CONTRACTING FOR GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE

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CONTRACTING FOR GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE
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• American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC)
  is a national trade association of 5700
  engineering companies employing over 200,000
  people with offices worldwide.

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Introduction

• This presentation is based on the traditional
  design, bid, build relationship, not design/build
  or any other delivery system.
• Trichotomy owner, design professional,
  contractor.
• Will not be covering LEED which applies to
  buildingsbut only to structures other than
  buildings. bridges, dams, highways, waste and
  water treatment plants, sewer systems etc.
• The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has a
  contract for those who want a LEED certified
  building.

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Why is a carefully prepared agreement important?

• The answer should be apparent from the number of
  court cases on construction projects.
• Knowing what is expected and what the parties are
  counted on to do is most important.
• Accepting responsibility is the ounce of
  prevention and far less expensive than the pound
  of cure that is required when misunderstandings
  lead to litigation.
• The chance of human error is greatly reduced when
  one knows what others are relying on them to do.

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Overall Responsibilities of the Engineer and the
Contractor

• The engineer develops and documents the design
  concept and their efforts are directed toward a
  completed project.
• The contractor implements the design and
  constructs the project with efforts at how the
  construction process is carried out. They are
  responsible for the means, methods, techniques,
  sequences and procedures.

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Owner Design Professional - Contractor

• In the traditional relationship the owner
  contracts with the design professional and with
  the contractor.
• However, the design professional does not
  contract with the contractor.
• Still, many of the design professionals
  responsibilities are mentioned in the owners
  contract with the contractor.

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Business Used to Be Done on a HandshakeNo More

• The reason for a standard contract is, among
  other things, to illustrate and explain the
  nationally accepted customary division of
  functions and responsibilities.

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Keys to delivering a green infrastructure
project.

• A committed project owner
• A dedicated project team
• Freedom in procurement and contracting mechanisms
• Realistic and achievable goals and objectives.
• Use Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS)
• Its the law (P.L. 92-582) for federally funded
  projects when procuring the services of
  architects or engineers
• Most states have similar versions of the law for
  state funded projects.

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A Quick Primer on QBS

• The owner issues a request for qualifications
  (RFQ).
• Professional entities or individuals respond to
  the RFQ.
• The owner reviews the qualifications based upon
  past performance, technical competence, capacity
  to accomplish the work and related factors.
• The owner ranks the firms, with the
  best-qualified firm ranked first, the second most
  qualified second, and so on.
• The owner commences negotiations with the
  top-ranked firm to reach a mutual understanding
  of the scope of work.
• The parties negotiate a fair and reasonable price
  for the services required.
• If they cant the owner can move on to the second
  most qualified firm.

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Three Parts to a Standard Contract

• A Letter of Agreement
• An Exhibit that defines the Summary of
  Services
• An Exhibit that defines Terms and
  Conditions of the Agreement sometimes called
  General Conditions.

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Letter agreement

• Description of project
• Scope of services
• Compensation.

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Summary of services

• Basic services
• Sustainable considerations

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Basic services

• Takes you through the normal services offered by
  an engineer phase by phase with a checklist of
  what is included or not included.

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Sustainable Considerations

• A checklist of innovative ideas for a
  sustainable project.
• What follows is taken from Eco-Efficiency, De
  Simone and Popoff, published by the MIT Press.

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Sustainable Considerations

• There are 7 categories of sustainable
  considerations which themselves are broken down
  further.

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1. Reduce the Material and Intensity of Goods and
Services

• Reduce the consumption of water
• Use higher quality of materials to create less
  waste at later stages of the project
• Waste to be used on site
• Combine products and/or services to reduce
  materials intensity
• Reduce or eliminate packaging

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2. Reduce the Energy Intensity of Goods and
Services

• Use renewable energy
• Use different materials to reduce energy
• Reuse waste heat for another process
• Monitor and control building energy usage
• Use more efficient transportation

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3. Reduce Toxic Dispersion

• Eliminate or reduce toxic substances associated
  with the project
• Reduce waste and emissions during construction
• Find better ways to handle harmful materials
• Specify products with low toxic or harmful content

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4. Enhance Material Recyclability

• Recycle, reuse or remanufacture waste
• Specify products with high recycled content
• Design infrastructure with consideration to
  reuse, flexibility or recycling
• Design infrastructure with consideration to ease
  of deconstruction and material recovery

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5. Maximize the Sustainable Use of Renewable
Resources

• Specify products made with resources certified as
  sustainable
• Make maximum use of passive heating and cooling
  in design
• Employ renewable energy sources during design

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6. Extend Product Durability

• Incorporate durability considerations during
  design
• Design the infrastructure for ease of maintenance
• Design in a high degree of flexibility

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7. Increase the Service Intensity of Products

• Find ways to sell services associated with the
  project not just the product itself
• Add more knowledge content to what is sold
• Leverage engineers knowledge to reduce clients
  costs
• Maintain a flexible scope of services to meet
  increased stakeholder needs

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General Conditions

• Terms and Conditions found in many standard
  contracts.

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Additional Services and Extra Services

• Additional are those which may or may not be
  foreseen at the beginning of the design stage.
  Examples Seismic analysis, future expansion,
  traffic studies, wind analysis.
• Extra services are those that arise out of
  unforeseen circumstances. They can result from
  many things e.g. a change in the magnitude of
  the project, changes necessary from cost overruns
  or from an extended construction schedule.

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Insurance

• There is an insurance provision that states the
  engineer will maintain various forms of insurance
  including professional liability, workers comp,
  commercial general and automobile insurance.

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Guarantees and Warrantees

• Be careful of the language used when requiring
  these of the engineer especially if they have to
  guarantee facts over which the engineer has no
  control and/or only partial knowledge.
• In many instances giving such guarantees are not
  included within the engineers professional
  liability policy.

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Points to Remember

• A carefully prepared agreement is your best
  protection against subsequent legal problems.
• The engineers efforts are directed toward a
  completed project and the contractors efforts
  are directed toward how the construction process
  is carried out.
• Keys to a successful project. See 8.
• QBS whether required by law in your state or
  not it is the best way to procure engineering
  services.
• Sustainable considerations we view these as
  goals and not requirements.

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• Thank You
• Edward Bajer
• Senior Director, Contracts and Risk Management
• American Council of Engineering Companies