ABCs of 1,2,3 years of BUSS

I’m co-coaching my daughter’s U11 travel soccer team and we have a mantra of ABC: Aggressive, Balanced, and Collaborative.   It’s a simple, but effective philosophy that also applies to my first three years standing up BUSS and will guide the business moving forward.

Our cities, campuses, and communities need a sense of urgency and direct action to solve our greatest climate and societal challenges. A consistent thread in BUSS’s work has been to be AGGRESSIVE to reduce greenhouse gases, to solve problems with and for the people urban systems serve, and identify and mitigate risks associated with climate change.  The BUSS-led Pitt Climate Action Plan is already shaping policy and investment at the building and campus scale.  The Industrial Commons Innovation Campus is aligned to achieve the aggressive Living Building Challenge aspirations while embracing the EcoDistricts Protocol with its connections to the Morganton and Burke County community in North Carolina.

Successfully navigating complex higher-education climate action plans and resiliency frameworks requires a BALANCE of strong engagement skills and subject matter expertise.  BUSS’s work on the College of Charleston Framework Plan with Beyer Blinder Belle, strategic planning for the Higher Education Climate Consortium (HECC) in Pittsburgh, and advisory services for Pitt’s proposed Sustainability Institute are strong examples.   BUSS is also focused on balancing sectors, geographies and client types while adhering to BUSS’s mission statement – the “why”.   BUSS is applying a range of human-centered, values-aligned and decentralized approached to projects around the country – from a developer-led 4.5M sf mixed Brodie Oaks in Austin, TX to an Innovation Hub in Johnstown, PA. 

BUSS continues to successfully implement its strategy as a single-person COLLABORATIVE – with my vision and expertise bolstered by a robust network of colleagues and collaborators that flex as the projects do.  BUSS is working in St. Louis with Ayers Saint Gross driving WashU’s next generation Sustainability Plan, exploring key intersections of operations, teaching, research, and community partnerships.  BUSS is also partnered with Buro Happold leading a decarbonized, resilient, equitable energy strategy for Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood. 

Our world is constantly changing and BUSS is moving forward with these core tenets of A,B,C in years 4,5,6 and beyond, helping clients and collaborators break down complex problems and navigating the way to successful outcomes.  I am grateful for those partners that continue to think of me as a core team member, pushing systems approaches at scale.

 Let’s roll up our sleeves on something together.