Building Together: Another Perspective of Private Public Partnerships

Humans are a funny species, especially as interpreted by the American Culture. While we are clearly hard-wired to organize ourselves into social structures, we can’t seem to let go of the myth of the solitary cowboy, the self-made made, the independent pioneer. We see this in the struggle between the very creation of a central government, and the stubborn posturing of the business community that it doesn’t need “them.” ? Who is the “them,” if not “us?” In the end, we’re talking about people – and organizing ourselves in a way that supports people.

A similar disaggregation of the construction process in the last decade has led to a great deal of dysfunctional behavior. Each trade has retreated into a “silo” of work, first by their own independent nature, and then trapped there through the walls built by their own labor unions as well as liability, insurance and financial barriers. The negative impact can be measured in costs and time overruns, but mostly in buildings which are just piles of bricks and sticks with little relationship to humanity.

Salvage Lumber Nail Removal

Ah – but this species of ours was given a heart along with a brain, and a fighting spirit to break through these heavy self-imposed barriers. In a previous post, I wondered if there was a way that owners, e.g. the public, could again contribute to the construction process directly, not just through the payment of the invoices. For example, could a homeowner help look for salvaged materials? Could they provide menial labor such as pulling out nails from used lumber, thus eliminating the extra labor costs which would make the use of salvaged lumber not economically feasible? (Answer: YES) Can the traditional “risk” structure be adjusted to allow for a collaborative effort, to work towards resolving issues of sustainability?

Not surprisingly, affordable housing has been the testing ground for this concept, where there is still very much an accepted culture of building, or remodeling one’s own home. While Habitat for Humanity is perhaps modeled more on traditional barn-building exercise, there are some sweat-equity programs which integrate professional contractor services with home-owner labor. Increasingly, community development organizations, such as the Community Resource Group, tackle greater issues such as water and wastewater problems.

Target School Library Project

The Target School Library Makeover has also taken this approach, where volunteers provide the demolition work and some of the interior finish work, and contractors provide the skilled labor in providing the wiring and carpentry. This form of “public-private” partnership , aka  “them-us,” not only helps reduce the cost, but also brings the community together. It also helps break through the isolation of the construction trade, helps the owners to learn how to articulate their voice in designing spaces, and may also help to introduce more young people to the field of construction. As the economy rebounds, some studies estimate that the construction industry will face a 1.5 million skilled worker shortage due to an ageing workforce and a lack of young people entering the field.

The children of the “me” generation seem to have a better understanding of the harms this attitude has caused, not only to the environment, but to our entire social fabric.   Robert Putnam decried the collapse of America's social institutions in his book Bowling Alone.  The response,  sponsored by Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government no less, is called BetterTogether.  Their website lists 150 simple ways in which we can build social capital, bridging the divide between "them" and "us." What might such a list look like in creating social capital in construction? How might we teach this to our A/E/C students? How might we build trust, connect with others in the trade, and allow the public to get involved in creating their own built environment?