Kathy O. Roper, CFM, LEED AP, IFMA Fellow, is Professor of Integrated Facility and Property Management at Georgia Institute of Technology and teaches in the areas of graduate sustainable facility and property management, facility planning, project management, benchmarking, and corporate real estate.

In 2007, Roper was awarded an International Facility Management Association (IFMA) Fellow, the association’s highest recognition of service and lifetime achievement in the field.  Roper is also a U.S. Green Building Council LEED Accredited Professional and an IFMA Certified Facility Manager.

Roper is co-author of The Facility Management Handbook, third edition and she also writes regularly for other academic and professional journals and conferences. 

Roper has been a member of the Atlanta Chapter of IFMA Board of Directors for over 13 years and served as president in 1997; she chaired the IFMA Recognized Degree Programs Committee, as well as serving as a member of the Board for the Atlanta Chapter of CoreNet Global and being an appointed member of the USGBC’s Formal Education Committee.  Roper is a founding member of the European Centre for Facilities Management and also a founder of the International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction (CIB) Endorsed Georgia Tech Ph.D. Built Environment Research Chapter.

Topic for Green Building Focus

AEC+P+F Integration and Sustainable Buildings

More About the Topic

Developing projects in sustainable ways requires a new way of working.  The Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) methodology will be presented and reviewed, along with a matrix to evaluate how each project participant interacts during various phases of any project.  This helps the team to realize where and when participation can improve the process of sustainability.  Based on LEED New Construction guidelines, the matrix helps to demonstrate the problems with traditional Design-Bid-Build methodologies and also visually provides feedback to all project stakeholders on when to become more involved to provide better, more sustainable design, construction and ultimately, operational functionality.