The 7th annual Facility Cost Planning Workshop
was held in San Francisco, California on May 23-25th. The two-day
event included research briefings and discussions related to cost
modeling and budgeting for Department of Energy clients.
Facility Cost Modeling; Examples
from The U.S Experience. Senior Analyst Peter Lufkin discusses
the evolution of facility cost modeling from the 1980's, describes
recent extensions to traditional cost modeling--such as life
cycle-based condition assessment, adjustments for levels of
service, and quantifying disposal costs--and notes the need for
increased statistical sophistication and the improvement of
international cost data.
The Post Recession Economy and its
Implications for Facility Costs. As the U.S. economy slowly
recovers from the most severe contraction since the 1928
depression, the impact on facility relevant pricing becomes clear.
Steep price declines in commodities and services evident through
2009 have changed directions, with prices returning to early
2008-levels.
OSF Cost Modeling. Structures other
than buildings make up a large part of the DOE real property
portfolio, yet life cycle cost models of these OSFs are rare. A
study for Idaho National Laboratory is defining models for
estimating replacement value and operating costs for 70 high value
OSFs.
Tracking Price Inflation Using Scraped
Data. Traditional survey-based price data usually has a
substantial time delay and typically applies to only general
bundles of goods and goods services. The "scraping" of actual price
data from web-based catalogues produces real time price data that
can be used for specialized indexes or focusing on individual
product classes. This brief shows daily price movements for three
types of products important to the facility industry.
Pluto: the Second Facility Cost Forecast Tool on the Web. A
demonstration of the new browser-based Whitestone cost modeling
platform. The first release in July will provide easy search for
all Whitestone cost sources, an ad hoc project cost builder, and a
wizard-driven forecast capability for individual facilities.
Simulating the Multiple Impacts of Deferred
Maintenance. Simulation is a promising technique for presenting
the dynamic and complex effects of alternative funding decisions.
This demonstration by Ohio State's Anand Desai shows how deferred
maintenance can affect a collection of non-financial metrics, using
a simple NETLOGO-based application.
Operating Cost Benchmarks for Data
Centers. Data centers have proliferated among U.S. federal
agencies, with a corresponding increase in energy consumption and
other operating costs. This study for a large U.S. agency estimates
cost benchmarks four classes of data centers (Tier I - Tier
IV).
Corporate
Infrastructure Plans and the use of the NMI Model. The U.S.
National Nuclear Security Agency (NNSA) requires short and
long-term infrastructure planning from each of its eight
laboratories. Among other things, these include the costs of
operating maintaining and operating facility portfolios that change
in composition and status over time. NNSA scientists have
integrated facility life-cycle cost tools into a comprehensive
enterprise model (NMI) that can provide time-phased operating costs
of individual facilities, complete laboratories, or the entire NNSA
portfolio.
For more information, please contact Doug Abate at (805)
884-9174 or dabate@whitestoneresearch.com.
For a list of presentations from 6th annual Whitestone Facility
Cost Planning Workshop for the Department of Energy click here.