LMS and Change Management

You know the eye rolls. The restlessness. They come just after you announce a training class. It’s training malaise! And it isn't welcome in a training-intensive medical environment.

Developing a corporate attitude that welcomes training is just another type of change management. We've all had to learn new policies and procedures and eventually they become second nature.  Training will follow a similar course in an anti-training environment. There will be resistance. People will say they don’t have time. Eyes will roll. Management needs to take action. How?

1)      Is your staff tech-savvy?  Unless your office is tech-savvy, your change management could meet with fear and frustration. Make sure you get over that hump before dragging an LMS in the mix (Pssst! www.smartteam.com can help).

2)      Hold managers accountable. You know what? If my manager thinks a program is a joke, I’m not wasting my time on it. Period. Tackle your managers first, get them on board and the rest will follow.

3)      Meet on it. Taking courses in solitary confinement can make for drudgery and less learning. While the act of sitting through an online course might seem independent and self-contained (headphones, a quiet study area), people don’t often learn like that. Hold offline meetings before or after lessons to review key takeaways. The social interaction will encourage teambuilding and make the lessons more meaningful.

4)      Certificates! I love certificates. I want to reach milestones, get documentation and check items off my to-do list. I’m not alone. Track what training everyone takes and reward good behavior. Our LMS makes it so easy and quite powerful.

5)      Communicate. Even the most training-centric corporate culture will forget about the LMS if you do. We have a million other things to get done, how are you going to hold my attention long enough for me to train after that first month?  Remind me. Email me. Leave posters in   the break room. Post reminders on the intranet. Create contests. Update me in the newsletter. Add a bill-stuffer to my paycheck. If   you continue to be on board with the program, so will I.

Purchasing, creating and perfecting your LMS takes so much time.  But it doesn't end after the programmers send it over. You’ll need to manage it on an ongoing basis like anything else. RedVector will take care of the courses, but you need to take care of your employees.

Holiday Trees: Live or Artificial?

Many people eschew them for the real thing. But if the rush and madness at a local home center’s Black Friday sale is any indication, they are here to stay. Artificial Holiday trees. The $50 doorbuster sold out within nine minutes of the early store opening.

No, thank goodness I wasn't there at the sale. I bought my artificial tree earlier that week. But I've been having environmental guilt.

Artificial Tree?

Is the tree in my living room the best I could have done for the environment? I use reusable bottles, reusable coffee mugs, reusable plates, forks and knives. Is a reusable tree the same?

A Google search shows why my environmental Spider Sense is tingling. Many people don’t think artificial trees are helpful to the earth. Made in China. Shipped stateside. Contains dubious chemicals. Never degrade in landfills. The list goes on.

Live Tree?

So a live tree? Purchased at the same home center? Those trees get trucked in. Then a fire hazard. Then you hope your town will mulch them and not dump them in a landfill. On the upside, less pesticides than I expected. But it helps if you know your grower, which leads me to...

Cut it Yourself?

Home centers aren’t the only places for live trees. You can cut one down like my uncle’s family.  They get an ultra-fresh tree with less fire hazard. Personally, I worry about squirrels coming home with you. But they haven’t had issues and have decades of holiday chopping under their belts.

 Bulb Tree?

Lastly, the Internet greenies point to bulb trees. These are live trees that the nursery digs up, wrapping their roots in burlap. Then you bring the whole thing home. But there is a lot to think about when you buy a tree and make it a houseplant for a week. How to keep the roots wet? How to plant it in the frozen soil outside on December 26? How long can it stay inside the house (wow, you really should read this article: http://cin.ci/TxwpIV)? Also note that balled trees are really heavy. Like a 6” tree can be 200lbs. Check it out:  http://bit.ly/QCenbg

So my environmental guilt is well founded. But my cats can climb this tree as well as any other one, so at least they are happy. If you are in a Tree Quandary of your own, check out these articles for a little research:

http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/christmas-trees-picking-greenest-options-synd2?click=pp

http://environment.about.com/od/greenchristmas/a/christmas_trees.htm

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20121201/LIFE08/312010014/Get-your-tree-real-fake-or-freshly-cut

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/18/a-fake-vs-a-real-tree/

Fast Track to Green

The Patent Process can be a long one. There are blueprints to submit, research to be reviewed and so much more. But if you have a green product? Get ready for the fast track!

Did you know that the US (and many other countries around the globe) has a specialized patent process when it comes to green products? Called Fast-Track, it was instituted in the US in 2009 and the green patent process has been buzzing through red tape and waiting lines ever since.

A study by the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development came out this fall and found that worldwide the programs have been delivering on a faster patent wait time. The study shows that the quicker process is usually requested by start-up companies seeking to get new technologies out there. Additionally, fast-tracked patents are more likely to be granted, according to the study.  

This is important for a startup.  Getting a patent can lead to product going out the door faster or investor capital arriving on a company’s doorstep quicker than no patent.

The effort and budgets needed to decrease wait times were approved based on climate change concerns brought forth in the Kyoto Protocol. They are hitting the mark. The study shows that the majority of patent applications are climate change-related. Of these, renewable energy technologies are the most often requested.

Could the next big thing come from a fast-tracked patent? The world is hoping it will. The UN and the signers of the Kyoto Protocol will be hearing updates on it in Quatar this week and next.

LEED Moves with the Times: new changes to the CE Program

When designing LEED, the USGBC knew they were building a program that would have to move quickly with developing technologies. The newest change is a just-announced easier and more effective education experience for current LEED professionals.

(If you are seeking LEED credentials,the path is still the same.  Train up,take a test. In fact, you can do so right here: www.redvector.com)

If you already hold the LEED certification however, you know you need to take courses every one or two years to keep your credentials. And that audit period when you turn everything in can really stink. Sometimes you find you took courses that didn’t apply to you. Other times you find you are missing a couple hours and need to drop everything to take care of it by the deadline.

USGBC heard the critics. Often enough that they made to following modifications to the recertification process:

• Reporting will get easier: RedVector and other providers couldn’t report what courses you took to the USGBC on your behalf. That was your job. An annoying job full of paperwork that could sometimes resemble doing your taxes.
•  USGBC will be allowing RedVector and others to report directly for you, if you so choose. That could save you a lot of headaches in the future. We will alert you when they open that up. Right now it is still in the future.
•  Forms: You know those reporting forms? They should be getting better by having less for you to fill out.
•  Activity Types: this was where you were taking classes that you didn’t need. No more. They have reduced the activity types to four categories: education, LEED project participation, volunteering and authorship. Volunteering has a 50% hour limit and the other activities have no limit.
•  Website changes: their site is looking much better these days, check it out. https://new.usgbc.org/leed/credentials
• Free Stuff! Take a free 6-hour webinar and you get one free BD+C, ID+C or O+M specialty credential. If you already hold one of these, take the course and get another. No matter what designation you hold you’ll get 6 hours credit free (even Green Associates). Register here: https://new.usgbc.org/leed/credentials/leed-ap/upgrade
• Another piece of good news for Green Associates? There are no more eligibility requirements, anyone over 18 can take the courses and test.

So there you go. LEED continues to change with the times. And RedVector promises to stay on top of all changes and help to make the LEED credentialing process as painless as possible.

What? Haven’t’ taken all your CEcredits yet? You’re not alone, head over to RedVector.com for some refreshers.

Gardening: not just for the front yard anymore

I want to start a new garden. No, I am not talking about a new flower patch in the yard. I am talking about my roof.

Green roofs - roofs covered with vegetation instead of asphalt shingles - are everywhere these days another green trend that has taken hold in urban areas and could be featured in a suburban outpost near you. Granted, green roofs in the ‘burbs are a little far off. They make more sense in the concrete jungle, where roofs already often have a hotel pool or a sunbathing deck installed. Why not some flowers too?

Another reason they make sense in the city: Cities get steamier in the summer. A field of green not only looks more refreshing to the eye, but it cools off a surface that would usually absorb and radiate heat. The interior of the building often stays cooler too, by about 8 degrees.

Green roofs got a boost in the late 1990’s when a particularly sweltering Chicago summer claimed over 700 lives in the city. Mayor Daley declared “heat islands” in the cities caused the heat wave to be more severe than it had to be. One way the heat islands could be cooled off was with green roofs, he said. Soon after, Daley announced the city hall would be the site of a large green roof. Since then, they have grown in popularity.

How do the plants get up there?

In the U.S., green roofs are much more likely to be on a commercial building (think hi rise), however green roofs are available for a single family home. A little Internet research showed a variety of methods, most coming over from Europe, where residential green roofs are more common.

While in my head a green roof installation is a lot like laying sod on top of my asphalt shingles, it is more complex. First of all, my sod roof would slip right off in the first rain. One company has overcome that with a series of trays that lead down to a succession of moisture barriers that wick excess water away to gutters leaving plants watered but not inundated. They look a bit like nursery pots.  

Toyota has developed Roofing Squares that look like very high-tech sod. The squares feature plants on top, a moisture-wicking layer and even a little tread on the bottom. These squares are made to snap together. At $43 a pop they don’t come cheap but they are pretty cool.

But what about my roof?

Sadly, I finally realized that a green roof is a bit heavy for my 1980’s rancher to handle. But leaps forward in the creation of high-tech green roofs and with science backing up the cooling effects on your home and utility bill, I think it’s only a matter of time before my roof is blooming. Maybe if I am lucky, I can put goats up there too.

Way More than a Bucket List

At Greenbuild this month, when walking in the entrance to Moscone North on Howard Street, you’ll see it. The slabs of chalkboard will be at the hall entrance. Show attendees will be waiting in line. It’s not another talk. Not another green display. Chalk in hand, some participants may be dashing off something carelessly, others will be more thoughtful. All will be completing the sentence “Before I die…” This is Public Art.

The project was begun by Candy Chang in New Orleans in Feb. 2011. After experiencing the loss of someone close to her, she got to thinking about what was truly important in life. What was really imperative to do before she died?

In this dark time, she began to wonder what was important to her friends and neighbors. Through a series of events she painted an abandoned home with blackboard paint. She stenciled “Before I die I want to ____” on the blackboard over and over again. She left pieces of chalk by the boards.

An amazing thing happened. People wrote. It was more than a bucket list. People shared hopes and dreams on it. Hearts opened. A writer wanted to be published. An ex-husband wanted his ex-wife back. A lover wanted to hold “her” one more time in his arms. Someone just wanted to “understand.” Each night the blackboard wall was washed off. And each day the boards filled up again.

The blackboards—now dubbed a global public art project—have appeared in Philadelphia, Orlando, Chile, Germany, the UAE and more. Now they will be visiting Greenbuild in San Francisco.

Don’t miss this opportunity to stop by and leave your mark.

Greenbuild: Will you be there? We will! Nov 14-16 San Francisco.

http://www.greenbuildexpo.org

See other walls and their participants’ thoughts here:

http://beforeidie.cc/site/blog/category/walls/

ET7P8D73J9JK 

Green Car Tour

Electric cars! I know, I know, you’re thinking about the old slow Prius in traffic this morning or the (shudder) Honda Insight of decades past. But that thinking might just change in the next couple of years.

Check out the Greenbuild 2012 Green Car Tour lineup. Conference attendees will have an opportunity to drive one of 14 new electric vehicles, from the new Volkswagen Bug to the much touted Nissan LEAF to more exotic fair like the Fisker Karma. (I mean, have you seen the Karma? Gorgeous.) 

Honda gets the award for having the most cars in attendance, with six models in play. One of their Civic designs has even moved away from the electric concept, riding instead on natural gas.

The wide selection of models seems to say that, while it has taken a bit, car builders have decided to give green a look. Whether it is a more environmental customer or the President’s new 54mpg standard for cars in the U.S. it is hard to tell. Nevertheless, car makers are giving electric cars a try, even if it is just a toe in the water, it could be your future faster than you think.

The current fuel economy rules for automakers selling cars in the U.S. stands at an average of 27.5mpg. That means all cars across an automaker’s lineup have to average 27.5. So for every truck introduced into the U.S. market that is running at 20mpg, an econo car running at 35mpg must also be introduced.

As the MPG laws creep up on automakers, hybrid vehicles will make a difference. At least if they still want to offer big trucks in their lineup. And while 2025 sounds like The Future, it is only 13 years away.

See the completely awesome Greenbuild lineup here.

Will we see you at the show? Nov. 14-16 in San Francisco!

Read more about the 54.5MPG decision here http://www.cnbc.com/id/48829545/Getting_to_54_MPG_Will_Change_What_We_Drive