Innovating Sustainability: Finding success with your partners

Keith Reester

Public Works Director City of Loveland, Colorado Member, APWA Center for Sustainability

ocal governments don’t generally manufacture anything; public works in the simplest form is a service supplier. We supply safe roads, snow removal, storm drainage, and a host of other services to our communities, although we do it in a manner somewhat differently than our private sector peers. Every decade or so our industry is challenged with an opportunity to embrace a new form of thinking, a change in our systems that spans nearly everything that we do. In the past few decades we’ve seen broadband changes like quality enhancements, performance measurement, and the incorporation of technology dramatically change the face of our industry. Sustainability is likely that watershed concept today.

The broadband nature of sustainable thinking impacts all the systems we manage, and incorporating sustainable thinking into our business approach is a unique opportunity to “up our game.” Very often in government, direction comes in the form of “be more like the private sector” or incorporate more innovation or do more with less. Historically we do a mediocre job at seeking new and innovative ideas, then incorporating them into our daily operations. The penalty for failure or enhanced risktaking often is accompanied with negative headlines, demonstrative public feedback, and reluctance by elected officials to greenlight future breakthrough projects. Sustainability offers a unique platform to guide and invest in innovation and for public works to be a leader in building the future environment. Green initiatives and investment often end up in public works as a result of our control of major capital projects, fleet, and facilities—places where big and quick impacts from systems thinking can make an impact in the near term. It is time to look outside to make dramatic impacts inside.

Take a look at your 2011 historical spending and identify what percentage of your expenditures went to suppliers; more than likely you have a Top 10 or 20 suppliers with whom you spent a large percentage of your dollars. Many of these suppliers may have been selected by a low-bid process, or your purchasing group sees their products as a commodity purchase. In the end that has no impact on your ability to make breakthroughs for sustainable systems thinking. Nearly every firm that you work with is thinking sustainability too—take advantage of that expertise to help your team create success. Use your suppliers as your research and development (R&D) source for sustainability.

In government we have a tendency to create bid packages that are prescriptive; this approach reduces risk by making specifications tight and provides a reduced avenue for subjectivity (which may later be contested) in making vendor choices. This goes back to our history of downplaying risk to protect against failure. It will be a stretch, but talk with your purchasing and legal teams about outcomes-based tendering packages. Outcomes-based packages allow your agency to define final success and allow suppliers, contractors and designers to use their expertise to solve the problem. Too often we assume we know all the keys to success and forget that our private partners have decades or more of experience in the same market. Take advantage of that knowledge.

Using an outcomes-based approach is a great methodology in greening your projects, programs and products. For example, if your organization bids all of your office supplies in a universal blanket contract, does it really matter if your paper is 70% or 80% recycled content? What if the RFP included a stated overall objective of reducing carbon footprint for office supplies by 40% over the life of the 24-month contract? This approach allows you to get the same supplies but gives vendors the opportunity to drive down your greenhouse gas emissions through other means: locally sourced products, recycled content hard goods, alternative content papers, or a partnered investment in technology to reduce waste in your office supply usage. Our partners have knowledge, experience, and a tacit core value to improve value for their customers. Use that to leverage your success as well as theirs. The same outcomesbased approach can be reasonably applied to many ventures:

• Pool cars – reduced fuel consumption and emissions

• Heavy equipment – pooled resources with “just in time” delivery for special needs

• Road paving – warm-mix asphalts and sustainable design criteria

• Building management – performance-based energy and equipment upgrades

• Employee training – more available training at less cost through technology utilization

• Construction – active selection of project contractors before design begins

As public works leaders we often get alarmed when we hear that old phrase “we’ve always done it this way.” In reality we need to take a strong step back and look at our purchasing methods to help us better capture the success and knowledge of our partners. Just because we bought it that way for the last five years does not mean we need to do it that way this year.

One other key facet to consider is meeting regularly with even the most mundane vendors. Posit the question, how can you help us be more sustainable and do it cost effectively? Frequently we only meet with vendors over problems; opportunities for successful partnering are few and far between in those circumstances. You may not find the solution the first time you meet, but setting the stage for communications and collaboration will yield success over time.

The list above not only has the potential to yield significant sustainability successes but also cost and delivery savings—part of systems thinking, holistic solutions to problems.

Fast forward into the year with some new thoughts:

1. R&D – Local government is hard pressed to invest in R&D; use your suppliers to help do that 2. Leadership – Buy into public works leadership role in creating holistic systems solutions to issues and incorporate sustainable thinking into that platform 3. People – Create an environment where your team members feel they can take adequate risks to help your community, and understand that failures will happen; it’s not how you celebrate the successes, it’s how

you celebrate the failures that defines your innovation culture 4. Partners – The people that work for your partners are smart people too. Talking about joint success is not bad government; it is the right thing to do for our citizens today and in the future.

Success is defined many ways, but creating more sustainable and systems-oriented solutions to the complex questions public works organizations face today is hard but achievable. Look outside to find success inside; take the time to talk with your private partners about your goals for sustainability. You’ll be surprised what opportunities may arise.

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Keith Reester can be reached at (970) 962-2520 or reestk@ci.loveland.co.us.