May 2011 Archives

In April, we told you about our plans to celebrate Rebuilding Together Day at Wells Fargo. (It was April 30 for those of you who forgot to mark your calendar this year.)

Well, we promised you an update, and now we’re going to deliver. So here are some inspiring and fun photos from a few of our many projects that took place throughout the U.S. this April/May.  We hope you enjoy them, and as always, we urge you to share your thoughts with us!

In my last LEED post, I described our ever-important LEED Advocate group. Well, today I'd like to introduce you to a couple of team members—Carla Johnson and Anne Gray Wilson—who also contribute to Wells Fargo's success in standardizing LEED, and are taking on an incredibly important aspect of this effort: educating their fellow team members. The support from these two has been particularly meaningful because, as the post title states, education is key to any effort requiring change and progress! (—Sheri)

Sheri Lucas: Hi, Carla and Anne, and thanks for taking the time to share your great work with us! First, tell us about your role at Wells Fargo.
Anna Gray Wilson: Hello, and thanks for having us! We sit in the Project Management Office (PMO) in Wells Fargo's Corporate Properties Group (CPG), which provides construction management, movement management and other project services in support of work in all Wells Fargo facilities. We have a specialized team dedicated to developing and implementing best practices in collaboration with key partners, internal customers and external suppliers—called PMO Standards and Process—and we focus on standard project management methodology, developing space use and design standards and supporting priority initiatives like Wells Fargo's commitment to LEED and greener building.

SL: That's quite an undertaking. You've done great work in getting an education plan in place so our implementers out in the field, the Project Managers, fully understand our LEED goals and how to execute. Since you clearly understand the importance of education in successfully getting standard practices in place, could you tell us the impact that education has on the way we do things?
AGW: I'd be glad to! Changing behavior is essential to changing results. Without predictable and consistent education practices, we all fall back on what we know. In the PMO we have adopted a strong approach to developing consistent curriculum that can be delivered online and reinforced through organized change management practices.

Our customers and partners play a key role in making us aware of new opportunities and helping to connect the dots to ensure the best result of a new process or procedure. We want to stay in tune with that, so we work with these partners—some you have already written about—in the development of sustainable construction procedures. Through these partnerships, we're able to ensure seamless transition practices and leverage each other's knowledge to create education material that can be used by a wide audience.

Here in San Francisco, we recently celebrated Bike to Work Day, and let me tell you, it was quite an event. For one thing, the city teemed with two-wheel commuters. In fact, according to my own unscientific assessment, there were many more cyclists—at least three times as many—on the road than usual.

The city was also dotted with "Energizer Stations" where cyclists could grab a cup of coffee, snacks, and a sweet tote bag. I stopped at one and had a great time meeting other two-wheel commuters and chatting about the evolution of active transportation in our fine city.

If you commute on two wheels or have been considering it, Bike to Work Day is a great time to be reinvigorated or to pick up a healthy habit. And fear not: This event happens all over the country and throughout May (and even June). Here are some other cities and dates where you, too, can celebrate two-wheel commuting:

Upcoming Bike to Work Days

City	Date
Anchorage, Alaska	May 20, 2011
Austin, Texas	May 20, 2011
Baltimore, Md.	May 20, 2011
Indianapolis, Ind.	May 20, 2011
Los Angeles, Calif.	May 19, 2011
Louisville, Ky.	May 20, 2011
Memphis, Tenn.	May 20, 2011
New York, N.Y.	May 20, 2011
Sacramento, Calif.	May 19, 2011
San Diego, Calif.	May 20, 2011
Seattle, Wash.	May 20, 2011
Washington, D.C.	May 20, 2011
Denver, Colo.	June 22, 2011

Did I miss any? Quite possibly—this is just a fraction of the participating communities. If I did, please let us know in comments, and please be sure to share any experiences you've had with your own local Bike to Work event.

See you on two wheels!

I am in the City of Brotherly Love and certainly feeling right at home among all of the Wells Fargo signs because we recently converted our Wachovia locations to Wells Fargo stores here in Pennsylvania!

When traveling, I try to walk or take public transportation as much as possible—it's so much better than driving for the environment, a lot less expensive, and always a fun adventure. Actually, I'm at the Philly train station right now on my way to Washington D.C. to advocate for corporate environmental philanthropy.

Coming from Wells Fargo in Denver, it gives me such a thrill to see our presence on the East Coast, especially in Philadelphia (like the Hello Philly sign here in the station). It's a city with such strong tradition and rich history—the place where many famous entrepreneurs and our founding fathers established our great country. I've already seen a great deal in my travels in Philadelphia, from the Liberty Bell to George Washington's first executive mansion to the grave of Ben Franklin.

I'm very proud that Wells Fargo is here, helping this great city move forward!

As part of an ongoing series, I will be sharing with you many of the Wells Fargo team members who work very hard to support Wells Fargo's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) initiative. In my last post, I mentioned one of our most supportive team members, Brian McNutt, who has worked tirelessly to assure the endurance of our sustainability goals. Today, I am going to tell you about an invaluable group of Wells Fargo team member—our LEED Advocates—who work just as tirelessly and render amazing results. (—Sheri)

As anyone will tell you, it takes quite a bit of support to assure the quality of a LEED building. For one thing, the amount of documentation that is collected and reviewed takes more than just one set of eyes in order to confirm the "greenness" of a building's design and construction. In fact, whenever we build a new store, nearly every step—from design to occupancy (and beyond)—requires some form of documentation.

For instance, when an architect is first brought on board, he or she is presented with a document called the Owner's Project Requirements (OPR) detailing Wells Fargo's design intent. In response, the architect provides the Basis of Design (BOD) that essentially affirms Wells Fargo's requirements. This is before the architect even hits the drafting table. And from that point on, the documentation continues to roll in.

All of this documentation is not only to prove that we are walking the talk. It is also to assure that our goals—reduced energy use, reduced natural resource depletion, and increased occupant comfort—are realized.

About those sets of eyes: Many LEED building projects have a team member called the LEED Consultant—a very important role that serves to help determine the project goals and provide quality assurance for many of the components and documentation. These Consultants also carry an important credential called a LEED Accredited Professional, or LEED AP for short.

In light of the sheer volume of LEED projects undertaken by Wells Fargo, and our commitment to continuing LEED as our building standard for banking stores, we decided to internalize the LEED Consultant function. All new Wells Fargo banking store projects include LEED Consultants—though in our world we call them LEED Advocates—and they're involved from the moment the project is approved to months after the team members have moved in and opened doors for business.

I don't know what we would do without them!

Thanks, everyone, for participating in our April Poll of the Month about what would compel you to switch to paperless banking!

As you can see, the overwhelming majority of you responded with "All of the above," meaning the reduced potential for fraud, the time and money savings, and the effort to save trees were all compelling benefits to make the switch from paper to electronic.

As a follow-up to Earth Day, I encourage you to take a moment to check out the green financial solutions and Financial Footprint Calculator here on the blog. You may discover new ways to make your banking greener! By working together, our actions can add up to make a tremendously positive environmental impact.

For now, though, we'd like to ask you to vote in our newest Poll of the Month. With an eye towards summer (in the northern hemisphere), we're wondering: What eco-friendly travel tips would you offer fellow travelers?

Please take a moment and let us know!