“由总务管理局发布的“场地调试白皮书”是一个具有开创意义的项目，能够帮助制定可验证的景观性能目标，并随时对其进行监控和维护。它所提出的方法将营造出更具适应性的建筑环境，同时能够向决策制定者证明精心设计的景观所包含的环境、经济以及社会价值。该项目是在以景观设计师为首的团队的严格开发和推进下得以完成，高度开放的资源有望改变超越联邦政府范围的土地开发决策。”
– 2019年评审委员会“The Site Commissioning White Paper issued by the General Services Administration is a groundbreaking project that helps set verifiable landscape performance goals that can be monitored and maintained over time. Its methods will foster a more resilient built environment and help prove to decision makers the environmental, financial, and human value of well-designed landscapes. Developed in a rigorous process led by landscape architects, this highly accessible resource is poised to alter land development decisions well beyond the federal realm.”
– 2019 Awards Jury
来自 ASLA 对gooood的分享。
Site Commissioning: Proving Triple-Bottom-Line Landscape Performance at a National Scale by Andropogon
项目概述
PROJECT STATEMENT
场地调试是建立性能目标随后进行实地验证的过程，也是一种验证人工景观投资在环境、社会和经济方面是否均有效益的机制。美国总务管理局（GSA）在2017年颁布的《场地调试白皮书》为GSA的未来土地开发项目提出了机构范围的场地调试步骤。这一过程将可能对全球最大公共房地产组织之一的场地设计、建造以及管理成果形成积极影响。该白皮书是在决策者、景观设计师和89位行业领先者的特殊合作下而写就的，虽然它是一种政策工具，但其内容和图例的品质也能够直接为从业者所用。《场地调试白皮书》以独特的方式展示了景观设计师如何协助政策的制定，以创造更具弹性和复原力的建筑环境。
Site commissioning—the process of establishing and then field-verifying performance goals—is a mechanism for proving that investment in constructed landscapes is environmentally, socially, and financially worthwhile. The Site Commissioning White Paper, published in 2017 by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), proposes an agency-wide, site-commissioning process for GSA’s future land development projects. This process has the potential to advance the effectiveness of the site design, construction, and management industries within one of the world’s largest public real estate organizations, which in turn could positively impact landscape performance at a national scale. The white paper was developed through a unique collaboration between policy-makers, landscape architects, and 89 industry leaders. While written as a policy tool, the white paper’s tone and graphic quality make it equally accessible to practitioners. The Site Commissioning White Paper uniquely demonstrates how landscape architects can help shape policy, thereby advocating for a more resilient built environment.
▲场地调试：在全国范围验证三重底线景观性能。Site Commissioning: Proving triple-bottom-line landscape performance at a national scale.
项目说明
PROJECT NARRATIVE
源于必要性
实现建筑环境的复原力需要对土地开发的范式进行转变。目前，最好的情况是，常规的开发实践能够在前期保证场地的实际运作效果（包括雨水管理和增加员工保有率等等），而不是在后期测试是否达到性能的目标。缺乏对建筑环境的验证将可能导致无效或低效的设计、建造以及管理。作为全球最大的公共房地产组织之一，美国总务管理局（GSA）的办公大楼、陆地入境口岸、法院、实验室、邮局和数据中心等建筑均存在有性能不达标的隐患，这可能会导致负债的局面，并因此掩盖景观对于对公共财产的潜在利益。
场地调试是制定性能目标、随后在现场验证建筑环境中的系统是否能够达到预期的过程。自1990年代以来，场地调试已经发展为一种用于验证建筑系统是否具有预期性能的专业性的实践。GSA作为当今公认的可持续发展领导者，致力于将场地调试应用到景观当中。由此建立的土地开发模型使得从业者能够确认景观的性能，从而证明景观的三重底线（社会、环境和经济）价值，并在其转变为债务问题之前就明确系统中出现的问题。
被研究的关系
由景观设计师撰写、GSA出版的《场地调试白皮书》深入研究了人工景观投资在环境、社会和经济上是否均有效益。通过严格的研究过程，白皮书：1）评估在GSA未来所有土地开发项目中进行场地调试的可能性（作为现有的“总体建筑调试和SITES认证”实践的补充）；2）详细介绍GSA在该流程中采用的机构范围的策略。
方法
GSA与景观设计师和私营部门的综合研究人员共同制定了白皮书。初步研究方法包括：1）对于相关主题的文献综述（包括建筑调试、场地监控和可持续性评级系统）；2）市场和行业分析（为了评估当前的调试缺口、性能趋势以及GSA的总体建筑调试计划）；3）案例分析。
完成初步研究之后，场地调试的可行性尚未得到充分证明。因此，研究小组邀请了141位行业思想领袖（分别代表政府和非政府组织、学术部门和私营部门等）参加了7个主题工作小组，包括水、土壤、植被、材料、栖息地、人类健康、福祉和气候。实际参加工作小组的人数共有89位（占被邀请者的63%），每个小组均包含11-15位跨部门成员。研究团队针对每个工作小组制定了一项在线调查，并由89位成员全部参与完成。在分析调查数据之后，团队还对每个工作小组进行了访谈，共计有58人受访（占参与者的65%）。来自这些专业人士的批判性见解为白皮书提供了直接的建议，此外还有三位调试顾问和三位白皮书审阅人员给出了看法。以文献综述为基础的成本效益分析也为白皮书提供了有用信息。根据GSA国家景观设计总监Christian Gabriel的说法：“该团队不论从行政还是研究的角度来看，均以最高标准完成了工作，并且产出了符合所有行业标准的、世界一流的研究报告。”
结果
调查和访谈结果显示，跨领域团队的支持对于GSA的场地调试计划有着十分重要的意义。工作小组的大多数成员（n=89）认为场地调试将对基础设施的三重底线性能产生积极的作用。研究结果的一个潜在偏差是30%的参与者代表了政府组织，而代表GSA的人数仅占10%——后者才是能够直接从有利发现中受益的组织。
《场地调试白皮书》提供了以数据驱动的三重底线效益论据，用于验证土地开发项目中的景观性能。任何需要为景观性能的验证寻找事实依据的人都可以在这本开创性的出版物中有所收获——它是目前关于场地调试主题的最全面的资源。Christian Gabriel表示：“白皮书根据不同语境详实地汇总了GSA的大量政策和工作步骤，并利用这些资源强调了应用这一政策媒介的必要性。”
意义
GSA对白皮书中提出的建议的应用可能将影响联邦、各州以及地方的土地开发政策，从而提高场地设计、建造以及管理行业的工作效率。反过来，这也将从国家的尺度上提高已建成景观的三重底线效益。
1）政策
白皮书独特且广泛的影响力有望改变联邦范围内的土地开发轨迹。由于这份白皮书是作为GSA政策制定者的工具而撰写，因此其首要的目的是去影响与机构的发展实践相关的政策。一个例子是，将场地维护分为两个独立注资的阶段，以促进植物的生根能力以及系统的恢复力：1）“前期管理”，包含在设施的资本预算中；2）“长期维护”，包含在设施的经营成本中。白皮书建议将GSA的场地调试过程与机构目前的“总体建筑调试计划”相结合，从而将性能验证的范围扩大到建筑物外部，在提供基本的环境、社会和经济服务的同时强调景观的重要性。GSA如今已经将白皮书的成果用于验证各类设施的性能表现，其首个场地调试试点项目也在进行当中。在GSA的范围之外，白皮书的内容还直接关系到另外五个联邦机构和三个市政部门的决策，这为场地调试在多个辖区的推进奠定了基础。
2）设计，建造和管理行业
实施白皮书中的建议除了能对景观产生积极作用，还将对GSA持有的近15万英亩的土地乃至所有的建筑景观均形成积极的影响。这种潜在的影响力是前所未有的。自2012年引入LEED、2016年引入SITE之后，GSA的发展规模一直在市场中保持着领先地位。而此次对于场地调试方法的采纳，无疑将使设计、建造和管理市场随着行业以及持有者对场地调试带来的三重底线效益的认知而发生进一步的转变。这些转变将可能促进景观设计和管理行业的增长。2017年，IBIS World对景观设计和管理行业的估值分别为每年50亿美元和830亿美元。
3）景观性能
场地调试涉及到景观性能目标的建立、为了实现这些目标进行的设计和建造，以及验证景观性能是否随着时间的推移得到了保持。量身打造的目标能够满足每个项目的特殊需求，并且可以兼顾三重底线。例如，对于一个位于干旱的西南地区的项目，可以制定一个从空调冷凝水中获取100%灌溉水的目标；而对于一个位于人口稠密的东北地区的办公楼项目，则可以制定一个通过引入优美视野和绿色空间将员工缺勤率在五年内降低2%的目标（研究结果证明，该方法可以改善员工对办公场所的满意度和健康状况，从而减少缺勤现象）。场地调试旨在验证相关系统的设计、施工和运作是否能够达到这些目标。从本质上看，这一过程能够加强场地设计、施工以及团队管理的问责制度，同时增加了每个已建成场地创造环境、社会和经济效益的机会。
在景观实践中的应用
虽然白皮书是为决策者撰写的，但它同样与设计、施工和管理人员有着密切关联，同时也向他们开放。此外，白皮书所传达的理念也可以很容易地被其他机构借鉴和引用，例如州立大学系统、企业园区和地方政府等。在此之前，景观设计师还未有机会去帮助制定联邦政策，而在此之后，土地开发的范式将从假定转变为实地的验证。这一进步的举措为下一代景观设计师们铺平了道路，并将使他们感受到在专业上不断精进、发扬以及钻研的重要意义。
▲源于必要性：传统的开发项目通常假定景观能够按照预期运作，这有可能导致无效或低效的设计。场地调试为土地开发提供了一种新的模型，能够对环境、社会和经济效益进行实地测试和验证，而不是简单地假设。Born of necessity: Conventional development practice presupposes that constructed landscapes function as intended, which can perpetuate ineffective and inefficient design. Site commissioning offers a new land development model in which environmental, social, and financial performance is tested and proven, rather than assumed.
▲范式的转变：白皮书在评估场地调试的可行性之后才开始制定政策框架。它展示了景观设计师如何帮助制定联邦政策以改变土地开发的范式，同时在专业上不断精进。Paradigm Shift: The paper assesses the feasibility of site commissioning and then proposes a policy framework. This paper demonstrates how landscape architects can help shape federal policy that shifts the land development paradigm and enhances our profession’s criticality.
▲初步研究方法包括：1）对于相关主题的文献综述（包括建筑调试、场地监控和可持续性评级系统）；2）市场和行业分析（评估性能趋势和当前的调试缺口）；3）案例分析。在这之后，研究团队需要获取更充分的信息。Preliminary Investigation: Initial research methods consisted of: 1) A literature review (of building commissioning, site monitoring, sustainability rating systems); 2) Industry assessment (of performance trends and the current commissioning gap); and 3) Case studies. Afterward, the research team needed more information.
▲专家输入：由89位行业领袖组成的研究团队被分为7个主题工作小组（水、土壤、植被、材料、栖息地、人类健康、福祉和气候），分别进行在线调查和小组访谈。白皮书中纳入了来自这些专家的见解和建议。Expert Input: The research team engaged 89 industry thought leaders, divided into seven working groups—Water, Soil, Vegetation, Materials, Habitat, Human Health and Well-Being, Climate—to participate in online surveysand group interviews. The white paper incorporates these experts’ insight and recommendations.
▲发现：调查和访谈结果（n=89）显示了场地调试在三重底线方面的效益，并将对GSA的场地调试计划提供跨学科的支持。基于主要研究和次要研究，研究小组得出结论：GSA对场地调试的采用将产生重要的价值。Findings: The surveys and interviews revealed expectations of site commissioning’s triple-bottom-line benefits, and statistically significant, cross-disciplinary support for GSA’s adoption of site commissioning (n=89). Based on the primary and secondary research, the research team concluded that GSA’s adoption of site commissioning would be valuable.
▲相互关联的效益：通过场地调试的景观能够合理地被用作动态的资源，从而增强环境的可持续性、促进社会效益，同时做出明智的理财务资源管理。Interconnected Benefits: Landscapes delivered through a site commissioning process can function, justifiably, as dynamic resources that enhance environmental sustainability, foster social benefits, and wisely steward financial resources.
▲综合全面的资源：白皮书综合了主要研究和次要研究，并概括了具有普适性的场地调试框架和实施策略。尽管是为决策者撰写，白皮书图文并茂的内容同时也适用并开放于设计、施工和管理人员。Comprehensive Resource: The white paper synthesizes the primary and secondary researchand then outlines a broadly-applicable site commissioning framework and implementation strategy. The graphically rich publication was written for policy-makers, but designed to be relevant and accessible to design, construction, andmanagement practitioners.
▲案例研究：白皮书中的案例研究内容涵盖了地理位置、设施类型、尺度和项目交付方式等，它向读者展示了如何利用场地调试来达到建筑环境中的性能目标，同时也为项目的运作和管理提供了信息。Case Study Assessment: The publication’s case studies—spanning geographic location, facility type, scale, and project delivery approach—reveal to readers how commissioning can be leveraged to achieve performance goals in the built environment, while also informing operations and management practices.
▲可运用的框架：白皮书为四个“核心属性” （水、土壤、植被、材料）和三个“辅助属性”（栖息地、人类健康、福祉和气候）提出了评估标准和监测频率。这些属性均吻合了GSA土地开发中已经要求的标准（SITES）。Actionable Framework: The white paper proposes assessment metrics and monitoring frequency for four “Core Attributes” (Water, Soil, Vegetation, Materials) and three “Supporting Attributes” (Habitat, Human Healthand Well-Being, Climate). These attributes dovetail with SITES, which is already required for GSA land development.
▲实施：场地调试能够被轻松地应用到各类项目交付模型当中。在所有的场景中，景观设计师都会尽早地（在建立景观性能目标之前）参与进来。项目的交接成为了问责管理和加速项目成功实施的关键环节。Implementation: Site commissioning could be easily integrated into various project delivery models. In all scenarios, the landscape architect is engaged early on (prior to establishing landscape performance goals) and project turn-over becomes a critical moment for managing accountability and fostering success.
▲高适应性的反馈回路：若要在GSA的范围内外通过场地调试来改善常规的设计、施工和管理流程，就需要采纳高适应性的反馈回路，随着时间的推移，它将使信息逐步积累同时让实践得以优化。Adaptive Feedback Loop: Advancing beyond conventional design, construction, and management processes through site commissioning, within and beyond GSA, requires an adaptive feedback loop. This would enable information to accumulate and practices to improve over time.
▲意义：场地调试能够为业主提供从设计到管理的经费节约。大量与建筑调试相关的文献展示了常见的直接节约手段（通过设施的生命周期、员工保有率以市政部门的驱动进行节约）和间接节约手段（通过生态系统服务和风险缓解来进行节约。Significance: Site commissioning offers owners financial savings from design through management. Extensive literature on building commissioning reveals common direct savings (through facility life-cycle savings, employee retention and performance, and municipality-driven savings) and indirect savings (through eco system services and risk mitigation).
▲提高专业地位：GSA对场地调试及其未来在开发和大型重建项目中的应用潜力的前瞻性研究将有可能证明：对人造景观的投资将带来环境、社会和经济上的效益，同时也将对景观行业产生革命性的影响。Elevating Our Profession. GSA’s forward-thinking investigation into site commissioning and its possible adoption for all future development and major redevelopment projects has the potential to prove that investment in constructed landscapes is environmentally, socially, and financially worthwhile, while revolutionizing our industry.
▲全国性的影响：作为全球最大的公共房地产组织之一，GSA的场地调试部署将在全国范围内对设计、建筑和管理行业产生积极的影响，类似于GSA引入LEED标准之后对市场带来的转变。National Impact: As one of the largest public real estate organizations globally, GSA’s deployment of site commissioning could positively impact the design, construction, and management industries on a national scale, similar to the market shift resulting from GSA’s adoption of LEED.
PROJECT NARRATIVE
BORN OF NECESSITY
Achieving resilience in the built environment requires a land development paradigm shift. Currently, at best, conventional development practice presupposes that built sites function as intended—from managing stormwater to increasing employee retention—rather than testing and confirming that performance goals are met. This lack of verification within the built environment can perpetuate ineffective and inefficient design, construction, and management practices. As one of the world’s largest, public real-estate organizations, the U.S. General Services Administration’s (GSA) office buildings, land ports of entry, courthouses, laboratories, post offices, and data centers are particularly at risk of deficient practices, which can result in liabilities overshadowing landscapes’ potential benefits to the public good.
Site commissioning is the process of establishing performance goals and then field-verifying that systems within the built environment perform as intended. Since the 1990s, commissioning has developed as a professional practice for verifying that building systems are performing as intended. Now, as a proven leader in sustainability, GSA aims to apply commissioning to the landscape. The resulting land development model enables practitioners to confirm landscape performance, thereby proving landscapes’ triple-bottom-line value and identifying system issues before they expand into liabilities.
RELATIONSHIPS INVESTIGATED
The Site Commissioning White Paper—written by landscape architects and published by GSA—investigates whether investment in constructed landscapes is environmentally, socially, and financially worthwhile. Through a rigorous research process, the white paper: 1) Evaluates the feasibility of applying site commissioning to all of GSA’s future land development projects (as a compliment to the agency’s existing Total Building Commissioning and SITES-Certification practices); and 2) Details an agency-wide strategy for GSA’s adoption of the process.
METHODS
GSA developed the white paper in partnership with landscape architects and integrative researchers within the private sector. Initial research methods consisted of a: 1) Literature review of related subject matter (including building commissioning, site monitoring, and sustainability rating systems); 2) Market and industry analyses (to assess the current commissioning gap, performance trends, and GSA’s Total Building Commissioning program); and 3) Case study analyses.
Upon completing this initial investigation, insufficient evidence existed to assess site commissioning’s feasibility. The research team therefore engaged 141 industry thought leaders—representing governmental organizations, non-governmental organizations, academia, and the private sector—to join seven, subject-matter working groups: Water, Soil, Vegetation, Materials, Habitat, Human Health and Well-Being, and Climate. Eighty-nine participants (63% of those initially invited) joined the working groups, which each contained 11-15 cross-sector members. The research team then developed and administered an online survey specific to each working group, which was completed by all 89 members (100% participation). After analyzing the survey data, the research team conducted group interviews with each working group, totaling 58 participants (65% participation). The white paper’s resulting recommendations are directly informed by these experts’ critical insight, and further enhanced by the input of three commissioning advisors, three white paper reviewers, and a literature review-driven cost-benefit analysis. According to Christian Gabriel, PLA, ASLA—GSA’s National Design Director for Landscape Architecture—“the team conducted themselves to the highest standards from both an administrative and research perspective, producing an outstanding, world-class research report by any professional standard.”
RESULTS
The survey and interview results revealed statistically significant, cross-disciplinary support for GSA’s adoption of site commissioning. Furthermore, the majority of working group members (n=89) believed that site commissioning would positively impact a facility’s triple-bottom-line performance. One potential bias in these findings is that 30% of participants represented governmental organizations, however, only 10% of participants represent GSA, the agency that could directly benefit from positive findings.
The Site Commissioning White Paper provides a data-driven, triple-bottom-line-benefits justification for verifying landscape performance in land development projects. Anyone who has sought facts to support their advocacy for verifying landscape performance will find it in this seminal publication, which remains the most comprehensive resource on the subject matter of site commissioning. Christian Gabriel attests that, “[the white paper] very thoughtfully aggregated and contextualized many disparate GSA policies and procedures and utilized those resources to justify all recommendations for pursuit of this policy vehicle.”
SIGNIFICANCE
GSA’s implementation of the white paper’s recommendations has the potential to shape federal, state, and local land development policy, thereby advancing the effectiveness of the site design, construction, and management industries. This, in turn, would enhance the triple bottom line performance of constructed landscapes, at a national scale.
1) POLICY
The white paper’s uniquely, broad impacts are poised to change the trajectory of land development within federal facilities. Since the publication was written as a tool for GSA’s policy-makers, it is designed to first and foremost impact policies surrounding the agency’s development practices. One example includes dividing site maintenance into two, separately-funded phases in order to enhance plant establishment and system resilience: 1) “Early-stage management,” financed by the facility’s capital budget; and 2) “Long-term maintenance,” financed by the operational budget. The white paper recommends that GSA’s site commissioning process dovetail into the agency’s existing Total Building Commissioning Program, thereby expanding the scope of performance verification beyond the building skin and elevating the criticality of landscapes in providing essential environmental, social, and economic services. GSA is currently using the paper’s findings to ground-truth the performance of operations at a variety of facilities, and the agency’s first site commissioned federal pilot project is underway. Beyond the realm of GSA, production of the white paper directly engaged policy-makers within five additional federal agencies and three city governments, thereby planting the seed for a site commissioning process within multiple jurisdictions.
2) DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION + MANAGEMENT INDUSTRIES
Implementing the white paper’s recommendations has the potential to positively impact not just one landscape, nor the GSA’s nearly 150,000 owned and leased acres, but all constructed landscapes. The breadth of this potential influence is unprecedented. GSA’s scale has historically steered markets—from design through product manufacturing—when adopting LEED, in 2012, and SITES, in 2016. GSA’s progressive adoption of a site commissioning process will undoubtedly shift the design, construction, and management markets further as the industries and owners realize site commissioning’s triple bottom line benefits for their own projects. These shifts could result in growth for the landscape design and management industries, which were valued by IBIS World in 2017 at $5 billion and $83 billion per year, respectively.
3) LANDSCAPE PERFORMANCE
Site commissioning involves establishing landscape performance goals, designing and building to meet those goals, and then field-verifying that performance is maintained through time. Goals are tailored to meet the unique needs of each project, and can span the triple bottom line. For example, a port of entry in the arid southwest might establish a goal of sourcing 100% of irrigation water from air-conditioning condensate, whereas an office building in the densely-populated northeast might aim to decrease absenteeism by 2% over 5-years by providing views and access to green space (which research findings demonstrate improve workplace satisfaction and health, thereby decreasing absenteeism). Site commissioning serves to verify that relevant systems are designed, built, and operated to achieve these goals. By its nature, this process increases the accountability of a site’s design-construction-management team and elevates the chance that each constructed site will provide environmental, social, and financial services.
APPLICABILITY TO LANDSCAPE PRACTICE
While the white paper was written for policy-makers, it was designed to be relevant and accessible to design, construction, and management practitioners. The concepts are also relevant to, and easily replicable by other institutions such as state university systems, corporate campuses, and regional governments. Never before have landscape architects had the opportunity to help shape federal policy that’s capable of shifting the land development paradigm from assumed to field-verified performance. This advancement helps pave the way for the next generation of landscape architects, who can feel empowered to excel, advocate, and continue broadening the criticality of our profession.
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