YMCA of San Diego County – October 2019

MAINTAINING A SUSTAINABILITY DRIVE AT THE YMCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY

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MAINTAINING A SUSTAINABILITY DRIVE AT THE YMCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY

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YMCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY

LUIS D’CARPIO, VICE PRESIDENT OF ASSET MANAGEMENT, ENTERPRISE RISK MANAGEMENT & SUSTAINABILITY, DISCUSSES THE INFLUENCE SUSTAINABILITY IS HAVING ON HIS ORGANISATION’S OPERATIONS

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edicated to helping people improve their quality of life and achieve their fullest potential, the YMCA of San Diego County is

a key component to the lives of thousands of people.

Focusing on three core areas – youth development, 04

healthy living and social responsibility, the YMCA serves more than 435,000 San Diego residents, employs over 5,500 people, and covers 1.2 million of real estate assets (18 branches and three overnight camps). Having been founded in 1882, the YMCA of San Diego County has become the largest YMCA association in the United States. Luis D’Carpio, Vice President of Asset Management, Enterprise Risk Management & Sustainability, discusses how important the ‘Y’s’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy is. “Environmental stewardship is rooted in our commitment to social responsibility.

It’s vital to us and is a significant area of the service that we provide to the community,” affirms D’Carpio.

“For us, it’s important we provide facilities that improve the quality of human life through health and wellness, be a great place to work or volunteer,

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1882

Year founded

5,500

Approximate number of employees

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YMCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY

“ ONE OF OUR BIGGEST CHALLENGES HAS BEEN HELPING TO SHIFT THE YMCA AWAY FROM BEING A DECENTRALISED ENTITY BECAUSE BRANCHES OPERATED AS INDEPENDENT BUSINESS UNITS” 06

— Luis D’Carpio, Vice President of Asset Management, Enterprise Risk Management & Sustainability

and give back to the community by reinvesting the savings generated by our sustainability efforts.”

Having joined the YMCA of San Diego in 2017, D’Carpio has over 20 years of experience working for a diverse range of entities, in addition to spending a considerable amount of time on a range of project types with a particular emphasis on sustainable design, construction and operational measures. Holding such a varied background, D’Carpio believes his experience has laid the groundwork for him to succeed in his current role.

“I’ve been fortunate in my career to have worked across three areas: owner-developer, general contractor and specialty contractor. As a result, it has given me a different perspective on what needs to be accomplished to achieve the desired end result,” he explains. “One of our biggest challenges has been helping to shift the YMCA away from being a decentralised entity because branches operated as independent business units. This centralisation allows us to focus on standardising our asset management approach and process to help establish and achieve our sustainability goals.”

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘YMCA FOR ALL OF LIFE’S HEALTHIEST MOMENTS’ 07 In a bid to accelerate its sustainability

(SDGE) 2018 Excellence in Energy

efforts, the YMCA more recently

Leadership Award because of the work

completed two major capital projects;

that was done in collaboration with

Dan McKinney Family YMCA and the

vendors and the utility company to

Jackie Robinson Family YMCA, to

implement sustainability features,”

create a lasting impact on its facilities

explains D’Carpio. “Both projects

and the community, in combination

consist of over 45,000 sq.ft each and

with its capital efforts. Having opened

have the amenities that our communities

in 2017, the $25mn Jackie Robinson

needed. The Y’s first LEED Gold facility

YMCA building was developed to meet

was the Copley-Price Family YMCA,

the YMCA’s vision to serve the

which opened in January 2015.”

community and is also recognised with

In 2015, the YMCA created a 2025

a LEED Gold certification. “The Jackie

plan for the next decade and set out

Robinson facility was also acknowledged

clear targets of the projected place

with San Diego Gas and Electric’s

the organisation hopes to be within the w w w.ym ca . org

YMCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY

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next 10 years. “We’re looking at

and Dan McKinney YMCA buildings,

building three to five new YMCAs,

work is well underway. However, D’Carpio

renovating our existing facilities to get

affirms there is still more to be done

them all to a comparable standard,

over the upcoming six years. “There’s

and ensuring we provide a safe and

definitely a lot of work to get finished.

clean environment that is good for our

Our current efforts continue to focus

community,” says D’Carpio. “Our goal

on energy and water management,

is to double our impact in order to

implementing key certifications, such

positively benefit the communities we

as LEED or WELL and incorporating

serve.” Four years in, and following the

additional renewable energy projects,”

construction of the Jackie Robinson

he says. “We’re also looking at how we

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E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE

Luis D’Carpio A hands-on and collaborative professional with experience helping design/build $500mn+ in civil, commercial, industrial, and renewable energy projects.

His background includes providing strategic leadership for a non-profit organisation, owner representation/ construction management to a real estate ownerdeveloper (residential, commercial, industrial), and project management/engineering to self-perform contractors (GC’s & concrete subcontractors).

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YMCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY

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“ OUR GOAL IS TO DOUBLE OUR IMPACT IN ORDER TO POSITIVELY BENEFIT THE COMMUNITIES WE SERVE”

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— Luis D’Carpio, Vice President of Asset Management, Enterprise Risk Management & Sustainability

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manage our solar projects. We’ve completed six installations so far (2.5MW) out of 18 branches and three overnight camps. It’s important that we continue to look at where the benefits come from and how these projects tie into the return of the community.”

D’Carpio added that current efforts also continue to focus on partnerships.

“We believe that long-term sustainability

“ WE’RE IN THE EARLY STAGES OF SUSTAINABILITY, BUT OPEN COMMUNICATION IS PART OF OUR CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROCESS” — Luis D’Carpio, Vice President of Asset Management, Enterprise Risk Management & Sustainability

comes from key partnerships with vendors, regulatory agencies, and our local utility.”

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YMCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY

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With the future in mind, the importance of remaining versatile and adaptable to the latest trends is essential to long-term success. To achieve this, D’Carpio believes observing change management is key and is continuously monitoring the ways in which his organisation can grow. “We’re in the early stages of sustainability, but open communication is part of our change management process so there are many opportunities for us to grow as we continue our transformation towards our strategic goals,” he explains. “We’ve still got a long way to go and we believe that continued success will be based on establishing high performing teams, implementing technology to effectively manage our work, and further developing collaborative partnerships.”

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YMCA of San Diego County 3708 Ruffin Road, San Diego T +1-858-292-9622 www.ymca.org