BeeP Blog

Designer William McDonough, California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, NASA Ames Center Director Pete Worden, and NASA Ames Center Associate Director Steve Zornetzer tour the NASA Sustainability Base.

Last Friday, Blue Practice was delighted to join our client, William McDonough + Partners, for the dedication day of their project, the NASA Sustainability Base at Moffett Field in Northern California.  The Sustainability Base, arguably the greenest federal building in America, is a highly intelligent and intuitive facility designed to anticipate and react to changes in sunlight, temperature, wind and occupancy and received it’s LEED® Platinum certification earlier this month.  The building is a testament to sustainable design and shows what is capable when functionality is combined with Cradle to Cradle design principles.

To prepare for the momentous occasion, Blue Practice helped to coordinate media attention and coverage for the pre-Dedication press day.  Media tours were held and architects from WM+P, including Alastair Reilly, David Johnson and William McDonough himself, who helped to lead the tour with Steve Zornetzer of the NASA Ames Research Center.  Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom also stopped by to see the remarkable building and discussed the importance of sustainable design.

The dedication took place on Friday and included a speech by William McDonough about the importance of pursuing solutions that are more good rather than less bad in sustainable design.  This thought process is shown throughout the building’s features, including the column-free interior, which enables more natural light and is supported by the building’s exoskeleton design that will allow for natural shading and will help to keep the building cool and comfortable during hot temperatures.

The NASA Sustainability Base is a beautiful example of Cradle to Cradle-inspired design that we at Blue Practice are honored to help showcase.

Below are a few interesting articles from the event:

“Inside Sustainability Base: NASA’s Space Station On Earth”

Fast Co., Ariel Schwartz

http://www.fastcoexist.com/1679729/inside-sustainability-base-nasas-space-station-on-earth

“NASA’s New LEED Platinum Sustainability Base is the Greenest Federal Building in the US”

Inhabitat, Mike Chino

http://inhabitat.com/nasa-sustainability-base-awarded-leed-platinum-certification-set-to-open-tomorrow-photos/

“NASA’s greenest building unveiled at Moffett Field”

San Jose Mercury News, Dana Hull

http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_20435325/nasas-sustainability-base-at-moffett-field-is-nations

The NASA Sustainability Base

There’s proof: people with a growth mindset are less prone to aggressive behavior than people with a fixed mindset. Sixth graders and ninth graders, as well as  Palestinians and Israelis, have been lab rats for some of the best social scientists in the world to confirm this hypothesis.

So how do we steer youth toward a growth mindset and thereby cultivate less aggressive people?  ”Is there some evolutionary value for a fixed mindset?” the stylish guy in the back row asks the Researcher and Prof of Psychology, Carol Dweck.  ”Sexual orientation,” she answers without missing a beat. “People with a fixed mindset on sexual orientation have been proven to have less anxiety,” she says. (She seems to have answers for everything. )

The Stanford Center for Social Innovation hosted a daylong conference on The Science of Getting People to Do Good, bringing in top social scientists and making me want to go back to graduate school. The main topic was what motivates people. Todd Rogers, who is an expert on voter participation and registration drives, talked about the two most important things that motivate people, and he is well worth listening to since his sample sizes were impressive- 700,000 people nationwide.

After years of trying to get people off their butts and to the polls, it turns out only two things do it:

1. Making pledges + planning. “It’s a logistics problem, not a voting problem,” he tells us.

2. Accountability. Threats to follow up with people to see if and when they actually voted move the needle.

I consider marketing a social science. We are, after all, trying to influence people to purchase products or services, right? The big question on my mind from 20 years of working on marketing is: what motivates people more, fear of reprisal or hope of gain?

Kate White, a Professor of Marketing at the University of Calgary, had answers. Gain is considered a motivator, if longer term, and more abstract.  Loss motivates in the short term. That is why negative campaign ads work- there’s a deadline. I guess people like their fear served up close and personal. Kate was looking at what motivates people to recycle in British Columbia, and the pounds of recycled materials goes up with ominous doorhangers vs. for the greater good message doorhangers.

For those of us who are in marketing, study up on the social science behind behavior change and motivation. We conduct experiments daily on behalf of our clients as we fight to build awareness, experiential feelings and positive branding associations for our clients. It’s all one big lab.

CODA's first customer-bound sedan

Last week we got to be part of an electric vehicle milestone moment as we helped CODA announce the first consumer-bound sedan to come off their production line. On a picture-perfect day at CODA’s final assembly facility in Benicia, CA, I joined with local officials, company executives, press and partners to watch the grey 4-door depart final inspection checks and spin into the sunshine. As supporters and collaborators in the EV space, it was a very exciting and long-awaited moment – followed just a few short days by the first customer deliveries. CODA’s mission is to help put an electric vehicle in every garage, and that’s exactly where the first three to wear a CODA Automotive badge were headed on Friday, at key hand over ceremonies in Santa Clara and Los Angeles.

More than 59 million media impressions for the events this week, including:

First Electric Car from CODA Rolls Off Assembly Line – ABC7 CODA

Begins Production of Electric Car in Benicia – AP

Coda Automotive Begins Car Production in California – FOX