BLJC: Real Leadership in Real Estate

Welcome to the first edition of The Trailblazers Report. Its focus? Breakthrough insights from leaders and experts who dared to blaze new trails, to discover workable solutions for today’s new and emerging world realities - a world in which old boundaries are broken down, and everyone is both a consumer and a solution generator. The Report also includes a few updates about ctr’s work with amazing clients who - in our view - are doing great things to walk the talk.

Our kick-off Trailblazers Report takes a look at a company that is getting a well-earned reputation for green initiatives in their market - Canadian real estate and facilities management leader BLJC.

With all the attention given to issues like fossil fuels, nuclear energy, energy efficient industries and so on - all of which are certainly important - it’s easy to forget about the importance of buildings, and particularly office and commercial buildings, to our energy consumption patterns. As the article points out, buildings consume up to 40% of our total energy usage, and part of BLJC’s responsibilities to their clients is to keep that usage, and its associated costs, to a minimum.

In their success in this area, BLJC have shown a great deal of creative business leadership, and the article highlights some of the lessons they’ve provided - lessons applicable even to enterprises in very different sectors:

• The importance of analysing specific and local factors, and avoiding the “one-size-fits-all” fallacy
• The great value that can be earned through the enthusiasm and involvement of frontline staff
• The importance of executive leadership in motivating and providing direction and coherence across the company
• The value of personal involvement on the part of company leadership in public issues they believe in

We’re sure you’ll find it a thought-provoking, idea-generating read.

A few ctr updates

There have been some great developments here at ctr. We’ve just completed the draft energy strategy and online communications hub for our Vale account and a strategic transformation action plan for an eco-agricultural business. Before that we designed a green educational and incentive program for Brookfield LePage Johnson Controls (BLJC), and blueprint sessions in New Mexico for Perfecto!, a start-up green business services and coaching firm for entrepreneurs. Next on the calendar is creating a dynamic communication campaign directed at key stakeholders in North Atlantic countries. We’re also preparing for our upcoming Trailblazer workshops. Stay tuned for news of times, places and special guests!

Most of us think of energy as the stuff that makes things move. It drives cars and flies planes, makes the turbines spin in the power plants, and so on.

But there aren’t many things that move less than an office building.

So how does a company like BLJC - Canada’s leader in providing workplace management services to real estate portfolios, particularly office and commercial buildings - also become a leader in energy conservation? How do they get to be included in the Maclean’s Top 30 Green Companies for 2010?

Building Sustainability

The surprising fact is that buildings consume up to 40% of the total energy used in a modern industrial economy, according to most estimates. And that’s about one-and-a-half times more than the energy used in the entire transportation sector - planes, trains, trucks, ships and automobiles combined.

So there’s plenty of room here for energy savings. If you’ve ever stared with amazement at your home heating or electrical bill, multiply that experience a few hundred times over and you have the BLJC challenge.

Yet it’s BLJC’s response to that challenge that has been so effective. Each building the company manages is in many ways unique - the architecture, the location, the electrical, heating and cooling systems - and energy savings have to be found in different ways in different places. An energy-saving innovation that works in one building may not work in another one.

Yet beyond these technical questions lies the human factor. Landlords and tenants are people. Different people have different ideas and attitudes, different work styles and processes, different degrees of readiness for change.

So even though the goals are consistent, the strategy to reach them has to be tailored to the real-life situation on the ground. That calls for a delicate and dynamic balance between coordinated, focused management - from the executive suite outwards - and frontline on-the-ground initiative. BLJC’s success in maintaining that dynamic balance is what has made it a leader - leading the way in finding, and applying, innovative new ways to save on energy, and to be environmentally sustainable.

Bottom-Up Initiative ...

David Huang is a BLJC Maintenance Team Leader (MTL) at Robson Square, Vancouver’s massive 1.3 million square-foot showpiece, designed by the late Arthur Erickson. Equal in space to about six average high-rise downtown office buildings, the complex houses 60 courtrooms and other offices of the B.C. government, the downtown campus of the University of British Columbia, three waterfalls and an outdoor skating rink with links to the Vancouver Art Gallery.

In the less than five years that Huang has been on the job, he has managed to reduce total energy consumption at the complex by 40%, while keeping ventilation and air-conditioning levels the same. Tenant service calls and complaints are down by 75%. Huang and his team have achieved this, for the most part, by simply paying more attention - through more careful monitoring, fine-tuning, and keeping a sharp eye out for waste that can be eliminated, and savings that can be realized. The benefits, and bragging rights, are shared between BLJC and its clients, both landlords and tenants.

Huang, who grew up in Taiwan before moving to Vancouver, says, “In Canada we have too great a sense of wealth, as if our resources were endless. The world is changing but people are reluctant to change. We have to inspire them to appreciate our resources, and take greater care of them.”

Not surprisingly, Huang was featured in the Maclean’s story that reported on the Top 30.

... Starts with Top-Down Commitment

Yet BLJC doesn’t just depend on outstanding individuals for its Green performance. They know that a well-run team is stronger and more effective than the sum of the individuals who make it up - and team leadership takes company-wide commitment.

BLJC has developed a Building Energy Performance Indicator (BEPI) to dynamically track energy performance in every building under its management. The result is a scorecard for each management team, which measures their success in meeting energy goals.

As company president Gord Hicks explains, “We believe that incorporating sustainability supports our business and makes us more successful.” He points out that BLJC is the industry leader in workplace management, “and our focus on environmental stewardship has helped to position us there.”

That focus is set at a high level. In 2006 the company established a new executive position - Vice-President of Energy and Sustainability - responsible for leading all environmental initiatives at BLJC. Edwin Lim was appointed to the position in April of that year and, with Hicks, has helped transform BLJC into a true environmental Trailblazer.

Lim is in complete agreement with Hicks on the value to the business: “The expertise we’ve developed - operating buildings sustainably - is very uncommon. We’ve developed it because that’s the industry we’re in, and we’re the leaders in it. In turn, that expertise makes us stand out, gives us more to offer our clients, and builds the business. It’s a great example of synergetic growth, the two sides reinforcing each other!”

A 3-Part Action Agenda

BLJC’s environmental efforts fall into three areas of attention - environmental policy and regulatory compliance; carbon footprint (reducing GHG emissions); and demonstrating company leadership externally. The first one is directed inward, to company employees and suppliers. The second is directed toward the company’s operations, and working together with clients and others. And the third is more outward focused, working with like-minded companies and organizations to advance environmental consciousness throughout the business community and beyond.

Much of the work in environmental policy is in developing workable initiatives - then measuring and evaluating them and looking for opportunities to improve them. These include a Procurement Sustainability Policy - very important when you consider how much a major office building can consume in cleaning fluids or machinery lubricants in a very short time. A major focus is on staff training, to make sure each employee is conscious of the company’s goals and policies, and committed to carrying them out.

The carbon footprint area is the focus for a lot of BLJC initiatives. In 2008-09, the company reports total GHG reductions of 19,757 tonnes at client sites, as well as 148 tonnes for BLJC itself. Part of that is the result of their purchase of 100% renewable energy for their corporate facilities.

Another significant reduction has come from managing the company fleet. In 2008, BLJC determined that their largest single source of emissions as a company came from their vehicle fleet. These are vital to maintaining service to their clients at their many far-flung sites, yet Lim and his team recognized an opportunity to improve its management. They’ve right-sized the fleet itself, instituted systems to improve scheduling efficiencies and minimize back-and-forth travel. And they’ve purchased an initial set of hybrids, to increase fuel efficiency and cut GHGs.

The company also has established an internet resource - the Acts of Green Website - for employees and clients. This source of tips and tools is designed to encourage the development and sharing of new and better ideas for sustainability. The functionality - and its value - is steadily expanding.

Trailblazing Leadership

“A lot of our leadership is leading by example,” says Lim. “We try to help our clients reduce their footprint, and we try to initiate that conversation and promote the benefits of sustainable operations.”

Yet perhaps the major way BLJC is demonstrating its leadership has been in external organizations and initiatives, particularly with the Canadian Green Building Council, (CaGBC) the group that bestows LEED™ ratings on new and existing buildings. Hicks was on the Board of Directors of the CaGBC from 2007 to 2010, and Lim chaired the task force that brought the LEED™ Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance rating to Canada in 2009.

Last year BLJC conducted six events across the country, to present their Roadmap to Sustainability to more than 500 companies and professionals, building awareness and offering solutions for reducing our carbon footprints. And both Hicks and Lim are volunteers with the Climate Project Canada, a broad-based organization that promotes environmentalism across the country, affiliated with such green luminaries as Al Gore and David Suzuki.

Yet the single most important principle of BLJC’s sustainability leadership is probably this one: Flexibility. The company’s success has been based on a flexible management style - setting company-wide goals and measuring results, while allowing for the maximum initiative on the part of local individuals and teams.

And at the level of policy, BLJC has maintained a flexible approach to its programs and strategies. The company’s Report on Sustainability presents a wide range of initiatives and areas of focus, providing fertile ground for positive results to grow. The Acts of Green Website is an excellent example of the importance the company attaches to individual initiative, new ideas and solutions - within the framework of dedicated and committed company goals.

As Gord Hicks has expressed it: “I believe that one day, with innovation, creativity and resourcefulness, corporations will be able to create a net positive impact on the environment from their real estate inventory.”

That’s the trail BLJC is blazing today. And while their business may be real estate, they’re definitely a company that is making things move.

Business Environment Changes Impacted by Energy and Sustainability

The surge in green products and services, in government energy conservation incentive programs and regulations, and mainstream changes in consumer demand, is all evidence of a long-term change in the way business success can be achieved. The impact on business will be huge - now and in the future. To carve out or maintain a sustainable value-building position in the market place, successful companies need to incorporate environmental and social improvement practices into their mainstream business plans.

One workable strategy, which a growing number of companies are applying, is to focus on a few key environmental issues relevant to their particular business, which they can realistically tackle and transform into a sustainable value. For instance, computer chip makers consume large volumes of water in their processing plants - their environmental focus is on water conservation. High energy users, such as mining companies, focus on reducing energy consumption and developing innovative energy supply. Professional services firms tend to focus on recycling, buying green products and supplies, and developing more sustainable office practices. Thus, as these companies address environmental issues, they help reach their own specific business goals too - reducing costs, securing their supply chain, or raising their profile among critical stakeholders.

The lesson, then, is simple: identify and address one or two environmental issues that align with your particular business, be it manufacturing, financial services, mining, retail, etc. Your efforts will make a valuable contribution to the health of our wider environment - and to the sustainability and value of your business as well.