Hi folks,
We had a great conversation about this today, following up on a past agenda item that we didn't get to, but that Kim wrote about a few weeks ago on a different thread. He said:
We didn't get to item 7: "Question about company size as a qualification for the network". I'd like to offer this input: I'd like to open it up to any size firm, even, I guess, including sole proprietors - as long as they are truly sustainability-focused, practicing building systems engineers (as opposed to the members of the Sustainable Advising Leaders). A key (perhaps even the principal) value of this network is sharing: new novel and developing technical information; advocacy and policy initiatives; as well as the challenges of shepherding large collections of (shall we say) less-well-inclined staff toward higher performance and better than code outcomes? Just because a smaller firm might not have the challenges of turning a larger organization doesn't mean that they wouldn't have a perspective (perhaps from an earlier incarnation) or good ideas to help those of us with staffs that number in scores, hundreds or thousands. If they can handle the membership fees, I say that we have room for them.
There was a strong consensus on the call today in support of this position, so I think we can consider it decided. We at BG will figure out what needs to change in our systems to implement the change.
The criteria that we talked about today align with Kim's comments about practicing MEP system design firms. We also added the requirement that they work on commercial projects (not just residential).
If you know of people at such firms who would be great to have in the network, please feel free to reach out to them and invite them to apply.