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To make sure your client's green dream isn't a nightmare, follow these expert tips for writing specifications that fit the project and the budget.
Hotels may represent only a few hundred of the more than 11,000 projects seeking LEED certification, but the number is growing fast. So knowing how to specify sustainable furnishings and other design elements can give your firm a marketable edge. We asked William Langmade, founder and president of Dallas-based PMI (Purchasing Management International), to help designers shorten the learning curve on green projects. Langmade and his team know the ins and outs of purchasing after buying more than $1.5 billion in hotel, resort and casino furnishings, operating equipment, systems and construction materials worldwide. But they also know green. Langmade set the example by becoming a LEED Accredited Professional.
PMI has collaborated with design leaders such as Cliff Tuttle, senior vice president in ForrestPerkins' San Francisco office; Kip Richardson, director of business development, Ankrom Moisan Associated Architects, Seattle; and the entire staff of Clodagh Design Studio, New York. It has also worked with manufacturers such as Valley Forge Fabrics, Crypton, Fabricut, U.S. Vinyl, Decca Furniture, Global Allies and Shaw Carpet to streamline green specifying. Based on those discussions, here are some of Langmade's best practices for writing specs for green projects.
Set your green goals.
The owner, designer and purchaser have to decide how deep the project's green mandate goes. Is the aim to get LEED certification? If so, at what level? Is the goal to reduce the negative environmental impact against an industry bench-mark, or against the previous performance of the property itself (if it's being renovated)? If the latter, by how much-50 percent? 75 percent? Get the team together early and set the parameters.
Forget the myth that sustainable product will cost more.
This may be the case for certain construction methods and materials, but it's not the case for furniture, fixtures and equipment (FF&E). Today, there's a bigger range of new green products (and products that have become green) than ever before. They're made in green factories that hit our industry price points. If you price out a green project and it's over budget, there are myriad ways to value-engineer the choice of FF&E to reduce costs without compromising the design or sustainability.
Look for companies that are green in both product and process.