Developing community, well-being,
and resilience in buildings
The Well-Behaved Building2014 CLIMATE, BUILDINGS AND BEHAVIOR SYMPOSIUM: SYNTHESIS REPORT
2014 CLIMATE, BUILDINGS AND BEHAVIOR SYMPOSIUM: SYNTHESIS REPORT
CLIMATE, MIND AND BEHAVIOR PROGRAM | [email protected]
JOHN MCILWAIN | Director
JENNIFER HAYDEN | Program Consultant
© Copyright Garrison Institute 2014
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ContentsBuild Trust, Build Relationships ......................................................................................6
Connect with Those You Serve ....................................................................................... 7
Integrate Art and Beauty ...................................................................................................8
Change Through Process ...................................................................................................9
Think in Systems ................................................................................................................... 10
Gather and Use Data Wisely ............................................................................................11
Take Time to Reflect ............................................................................................................12
Presentation Abstracts ...............................................................................................13-14
Program Sponsors ................................................................................................................15
2014 CLIMATE, BUILDINGS AND BEHAVIOR SYMPOSIUM: SYNTHESIS REPORT
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Those working to realize green goals in buildings are
also best poised to create the conditions for community
connection and empowerment that foster resilience.
Simply listening to residents or occupants and working to
create programs together will go a long way to fostering
community and implementing successful programs.
Integrating art and beauty and resource use feedback goes
even further.
It has become increasingly important to purposefully
slow down. Find time at work, and at home, to reflect
on successes and envision an inspiring, resilient future.
Ultimately, green building professionals can go beyond
simply supporting, to enhancing the health and wellbeing
of all building occupants.
The Garrison Institute convened its sixth annual
Climate, Buildings and Behavior Symposium in
October 2014. This diverse gathering brought
together real estate professionals from for-profit and
not-for-profit firms, building industry experts, city and
campus sustainability officers and behavior change
researchers from across the country to explore the science
and practice behind successful approaches for enhancing
sustainable practices, reducing energy consumption, and
significantly lowering the cost of operations in residential
and commercial buildings. The 2014 theme was “the well-
behaved building,” with the goal of developing community,
well-being, and resilience in buildings.
The Climate, Buildings and Behavior symposia have always
started from the premise that human behavior is the key
to achieving maximum operational efficiency for building
energy, water and waste flows. This year, the focus was
expanded to reflect a more systemic understanding of
what the challenges of climate change entail for all of us
who live and work in buildings. The result was a shift to
thinking through resilience.
Resilience is the ability to persist or even thrive following
a climate, or other, disruption. Fostering social resilience
is a process rooted in relationship and trust building
that happens when we engage in authentic dialogue.
Sustainability projects are the ideal conduit for fostering
resilience while also positively affecting natural resource
use and realizing bottom line savings in buildings. Social
science tells us that resilience develops through the
engagement process that defines successful sustainability
programs.
Climate, Buildings and Behavior
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This report synthesizes the presentations, discussions and insights generated during the 2014 Climate, Buildings
and Behavior Symposium held October 8-10 at the Garrison Institute in Garrison, NY. The ideas presented
here arose from the community of Symposium participants. The themes and bulleted points in this report are
a synthesis of participant comments. We gratefully acknowledge the 2014 Symposium participants and their
organizations:
Chelsea Albucher City of Sunrise, FL
Steven Bluestone Bluestone Organization
Erik Cathcart Earth Advantage
Barbara Ciesla Jones Lang LaSalle
Gina Ciganik Aeon
Jeni Cross Colorado State University
Tim Cummings West Side Federation for Senior & Supportive Housing
Alex Dews City of Philadelphia, PA
Simona D’Oca Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
Jeffrey Domanski Courtney Strong Inc
Jessica Fischer City of Denver, CO
Natasha Franck Delos
Sarah Gibson BrandCool
Wendy Gordon 3P Partners
Julian Goresko University of Pennsylvania
Rachel Gutter Center for Green Schools, US Green Building Council
Tilly Hatcher Spinnaker Real Estate Partners, LLC
Susan Howe Colorado State University
Amy Johns Williams College
Michael Johnson-Chase Green City Force
Raymond Kaiser Stewart Engineering Consultants
Jessica Kisner American Institute of Architects New York
Nora Lavori Orleans Realty, LLC
John Lyons MetroPool
Adam Meier New Ecology Inc.
Michelle Mulcahy Enterprise Community Partners
Gay Nicholson Sustainable Tompkins
Nina Orville Abundant Efficiency
Elena Peltsman Aeon
John Petersen Oberlin College
Susan Peterson Foundation Communities
Howard Pollard Bluestone Organization
Ana Pumarol West Side Federation for Senior & Supportive Housing
Anne Rahikainen GreenFaith
Jennifer Reed Eden Housing
Cassidy Reimer Climate + Energy Project
Stephen Ritz Super Green Machine
Jonathan Rose Jonathan Rose Companies
Daniel Rosenberg Oberlin College
Sharon Salzberg Insight Meditation Society
Melanie Share US Green Building Council
Bill Struever Cross St Partners, LLC
Diane Szoller Green Energy London Co-operative
Gregg Thomas City and County of Denver, CO
Alexie Torres-Fleming Access Strategies Fund
Bice Wilson Syndicate Architecture
Kate Yoshida University of Illinois at Chicago
Andrew Zolli PopTech
The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the participating organizations. The Climate,
Mind and Behavior Program of the Garrison Institute assumes full responsibility for any errors or omissions
contained in this report.
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Build Trust, Build Relationships
“Trust and cooperation are core to the health of the system.” ANDREW ZOLLI, POPTECH
CHALLENGES OF BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS
• Authentic interactions in organizations and between
organizations and clients are not the norm.
• Crisis may be the only test of relationship and trust
building.
• Some groups have been historically, purposefully
marginalized.
• Trust and relationship building at work are viewed as
superfluous or tangential.
• We don’t have a shared lexicon to talk about building
trust.
INSIGHTS ON BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS
• Build networks of trust, rooted in generosity, before you
need them.
• Signal belonging early on in relationships.
• Visioning sessions are a good initial tool to build
long-term relationships.
• In every decision, think about equity.
Building resilience is about building a social fabric strong enough and creative enough to support us when a
climate, or other, disruption happens. Trust is at the heart of this fabric. When trust is strong, people are able
to think more nimbly and creatively, together. Authentic relationships built on trust and reciprocity allow
groups to make and meet green goals in office and apartment buildings; they also enable faster, more adaptive and
appropriate response to environmental catastrophes. Consciously working to foster sincere relationships is critical
for success in developing and meeting any building, block, or community sustainability plan.
“The operational savings do happen, but the real prize is the relationship you build with your tenants.”
BARBARA CIESLA, JONES LANG LASALLE
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Connect With Those You Serve
It is only possible to build and maintain solid
relationships if you have regular, meaningful, direct
interaction with those you serve. Whether you are
working in commercial or residential buildings, developing
a system for ongoing interaction with building occupants
is crucial. Direct face-to-face interaction is paramount,
but social media can be used effectively. The key to this
connection is conversation or dialogue, where building
occupants are listened to first and then programs are
jointly developed that candidly reflect their needs and
desires. Success in anything from an office composting
program to a building-wide energy challenge must be
rooted in the specificity of the particular building and its
occupants expressed interests and obstacles. Connecting
with those you serve regularly also allows for the formation
of a volunteer corps of green leaders and advocates,
significantly expanding capacity to make and meet green
goals.
CHALLENGES OF CONNECTING
• There is a tendency to view people as victims or targets,
not partners.
• The language we use to describe those we serve is often
violent, disempowering, or calculating.
• Scaling up personal connection is difficult; there are
capacity issues.
• Not everyone in an organization will be a good
communicator.
• Mining data and sharing reports is easier than talking to
people.
“It’s about creating the conditions for people to talk to each other and engage on climate issues.”SARAH GIBSON, BRANDCOOL
INSIGHTS ON CONNECTING
• Conversations are catalysts.
• Start sustainability conversations with an appeal to
common norms of place-attachment or identity.
• Ask people for their stories.
• Have building parties to celebrate even small retrofits or
green activities.
• Use social media interactively to keep dialogue going.
• Offer ‘lunch and learn’ green theme sessions for
commercial buildings.
“As hard as it is to build the physical space, this is
really going to be about our residents being leaders.”
GINA CIGINAK, AEON
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Integrate Art and Beauty
CHALLENGES OF INTEGRATING ART AND BEAUTY
• Our culture has devalued the arts, they are often the first
thing cut in schools.
• It is difficult to assess the impact of art and beauty with
numbers, need to talk with residents.
• We don’t think about art or beauty in our own
workplaces.
• Some buildings structurally and physically support this
integration more than others.
“How can we create spaces of transformation, not spaces
that dehumanize?”ALEXIE TORRES FLEMING, ACCESS STRATEGIES FUND
INSIGHTS ON INTEGRATING BEAUTY
• Encourage the community in a building to create art for
their building.
• Thinking with beauty as a lens or a goal shifts the entire
development and engagement process.
• This is not necessarily a large cost to integrating art and
beauty especially when residents decide how to do this.
• The awe of a beautiful green building inspires hope.
“The real challenge is mixing the price per square foot with love and beauty.”RAYMOND KAISER, STEWART ENGINEERING CONSULTANTS
The arts are a strong catalyst for creating community,
and community is key to achieving green goals in
buildings. Fostering space for place-based art-making
and exhibition is a fun and engaging way to connect with
building occupants. Designating interior or exterior space
for community made or selected art can empower residents
to care for their buildings while developing relationships
with their neighbors. Art is also part of integrating beauty.
Beauty is not superfluous to green goals; living and working
in a beautiful building is uplifting, and encourages residents
to care for a building. Beauty is known to heal and to
create community. Integrating art and beauty positively
harnesses innate connection to place, uplifting residents and
strengthening the bonds that create resilience.
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Change Through Process
“Changing systems is a process, it is not a recipe you can follow.” JENI CROSS, COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY
CHALLENGES OF PROCESS BASED CHANGE
• Process-based behavior change programs cannot be
done quickly or inexpensively.
• Templates are tempting but not effective.
• Information is necessary for behavior change but it is not
sufficient.
• Social scientists, the experts in this field, are often not
consulted.
• Trying to do too much, too quickly results in program or
message fatigue.
INSIGHTS ON PROCESS BASED CHANGE
• Understand people first to select the most relevant
behaviors to focus on.
• Pilot the whole process and use results to leverage
funding for larger projects.
• Build on the easy-wins and simple behavior changes over
time.
• The goal is not static, it’s to continually prosper and thrive
through the process.
• Empowerment comes through meaningful integration in
the change process.
Designing a sustainability program is necessarily a social science undertaking because
program success depends on the actions people take. Successful behavior change
programs are rooted in the particularities of a certain group of people in a certain place;
and these particularities can only be understood by talking with people through the entire program
development, implementation and assessment process. Employing a meaningful process is the
means to achieve behavior change. While transferable, templated sustainability programs may
seem appealing, they are bound to fail because they do not work through a process. Working with
a social scientist is important to ensure appropriate process and evaluation.
“The work that I do is much more a social science exercise than we sometimes allow.”
ALEX DEWS, CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, PA
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Think in Systems
“Systems thinking is a conceptualization of the world
that emphasizes interrelationships and interdependency.”JOHN PETERSEN, OBERLIN COLLEGE
CHALLENGES OF SYSTEMS THINKING
• This is a big cultural shift, we think reductively and in
isolation.
• The built environment often disconnects us from natural
systems.
• Children are not taught to think in systems.
• It is difficult to see systemic effects of personal, individual
behaviors.
• The buildings world often devalues or overlooks occupant
experience.
INSIGHTS ON SYSTEMS THINKING
• We are each stewards of parts of systems.
• Buildings can serve as living laboratories highlighting
interconnections.
• Sustainability is the ideal problem to solve most others.
• Buildings-curriculum-community intersection results in
green schools.
• Savings are achieved when thinking through systems.
Systems thinking helps build resilience because
interconnections are highlighted before a crisis, such
as a climate related weather event, occurs. Thinking
through the system allows for understanding the potential
repercussions or benefits stemming from a design choice
or a program goal. Encouraging systems thinking allows
people to understand how human choices affect natural
resource use. It also allows for program designs to address
barriers or harness opportunities that may not be obvious
to any one group. Those responsible for building outcomes
and performance are often partitioned into distinct groups:
operations, occupants, facilities and the organization. By
thinking through the interactive effect each of these groups
has, the systems view will help create a more effective
behavior change program to meet green goals.
“We have to be able to say that this is not just about the transformation of the built environment but that it’s about human behavioral transformation.”RACHEL GUTTER, CENTER FOR GREEN SCHOOLS, US GREEN BUILDING COUNCIL
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Gather and Use Data Wisely
CHALLENGES OF DATA GATHERING AND USE
• Human experience is not easily quantified or measured.
• Difficult to connect individual data points to larger
community effects.
• Like other kinds of data, there are privacy issues in
gathering resource use data.
• People are overwhelmed by the amount of data
presented to them.
• Money is scarce for feedback meters or other data
collection instruments and programs.
“If you can use feedback to teach people a new behavior, then that behavior becomes normative.”DANIEL ROSENBERG, OBERLIN COLLEGE
INSIGHTS ON DATA GATHERING AND USE
• Data should be socially comparative.
• A dashboard of real-time energy use is an effective
bridging device between building occupants and
facilities staff.
• Feedback can teach new behaviors that become
normative, and then the feedback is not needed.
• Freely available sustainability data will help people
compare and choose homes, schools and even
workplaces.
• Stories are necessary compliments to numbers; ask
people for their stories.
“The whole process is about understanding people; having data to pick the best behaviors that will have the greatest impact.”
JENI CROSS, COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY
Data is needed for benchmarking and for understanding what kind of program is appropriate
for a specific building in a specific geographic and infrastructure setting. Gathering this
data requires systems thinking and connecting with building occupants, owners and
managers as well as working with utility companies and finding appropriate tracking technology.
Data to support behavior change will not be simply quantitative, it should include complimentary
qualitative materials such as stories from building occupants. When used wisely, resource-use
feedback that incorporates stories and other social cues can result in shifting group norms so that
sustainable behaviors become embedded in a building or community’s culture.
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Take Time to Reflect“We can change our relationship to time in the workplace by
getting away from thinking in blocks of time, finding the balance.” JULIAN GORESKI, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
CHALLENGES OF REFLECTION
• Haste and busyness, especially at work, are strong norms.
• Only looking back stifles creativity.
• Chaos and dissonance can also generate creative
thinking.
• Compassion for oneself is a difficult but necessary first
step to slowing down.
INSIGHTS ON SLOWING DOWN
• Organization or community leaders can model this
behavior to encourage and allow others to slow down.
• Learning and transformation happen after reflection.
• Take time to look forward and envision an inspirational
future.
• Reflective listening is a powerful engagement tool.
Contemplative practices may seem tangential to green building goals, but they are not.
Whether its formal meditation or simply taking some designated time to slow down and
reflect, the benefits of reflection ripple far into our lives and work. Purposively journaling,
breathing or stretching help us as individuals to be more creative and resilient in the face of life
or work stresses. Modeling this kind of behavior at work or in the buildings we live in among our
friends and families also signals to others the importance of being present with one another, which
helps foster the trust and relationships integral to resilience. Reflecting can also aid in seeing the
system repercussions of actions which in turn helps design better buildings and sustainability
programs. Most of all, when we tackle time to reflect, we can recognize the successes and the
relationships that make those successes possible.
“We have to continue to think creatively and to enjoy it, to laugh, to see the humor and the light in it.”
TIM CUMMINGS, WEST SIDE FEDERATION FOR SENIOR & SUPPORTIVE HOUSING
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THE BIG PICTURE: BUILDING RESILIENCE
Andrew Zolli, Curator, PopTech & author of
Resilience: Why Things Bounce Back
We need systems that can self-reorganize, that are better
at sensing emerging disruption. We need systems that
encourage cooperation, rather than division. We need
systems that, when a failure happens in one component of
the system, it doesn’t bring down every other component
of the system. Yes, we need to reimagine the built
environment but we need to do it in a way that recognizes
it as part of a greater system that includes human
relationships. Let’s let buildings help build relationships
that allow us to thrive in the face of climate, or other,
disruptions.
OCCUPANT ENGAGEMENT: THE PROCESS IS THE
SOLUTION Jeni Cross, Sociologist, Director of Research,
Institute for the Built Environment, Colorado State
University
How do we create operational savings and improve
efficiency in existing buildings? There are science-based
processes to engage diverse stakeholders and building
occupants from many building types. Using a model called
Integrated Sustainability Management, the opportunities
and barriers present in particular buildings become
apparent. Strategies for building social relationships and
fostering information sharing are the solution to identifying
opportunities and overcoming barriers to conservation.
WHY SUSTAINABILITY NATIVES WILL RUN THE WORLD
Rachel Gutter, Director, Center for Green Schools
Sustainability natives intuitively make decisions to use
what they need as opposed to what they can. You may call
theirs an attitude of scarcity, but they call it an attitude of
abundance. Say hello to a generation of thinkers, leaders
and doers whose true north is the triple bottom line and
the notion that great things happen when you aim for the
intersection of people, planet and prosperity.
THE POWER OF CONVERSATION:
A HUMAN-CENTERED APPROACH TO ENGAGEMENT
Sarah Gibson, Director of Client Services, Brand Cool
Renee Lertzman, Director of Insight, Brand Cool
Understanding what energy efficiency means to people—
the good and the bad—is the underpinning of effective
engagement tools. Techniques such as conversation-
platforms, humor, creativity, and participatory practices
can help create cultures in buildings that allow people to
laugh, learn and get real about the changes we need to
make. Drawing on emerging conversation-based tools,
including Brand Cool’s work with NYSERDA’s Multifamily
Performance Program, we have found that a human-
centered approach helps design and implement better
engagement strategies.
TRACKING AND REWARDING ‘POSITIVE IMPACT’
BEHAVIORS
Wendy Gordon, Co-Founder and CEO, 3P Partners
PIPs are a new social impact currency. The web app,
pipsrewards.com, leverages the power of points, smart
tools and games to reward daily life choices that benefit
planetary, community and personal health. PIPs can be
used to incentivize behaviors you are looking to encourage
in your buildings, from saving energy and water, to
carpooling, recycling or responsible purchasing.
OCCUPANT ENGAGEMENT: GETTING THERE
Barbara Ciesla, Senior Vice President, Occupier Strategies
& Solutions, Jones Lang LaSalle Real Estate
Occupants remain the missing link in building performance
primarily because of the complexity in addressing human
behavior. But how do we achieve true engagement that
results in purposeful action? Exploring lessons-learned
through occupant engagement case studies helps develop
engagement programs for the buildings you live or work in.
Presentation Abstracts The following presentations from the 2014 Climate, Buildings and Behavior Symposium are available to watch online at:
www.garrisoninstitute.org/cbbvideos2014
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COMMUNITY VOICES AND BUILDING DATA:
MOTIVATING CONSERVATION AND ENGAGEMENT
WITH THE ENVIRONMENTAL DASHBOARD
John Petersen, Director, Environmental Studies Program,
Oberlin College
Daniel Rosenberg Daneri, Project Manager, Environmental
Dashboard Project, Oberlin College
The Environmental Dashboard is an emerging
communication technology that combines real-time display
of water and electricity use in buildings, organizations
and through whole communities with photographs and
ideas contributed by community members. The approach
focuses on multiple audiences with sophisticated analytical
tools that identify conservation opportunities in buildings.
Using digital signage and compelling websites to make
flows of resources visible while building social networks
promotes pro-environmental action.
CULTIVATING A CULTURE OF WELLNESS:
FINDING MEANING IN OUR WORK
Sharon Salzberg, Insight Meditation Teacher & author of
Real Happiness at Work
Work can be challenging—conflicting personalities,
overwhelming busy-ness and cutthroat competition create
a stressful environment that seeps into home life and can
confuse our core sense of self. But it is possible to shift
the work environment by shifting our awareness and
consciously bringing clarity of purpose and compassion
into the office space. We can be committed without being
consumed by learning simple mindfulness tools that are
proven to work. Together, we can cultivate a culture of
wellness in the buildings we live and work in.
EAT THE WALLS! GREEN BUILDINGS INSIDE AND OUT
Stephen Ritz, Founder, Bronx Green Machine & Executive
Director of the Health, Wellness and Biodiversity Center at
PS 55, NYC
Stephen Ritz and his Green Bronx Machine students are
planting seeds of academic success and a whole new
economy while changing mindsets and landscapes across
the Bronx and the nation. 30,000 pounds of student grown
vegetables later, his favorite crop is organically grown
citizens, members of the middle class and students who
are growing and eating their way to good health and living
wage opportunities!.
FROM TRANSACTION TO TRANSFORMATION
Alexie Torres-Fleming, Executive Director, Access
Strategies Fund & Founder, Youth Ministries for
Peace and Justice
Every person is an expert in their own lives. Working with
people from diverse backgrounds in the buildings they live
and work in means that you have an opportunity to harness
their expertise to find appropriate ways to make buildings
greener while fostering relationships that allow us all to
thrive.
TAKING BEST PRACTICES TO THE NEXT LEVEL:
LIVING BUILDING CHALLENGE
Gina Ciganik, Vice President of Housing Development,
Aeon
Best practices in any industry eventually need to evolve.
At Aeon, we realized the affordable housing industry was
reaching the end of efficiency in the current generation
of “green” multi-family housing—we needed to create the
first in the next generation of high-performance, healthy
buildings to get the outcomes we desired. Aeon is blazing
a new trail using the Living Building Challenge to create
buildings that operate as cleanly, beautifully and efficiently
as nature’s own architecture.
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The 2014 Climate, Buildings and Behavior Symposium was
made possible in part by the following generous sponsors:
LOSTAND FOUNDATIONBANK OF AMERICA MERRILL LYNCH
Sponsors