In Marko Medved’s more than 15 years working to help deliver a range of projects for the federal government, namely the US Naval Facilities Engineering System Command, Marine Corps and US Navy, he rarely got to see these massive, multi-year efforts from design to completion.
In his nearly 10 years as director of San Diego County’s Department of General Services, however, that’s exactly what Medved has been doing: seeing roughly 70 highly sustainable facilities from initial concept to ribbon cutting, and in the process, elevating San Diego County as one of the nation’s leading builders of highly sustainable public facilities.
Medved’s influence in this process has been remarkable. When he first took on his role in San Diego County, after stints with Parsons Brinkerhoff and WSP, he admits the county lacked many of the building blocks needed to achieve its goal, with little real focus on sustainability, no alternative delivery methods to speak of and relationships with industry that needed improvement.
Among others, Medved credits her predecessor, Helen Robbins-Meyer, who moved into her current role as San Diego County’s chief administrative officer, for helping drive the sustainability effort. “She laid a lot of the fundamental building blocks,” he says.
Experience required
Since taking over as the county’s director of general services in 2016, Medved’s background in federal military construction, which included experience with alternative delivery, has helped him transform the county’s means and methods of providing facilities, he says.
Under Medved’s leadership, the county has delivered 11 net-zero energy buildings and has now added a focus on reducing the embodied carbon of its facilities through techniques such as increased use of low-cement concrete and wood.
In addition, the county’s embodied carbon strategy now calls for the use of “efficient steel” — a designation that indicates it was produced in a more energy-efficient manner than traditional steel — as one of its approved low-carbon materials.
Importantly, Medved credits the county board’s emphasis on financial stability, which has spurred construction. “They took the county to a AAA bond rating and have paid cash for construction over the last decade,” he says, noting that many counties lack that ability.
During construction of the recently completed public health lab in downtown San Diego, the county kept contractor BN Builders on the lookout.
“They are not a quiet landlord,” James Awford, director of BN Builders, tells ENR. Describing the county as “very collaborative to work with,” Awford explains that “they like to know what’s going on; they’ve been very involved in every decision.”
In addition, Medved and the team are coordinating with the Department of Housing and Community Development Services to facilitate the redevelopment of county-owned sites into affordable housing through long-term leases, demolition of outdated structures and partnerships with developers and nonprofits.
“Marko is greatly appreciated for the refreshing and candid voice he brought to the county’s real estate business,” says Patty Kay Danon, the recently retired chief operating officer of the county’s Health and Human Services Agency.
“He listens to the voice of the customer, engages with the county department that will operate a facility, as well as helps with outreach and engagement with the customers to be served at the facility, and helps make it a win-win,” adds Danon. “He’s just a rock star!”
In his role, Medved prides himself on developing ideas, bringing them to fruition, and being able to say, “Here’s something that didn’t exist before, and now it does.”
