Green building market leaders
Among the large architectural firms, giant HOK (ranked first of the largest architect/engineer firms in the US, based on 2005 billings)1 stands out for its early commitment to green buildings, sharing of resources with others similarly committed in the late 1990s and authorship of one of the leading texts on green buildings.2 A clear indicator of a firm's commitment is the number of LEED Accredited Professionals (LEED APs) among its staff. HOK had more than 450 LEED APs on its staff as of mid-2007. The largest architectural firm in the US, Gensler, had the second-highest total, 575 LEED APs among its professional staff, 23 percent of the total staff, as of July 2007.3
The third largest US architectural firm, Perkins+Will had 753 LEED APs as of mid-2006 (the highest total in the country), 61 percent of the firm's total staff. The firm's chief marketing officer, William Viehman, comments that "Sustainable design is an integral part of our practice. We generated several firm-wide initiatives about five years ago (2002), one of which was to establish a leadership position in sustainable design. It started out as a responsible and professional thing to do, and we had encouragement to do it at all levels." According to Viehman, in the current marketplace for large institutional projects (more than half of the firm's client base), "Knowledge of sustainable design is now the price of admission. Talking about it is less a point of differentiation than it was 18 months ago. In virtually every competitive selection process, you go into it expecting to have some conversation about sustainability, and you know all of your competitors will too. The differentiating point now is clearly on results, what you have achieved in sustainable design in past projects."4
Among smaller architectural firms of less than 200 or 250 employees, a number of regional firms stand out, including BNIM Architects in Kansas City, Missouri; Mithun architects and planners in Seattle, Washington (see case study in Chapter 10); LPA Architects in Irvine, California; and Overland Partners in San Antonio, Texas, to name just a few. Each of these firms is led by one or more principals strongly committed to sustainable design, participated in some of the earliest green building efforts of the late 1990s, and has stayed abreast of the green building industry by making an aggressive commitment to innovation in this area. Not all firms and all principals of these firms share this passion, but those who do have also been able to attract talented and dedicated project architects and designers to their firms to implement their visions.
Kirsten Sibilia is a marketing director for FXFOWLE Architects in New York City, a firm regarded for the past 10 years as a national leader in sustainable design. She says, "We're finding more and more clients who are willing to push the green envelope and want to know what's new, different and innovative. That sentiment comes from corporate, nonprofit and institutional clients. Some of these clients realize that a green building will help them. But I would say at least half of our clients come to us looking to do something new and different because they believe in environmental responsibility."5 FXFOWLE is reaping the benefit of having established a leadership position in an emerging industry, once it starts growing fast.
At BNIM, a firm established in Kansas City in 1970, sustainability has long been a passion of firm principal Bob Berkebile. As one of the founders of the AIA Committee on the Environment and an early supporter of the USGBC, Berkebile was involved in many of the leading projects of the 1990s and early 2000s. As a result of his visibility and accomplishments, many other talented and committed designers have joined BNIM. Kimberly Hickson, Principal in charge of the Houston office for BNIM says,
Bob brings a global perspective to every situation and has the remarkable ability to make everyone he encounters more aware of environmental issues. His knowledge, authenticity and ability to connect with people have been partly responsible for our reputation as a green firm. Our collective passion and commitment plays a part as well. We have a Platinum-rated building because of a committed team, not just one person. Our goal is to have 100 percent of the firm certified as LEED APs. About a year ago we starting pushing to have the firm principals become LEED AP certified, and now we are about 80 percent of the way there.6
In the engineering field, some large national and international firms, including Flack+Kurtz in New York (with 350 employees, it ranked as the 17th largest US engineering firm in 2006), Arup in London/New York/Los Angeles (73 offices, 7,000 employees), and to some degree Syska & Hennessy in New York (600 employees, the third largest US building engineering firm) have been able to carve out a niche as the preferred engineers for major projects by design firms.7
Smaller size, relatively few offices and an efficient cost structure have also allowed a number of regional firms to flourish in serving the needs of sustainable design-oriented architects. In Canada, Keen Engineering carved out an enviable niche as the green engineering firm of choice; after extending its reach to a growing number of projects in the US, Keen was acquired by Stantec Consulting in late 2005. Before its sale, Keen also showed the greatest commitment to the LEED process of any architectural or engineering firm, with 140 LEED APs in a staff of about 200.8
Among large national construction firms, Turner Construction Company in New York, the country's largest commercial builder, stands out for its commitment to getting LEED professional accreditation for its employees. In mid-2007, Turner counted 260 employees as LEED APs, about 4.5 percent of its total staff of nearly 6,000.9 At mid-year 2007, DPR Construction (Redwood City, California), had 185 LEED APs, 27 percent of its total staff of 665.10 No other construction firm showed more than 125 LEED APs at mid-year 2007, so these two companies must be acknowledged as the market leaders in this regard (see Table 9.5).
There are also specialized green building consulting firms; they are all generally smaller than 15-20 people, having "co-evolved" with the rise of the green building movement. None of the really large consulting engineering or pure management or technical consulting firms appears yet to have taken a significant consulting interest in the green design business. Some of the leading green building consulting firms are CTG Energetics in Irvine, California; Paladino & Associates in Seattle; Green Building Services, Portland; 7group in Pennsylvania - a federation of independent consultants; O'Brien and Company in Seattle; Simon and Associates in San Francisco; Architectural Energy Group and RMI, both of Boulder, Colorado.
What do these design, construction and consulting firms have in common? They are technical leaders in sustainable design. They have been early entrants into the field. They have the size, scope and - in some cases - prime location to be at the nexus of sustainable design developments. They have worked on many of the landmark projects in this emerging industry. They are attractive companies to work for and as a result have attracted talented designers, consultants and project managers - a must in the intense and highly competitive architecture, engineering and construction industry. They excel at public relations, and they participate in a variety of industry forums and associations, often in a leadership role. We will explore many of these attributes in later chapters, as we discuss how firms should tailor their marketing offerings to benefit from the rapid growth of the green building industry.
Consider these facts: there were more than 35,000 LEED APs as of January 2007 and nearly 45,000 people had participated in LEED training workshops.11 There were more than 6,000 LEED-registered projects, and 700 of these projects have been certified as of April 2007.12 So, it is not surprising that green building industry leaders have yet to emerge - firms with 20 or 30 LEED-certified projects under their belt. Many of the larger firms have in fact done fine green building projects without going through LEED certification, and many smaller firms have consistently won the "Top 10" annual awards from the AIA Committee on the Environment, with or without acquiring LEED certification.
Since LEED is still a relatively new certification, only seven years old in the spring of 2007, and since it can take a year or more after completion of construction to achieve project certification, it is not surprising that few firms have yet to take a strong market lead in this industry.
One other factor is also important: by and large, architecture, engineering and building construction is a regional and even local industry; in general, it has been the small- and medium-sized firms, looking for a market edge and more likely to be influenced by a few passionate designers, who have seized the initiative in green design. The larger architecture, engineering and construction firms, with superior technical resources and strong client relationships, are now playing "catch up," a fact that will dominate the green building market in the future. Smaller firms will obviously be able to compete in certain market segments and geographic regions, but they may have to lower their sights in general toward smaller projects with LEED goals. Occasionally small firms can win larger projects based on design competitions, often by teaming with larger national firms (and the reverse is also true). Competitions, such as those offered by the Design Excellence program of the US GSA, allow smaller firms to take an occasional marketing gamble to get a larger project.13
LEED will continue to evolve: its stated goal is to serve primarily the top 25 percent of all building projects, and the "bar" for certification will keep getting raised higher as more projects meet the current standards.
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