Medved’s influence on this process has been notable. When he first took on his San Diego County role—after stints with Parsons Brinkerhoff and WSP—he admits the county lacked many basic elements needed to achieve its goal, with little actual focus on sustainability, no alternative delivery methods to speak of, and industry relationships that needed improvement.

Among others, Medved credits his predecessor, Helen Robbins-Meyer—who moved into her current role as County of San Diego chief administrative officer—for helping kick-start the sustainability effort. “She put a lot of the foundational building blocks in place,” he says.

Needed Experience

Since taking on the county position as director of general services in 2016, Medved’s background in federal military construction—which included experience with alternative delivery—has aided his ability to transform the county’s means and methods of delivering facilities, he says.

Under Medved’s leadership the county has delivered 11 zero-net-energy buildings, and has now added a focus on reducing embodied carbon in its facilities using techniques such as increasing the use of low-cement concrete and wood.

Additionally, the county’s embodied carbon strategy now calls for the use of “efficient steel”—a designation indicating that it was produced in a manner more energy efficient than traditional steel—as one of its approved low-embodied carbon materials.

Importantly, Medved credits the county’s board for emphasizing financial stability, which has boosted construction. “They brought the county up to a AAA bond rating and they’ve paid cash for construction for 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 its toes.

“They’re not a quiet owner,” James Awford, a principal with BN Builders, tells ENR. Describing the county as “highly collaborative to work with,” Awford explains that “they like to know what’s going on; they’ve been very involved in all the decision-making.”

Additionally, Medved and team are coordinating with the Housing and Community Development Services department to facilitate redevelopment of county-owned sites into affordable housing through long-term leases, demolitions of obsolete structures and partnerships with developers and nonprofits.

“Marko is widely appreciated for the refreshing, straight-talking voice he brought to the county’s real estate business,” says Patty Kay Danon, the just-retired chief operations officer for 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 assists with outreach and engagement to the clients to be served in the facility, and helps make it a win-win for all,” Danon adds. “He is just a rockstar!”

In his role, Medved takes pride in developing ideas, seeing them through to completion and being able to say, “Here’s something that didn’t exist before and now it does.”