Support Facility of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo.
Excavation for new escalator.
ROUNDUP
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Professional Development Calendar
Adding Value to Membership
By Bruce D’Agostino, CAE, FCMAA
February 7–10
Doubletree Hotel Universal Orlando
Orlando, FL
April 26–28
Hilton Norfolk Airport
Norfolk, VA
International Construction
Management Day
Webinars
March 14
Avoiding the Pitfalls of GMP Contracting
Tampa CMAA Standards of Practice Course
28
CMAdvisor January/February
hosted by the West Central Florida Chapter
March 23–25
PBS&J, an Atkins company, office
Tampa, FL
February 17
Visit www.cmaanet.org/coursesand-events for a list of upcoming
online educational events.
Boston CMAA Standards of Practice Course
National Meetings
hosted by the New England Chapter
March 28–30
Wentworth Institute of Technology
Boston, MA
CMAA 2011 Owners Forum
CII Performance Improvement Workshop
March 30–April 1
Hyatt Regency Jersey City
Jersey City, NJ
McGraw-Hill Construction
FutureTech Conference
April 6
McGraw-Hill Companies
Corporate Headquarters
New York, NY
May 15–17
San Antonio, TX
Sign Up New CMAA Members,
Be Entered in April Prize Drawing
CMAA has a membership referral challenge
for you! From February 1–April 15, each
time a member is directly responsible for a
co-worker, project partner or any colleague
joining CMAA, he or she will be entered
into a prize drawing. Two winners will be
drawn at random, with one receiving a
complimentary registration to the 2011
CMAA Owners Forum May 15–17 in San
Antonio, TX and the other receiving an
iPad. Visit www.cmaanet.org/refer-a-friend
member referral program for complete details.
CMAA’s online webinars
have always delivered highlevel presentations by noted
authorities addressing timely
and important topics. This year,
though, we’ve boosted the
value of these programs even
further by offering up to a
dozen webinar programs free
of charge to every member.
Meeting in San Diego in October, the board of directors
expressed its wish to enhance the value of membership by
providing more benefits at no additional cost. Noting that
the quality of our webinars has been consistently high,
the leadership did not want cost to be an impediment to
members’ taking fuller advantage of this resource.
Offering free webinars is just the latest step along a path
CMAA has been following for some time. In just the last year
or so, we’ve made a number of significant additions to the
value we deliver to members.
For owners, we repurposed our spring conference as a true
owner-directed issues forum, and provided an attractively
low registration fee for owners to take part. The resulting
combination of value and price is hard to beat, and it will
be available again this May in San Antonio.
For our largest members, we have proactively restructured
our membership categories. Our large owner organization
category, for example, offers full membership privileges to
up to 120 individuals for a single dues payment. We have
added a mid-sized owners’ category that provides for up to
30 individual memberships.
The recently introduced service providers’ “mega membership”
bundles unlimited individual memberships, unlimited use of
our SOP training and CM Practitioners Assessment Tool™ and
other benefits into a single, complete package.
We also introduced in 2010 the Live Learning Center, an online
resource that makes the full content of all the educational
sessions at our National Conference available to all members.
The LLC combines each presenter’s slides with a synchronized
audio recording, plus such features as a notes pane and the
ability to download PDFs of handouts and other materials.
This innovation effectively multiplied the value of the
National Conference by four, enabling attendees to explore
all of the sessions they missed as well as revisiting those
they opted to attend. And it was delivered at no extra cost,
as part of the basic conference registration.
We have upgraded the production of our conference
programs, too, improving the “look and feel” of the event
each year. In 2010, the most visible enhancement was a
video system that put live images of plenary session speakers
on the projection screens to either side of the stage. This was
a big plus for attendees at the keynote breakfast and awards
luncheon, traditionally the most heavily-attended events of
the National Conference.
“In just the last year or so, we’ve made a
number of significant additions to the value
we deliver to members.”
All of these improvements have associated costs, but we
fully expect to realize significant benefits from the investment. Among the new individual members joining us as part
of the mega-membership option, for instance, will be many
who want to become CCMs or to attend the Owners Forum
or National Conference.
And subsidizing a low registration rate for owners at the
forum helps us deliver a strong program that increases the
event’s appeal and builds attendance.
By making CMAA membership more valuable, we will retain
more members, attract more new members and equip
ourselves to continue improving for years to come.
CMAdvisor January/February
CMAA Standards of Practice Course
held at SAME University
29
2nd International Conference on
Transportation Construction Management