PM591 Week 3 Assignment Perez

Running head:

ASSIGMENT WEEK 3 PEREZ

Assignment Week 3: SUSTAINABILITY-IN-THE-NEWS

Keller Graduate School of Management PM591 Mar/12 Session Pablo F. Perez Professor Nancy Petersen

PM591 Week 3 Assignment Perez

Due Date: Week 3 (March 17, 2012) About the Assignment The purpose of this assignment is to research and provide opinion and supporting rationale on a project that involves "getting green", as part of SUST 520 class.

The Research The tool used to research was Google. After a few days of research, the project chosen was the renovation of the visitor center of the Zion National Park, in Springdale, State of Utah. The reason why this project was chosen was that it fit the combined criteria of a defined project, although, specific project tools were not available, and obviously, it is related to the environmental sustainability subject. In fact, this project won the Green Building Challenge of 2000 (United States Department of Energy (n.d.)) and The American Institute of Architects, recognized this project as top 10 Green Projects of 2001 (AIA/COTE, n.d.).

The Project Although project specific information such as the project WBS, project schedule or the project management plan, according to the United States General Accounting Office, "the new visitor

PM591 Week 3 Assignment Perez

center project cost about $24 million, and includes the construction of the visitor center, a bus maintenance center, shuttle stops, and the purchase of over 30 buses for the parks new shuttle system" (GAO, 2001). The cost of Zion Visitor Center is 30% lower to build than a comparable National Park Visitor Center (Green Building Brain, n.d.). The project was completed in May of 2000 but no data was found to verify whether this project was completed on time per project schedule.

Although the project charter was not found, the justification for the project was basically that the outdated 1960's infrastructure of the park could not support current level of visitors. "On a typical summer day, 3000 cars visited the park, yet there were only 400 available parking spaces. The parking and traffic congestion hampered the visitor experience, adversely affecting the canyons flora and fauna, and threatening visitor safety" (Torcellini, P., Judkoff, R., Hayter, S., (2002)). The project initiation and planning included a comprehensive design workshop.

The project execution was divided into three stages: design/engineering, construction and commissioning, typical of building projects. In each of these stages, there was a list of

PM591 Week 3 Assignment Perez

sustainability related objectives and constraints. For example: During construction, " The materials used in the Zion National Park Visitor Center were carefully selected to maximize thermal performance. The building is mainly constructed with heavy masonry materials such as brick, stone, and concrete. All these materials have great thermal mass and therefore absorb and store heat" (Poon, 2003)

Besides the completion date of May of 2000, not a lot of documentation was found related to the closing phase of the renovation project. However, through the research performed, the in the work of Torcellini et al. of 2005 on page 102 it was found one of the key elements of the project closing: The Lessons Learned. All related to improvement of sustainability matter for future projects.

Final Remarks Though this assignment I had the opportunity to perform a quick research and definitely gain more knowledge of sustainability practices related to building construction, one of my main interests. also it was a pleasant surprise to find the comprehensive set of lessons learned reported from this project

PM591 Week 3 Assignment Perez

and recommendations for future projects benchmarking. I hope this assignment has been pleasant to read as it was to do. References

AIA/COTE (n.d.). AIA/COTE Top Ten Green Projects. Retrieved on Mar/13/2012 from www.aiatopten.org/hpb/#2001

GAO - United States General Accounting Office (2001). Report to Congressional Requesters: Park Services Visitor Center Project Costs, Size, and Functions Vary Widely. Retrieved on Mar/15/2012 from http://www.gao.gov/assets/100/90742.pdf

Green Building Brain (n.d.). Zion Visitor Center Retrieved on Mar/15/2012 from http://www.gao.gov/assets/100/90742.pdf

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (n.d.). Zion National Park Visitor Center: A sustainable Building for the future. Retrieved on Mar/13/2012 from http://www.nrel.gov/buildings/pdfs/32157.pdf

Poon, L. (2003).

Arch 125 Environmental Design: Zion National Retrieved on Mar/14/2012 from

Park Visitor Center.

PM591 Week 3 Assignment Perez

http://www.architecture.uwaterloo.ca/faculty_projects/terri/1 25_W03/poon_zion.pdf

Torcellini, P., Judkoff, R., Hayter, S., (2002). Zion National Park Visitor Center: Significant Energy Savings Achieved through a Whole-Building Design Process. Retrieved on Mar/13/2012 from http://www.nrel.gov/buildings/pdfs/32157.pdf

Torcellini, P., Long, N., Pless, S., Judkoff, R.(2005). Evaluation of the Low-Energy Design and Energy Performance of the Zion National Park Visitors Center. Retrieved on Mar/13/2012 from http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy05osti/34607.pdf

United States Department of Energy (n.d.). Buildings Database Retrieved on Mar/15/2012 from http://buildingdata.energy.gov/content/zion-national-parkvisitor-center-1