WOW! My very first blog posting in our IFMA-SF Blog!!!! I was a little reticent about blogging... you know, being that awkward age where I grew up with pens and pencils and phones that were connected to the wall... and am now confronted with these little metal boxes that not only talk but show movies, play music and connect to the World Wide Web! (Betcha didn't think I knew what "www" stood for but fortunately, Al Gore reminded me when he claimed credit for creating it!) Anyway, here goes!!!!

OK, now down to the reason that I'm here... last night's program, Think Globally, Act Locally, Sustainable Products ! What agreat time we had! First of all, thanks to Leah Nadel, my co-chair, for organizing the presenters and the event and the food/beverages. Secondly, a big THANKS to Sidemark furniture dealership for hosting the event at their showroom/office at 222 Sutter Street, 7th Floor. And, of course, thanks to our presenters, Su McMurtry of Action Laminates, Gary Levine of E.B. Bradley and West Coast Laminating, and Stan Heicks, local custom metal fabricator. A special thanks to our new Chapter President, Oscar Gomez, for attending and making some very salient comments about IFMA, the Facilities Management profession and why we gather at these programs!

The program featured brief, touchy-feely presentations by some local representatives of some local and global products that are "green" or sustainable products. Products such as green laminates, bamboo laminates, green table substrates and custom steel tables were followed by a lively discussion. Our discussion focused on the problem of combining "products" that are green (new plastic laminates or other green composite materials) with a green manufacturing process that produces a product such as a work table out of sustainable products but isn't necessarily certified. It is difficult to document these products as sustainable or green, let alone LEED certifiable. Thanks to Linda Parker for reminding us that LEED certifiable isn't the only goal for green projects. Sometimes it is best to look at getting as green as you can and that may mean not necessarily getting a LEED certification.

The biggest roadblock to certifying these sustainable products seems to be the cost of submitting individual custome manufactured products to a testing lab for certification. Each product costs $7,500 to test and certify and no guarantees exist that the product will qualify. That gives the big national manufacturers a distinct advantage over local small manufacturers. But isn't one goal of sustainability to act locally and use local manufacturers to eliminate the environmental impact of shipping long distances?

So it comes down to understanding that manufacturing these new sustainable products is an evolving process. We in California may lead the nation as far as sustainability, environmental standards and energy efficiency, but we have a ways to go before the local "little guys" can take their place in the "green spotlight" of certified sustainability.

That means that next year we will again check in on this evolving process and bring back our friends for another program to update our progress on local sustainable custom products. We look forward to seeing Su McMurtry of Action Laminates, Gary Levine of E.B. Bradley and West Coast Laminating, and Stan Heicks, local custom metal fabricator, next year to tell us how things are going for the local guys in the local, green, sustainable world!

Let us know what you thought of this program and feel free to let us know if there are any hot topics that you'd like to see us include in our calendar for next year! Stay tuned for more updates!

John Dilges, AIA, CFM
Co-Chair IFMA-SF Programs/Education Committee

Dear Colleagues,

The Votes Are In!

I am happy to report that the votes have been tallied and on Thursday July 10, John Kennedy presided over the swearing in of the new San Francisco Chapter of IFMA Officers and the new Board:

Oscar Gomez - President
Karen Cochran - Vice President
Treasurer - Ty Whitehead
Secretary - Dawn Knoll
Past President - John Kennedy

Programs/Education - John Dilges & Leah Nadel
Membership/Hospitality - Robyn Isom & Carmina Bacani
Website/Technology - Kathleen Smith
Chapter Administrator - Emily Gibson

The new team is energized to continue the Chapter's mission and implementing its strategic plan. We discussed reaching out to our fellow Sacramento and Bay Area Chapters of IFMA to ensure better "cross pollination" of ideas. We also discussed the details of the upcoming CFM review planned for the fourth quarter of 2008.

Several new ideas for potential programs were discussed including NERT and a tour of the Cathedral of Lights in Oakland. These ideas will be considered by our Programs team.

The 2008 Membership drive is in full swing with membership up to 211 members. Two very nice prizes will be awarded to those who can bring the most members to the chapter this year.

Our finances are looking strong with several new sponsors joining our cause including Turner Construction and Siemens.

The decision was made to have the Christmas event at the Bentley Reserve Conference Center in San Francisco. The theme for this event will be Volunteer Recognition and to show just how much we appreciate all of you who take time out of your busy lives to move the Chapter's vision into reality.

San Francisco Chapter World Workplace Pins are being designed. The Board decided to fund stipends for Board members to go to World Work Place in Dallas this October. The Board also decided on the amount of the 2008 Foundation donation which will be $2,500.

We also discussed the importance of Blogging, hence my feeble attempt here. Your comments and blog entries would be greatly appreciated.

I hope to see you on Thursday July 17th at 5:00 p.m. at Sidemark to learn all about some very exciting new products which are very attractive, cost effective and more importantly good for the environment.

Best,
Oscar