Whitestone Research briefings on Federal facility costs: BIM, costs of going green, assessment data alchemy, a graphic footprint model, and more |
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The Whitestone Research Briefings on U.S. Federal Facility Cost Planning and Policy was held in Washington, DC on October 15. The one-day event addressed many contemporary topics related to cost modeling and budgeting for Federal facilities. Attendees included representatives from both Federal agencies and private sector firms. Presentations included:Trends in Facility Cost Models. Senior Analyst Peter Lufkin reviewed key trends affecting facility cost forecasting and planning. Topics included: incorporating risk into facility cost analysis, implementing green management practices, realizing the potential of BIM, reconsidering the condition assessment process, facilities funding based on cost models, and future trends in cost modeling. Facility Footprint Model. Every Federal agency tries to align facilities infrastructure and the demands of personnel, functions, and operational capabilities. The U.S. Department of Defense is exploring the development of a tool to monitor the current facility inventory and forecast changes in the agency's net facilities footprint. This presentation describes a prototype model combining facility inventory analysis with Google Maps as applied to a worldwide facilities portfolio. Data Alchemy: Creating Defensible Budgets from Condition Assessments. Facility condition assessment (FCA) data is an underutilized resource. Expensive to collect, FCA data is quickly outdated and provides no insight into future requirements. But when entered into a life cycle cost model, assessment data has much greater utility: generate capital and operations budgets, updating deferred maintenance estimates, and prioritize future inspections. Virtually any inspection data can have new value when used with a life cycle cost model. Facility Life Cycle Analysis of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Infrastructure: The Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Agency (NNSA) is evaluating its facility infrastructure requirements in light of alternative weapons stockpile scenarios. NNSA scientists have integrated facility life cycle cost tools into a comprehensive Enterprise model to support the evaluations. An NNSA representative reviewed progress to date and noted how enterprise modeling could be applied to decision making for other Federal agencies (presentation unavailable). The Cost of Going Green: A Case Study. A collection of recent Federal legislation and guidance (e.g. EPACT2005, EISA 2007, EO 13423, DOE O 430.2B) requires a substantial reduction in energy use by Federal agencies. This study evaluates the life cycle cost effectiveness of energy saving alternatives for a large research laboratory at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Operations Cost Trends. The operation costs of the 76 billion square feet of non-residential buildings in the U.S. are poorly understood. This presentation describes recent historic trends in operations costs, highlights various indexes suited for operations cost analysis, and describes the MARS Cost Forecast System as it is used by some of the largest facility-holding agencies. For more information, please contact Jay Janke, Director of Federal Services, at 202 776-7760 or jjanke@whitestoneresearch.com. |
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