Key Findings From

the Working Groups

June 4, 2014

Working Group 1

Buildings and their Sustainability Performance

Research Agenda:

Principle 1 of the ISCN-GULF Sustainable Campus Charter

To demonstrate respect for nature and society, sustainability considerations should be an integral part of planning, construction, renovation, and operation of buildings on campus.

ISCN 2014 | Pushing Boundaries

WG1: Key Issues Discussed

!  Context: Designing and operating sustainable buildings

!  Key Issues:

!  Incremental development of innovation in design

!  The continuing challenge of “selling” innovative sustainable design (the return on investment barrier)

!  The different capital and operation models in Universities that creating institutional specific challenges.

!  Pushing the boundaries…boundaries are different in different institutions, consequently what is defined as innovation will be different.

ISCN 2014 | Pushing Boundaries

WG 1: Key Findings

!  Innovation Paradox: Organizations want to be known as “innovative” - but may feel threatened by innovation (Has it been done before and proven?) The process and bureaucracy often “attack” innovation like it is a “foreign body” .

!  Sustainable design and operations is, for the most part, not mainstreamed in organizational values. The case needs to be made usually on short term return on investment models. There are very few lifecycle (cradle to grave) models used to justify investment.

!  Organizations face similar challenges/barriers – and would benefit from facilitated information exchange on both macro (building level) issues and Micro (system level) issues.

ISCN 2014 | Pushing Boundaries

WG 1: Goals for 2014/2015

!  Populate the ISCN “best practice” sustainable building case study knowledge data base using “peer reviewed” projects.

!  Explore the development of an information exchange mechanism (wiki, blog) where members can post experiences (successes and failure) to share with others.

!  Explore viability of running an online (conference call) meeting of the working group between conferences to establish relationships that facilitate sharing of information.

ISCN 2014 | Pushing Boundaries