Best Practices Champions July

The driving goal of this Committee is to identify and then push through the barriers preventing us from consistently and equitably deploying proven sustainable best practices in all our buildings and communities.

This is not an easy undertaking. We face ingrained institutionalized behaviors, and massive inertia.  Many of us have been trying for years to implement above-minimum-code betterments that improve lives.  We have had limited results.  We need different tactics. 

To that end, I want to restate our path forward:

1. Create a clear onboarding process and database for USGBC Members to connect with and learn about our USGBC Texas Best Practices Champions expertise and commitments.
   Status: (Always ongoing) Our website is fully functional https://usgbctexas.org/Champions. Refinements are always ongoing, and suggestions appreciated.
   
   
2. Reach out to State and Regional Leaders and invite them to step up to be USGBC Texas - Best Practices Champions. 
   Status: (Always ongoing) We have begun to reach out to those Leaders / Drivers who have figured out how to implement Best Practices every day and invite them to help USGBC Texas Members emulate their success. Response has been great, but we need a plan to scale up our efforts.
   
   
3. Reach out to USGBC Texas Non-Traditional Partners. Our inability to deploy Best Practices to lower income and disadvantaged communities is well documented. We will be spending much of our energy connecting with those community organizations, nonprofits, and activists to incorporate different voices than those we have traditionally echoed. This will be the hardest part of our Committee’s focus but is key to our success. Community Planners, Designers and Building Operators seldom talk to community groups living with the infrastructure and performance that has been created for them. Achieving minimum code should not be something to get excited about. We must figure out how to provide places for everyone to live, learn, work, and play that are healthy, safe, and prosperous. 
   Status: (Always ongoing) The Best Practices Committee has formed a formal partnership with the Texas Impact Alliance and their database of Companies and Individuals that share our vision. I have personally reached out to organizations and firms that have not traditionally considered being associated with USGBC. Their voices are critical in helping us find a different approach.
   
   
4. Create a list of known institutionalized practices, processes, and people, preventing the equitable and consistent deployment of proven Best Practices, and start documenting how our Best Practices Champions are overcoming these obstacles.
   Status: (Always ongoing) Unboxed helped us start this process during our Committee Kickoff meeting. Next steps include:
   
   • Review the answers to the questions we responded to at our Kickoff meeting and have a consolidated list out to you
     (Follow this link ).
   • Have Unboxed walk us though the list at our next Best Practices Committee meeting on July 23^rd, at 1:00 PM.
   • Create a game plan for implementing suggestions. (July/August 2020)
   • Develop a tool that clearly identifies those obstacles typically encountered by project teams and connect those obstacles to “Best Practices Solutions” that our Best Practices Champions have helped us formulate.  USGBC Texas and McMac Cx have started to explore creation of an app that will provide a portal to access this information.
   
   
5. Next Steps: We all have day jobs and some of us have personal lives. The success of our vision is dependent on connecting individuals passionate about a different path. To do this we must form a flexible organization that can scale up at the Regional Levels. We need to connect with our communities. Here are some immediate needs to make this happen:
   • 
     Create a Google Docs site for our Committee that tracks tasks and responsibilities,
   • Firm commitment in each of our five Regions for a Best Practices Committee Ambassador identified as the local point person.
   • Incorporation of the Best Practices Champions into our ongoing USGBC Texas Chapter mission in a manner that publicly celebrates their expertise and commitments.
   • Full engagement with the 10,000+ Texas LEED Accredited Professionals.
   • Foster better connections with smaller Texas municipalities.