Facilities Renewal

Background

In 1998 a full-service engineering and architecture firm was hired to perform a facility conditions assessment of the campus. The firm completed the survey in 2003. During the investigation, over 13 million square feet of building space was analyzed including air conditioning, heating, ventilation, plumbing, sprinkler, electrical service, electrical lighting, and fire alarm systems. Other areas of construction that were included in the investigation were building foundations and sub-structures, structural systems, exterior walls, roofs, floor coverings, interior walls and partitions, ceilings, and conveying systems. Cost models were developed and in 2004, a database was created that currently houses all of the University’s rehabilitation and renovation needs.

Every year, 20% of the campus is surveyed and the database is updated according to what projects have been completed and adding any new needs. The intent is that the customer (School or Center) will use the prioritization, organization, and report generating capabilities of the database as an effective capital budgeting tool.

Facilities Renewal Project Designations

There are five types of projects in the database. The project designations are as follows:

Deferred Maintenance

Items in need of repair or replacement due to inadequate or past due maintenance, or when they have exceeded their expected life, resulting in physical depreciation or loss in the value of a building. It does not include ongoing maintenance and replacement.

Capital Renewal

These projects correct unacceptable conditions caused by aged building components that have exceeded or will exceed their useful life cycle within the next ten years. These items still function as originally intended and have not deteriorated to the point of being classified as Deferred Maintenance. Example: Roof replacement where the new roof material is the same as the existing or replacement of old equipment with new items of equal quality of function. If execution of Capital Renewal projects is deferred for an inordinate amount of time, they may instead be categorized as Deferred Maintenance.

Capital Improvement

Work done to a building that improves, enhances, or updates the building. Example: Work done to bring a building into compliance with current codes, such as the addition of a handicapped accessible ramp, or work which improves a building’s performance, such as installing air conditioning.

Capital Construction

New construction or the addition of building area or volume. Example: Renovations which allow the occupancy of previously unoccupied space, the construction of new facilities, such as substantial additions to existing buildings, entire new buildings, or addition of civil amenities such as roadways or water towers.

Operations and Maintenance (O & M)

This refers to the ongoing costs of keeping a building online. It includes custodial services, trash disposal, utilities (gas, electric, water) and preventative maintenance. Values are lump sum based data provided by the institution or, where not available, values for similar facilities are used.

Each project is also assigned one of four priority levels. The time frame listed for each priority designates the time from the current year for which the projects are loosely scheduled.

Immediate:

Address immediately. These include safety or code violations, critical equipment that is not functional or close to failure. Generally scheduled for execution in the first year.

High:

Schedule soon. These include items needing attention in the near term, as failure would impact the mission. Generally scheduled for execution two to four years out.

Medium:

Schedule in the foreseeable future. Generally scheduled for execution five to seven years out.

Low:

Less important projects related to aesthetic or minor performance issues, or projects related to systems or equipment that will reach the end of its useful life cycle within the ten-year scope of this Assessment. Generally scheduled for execution eight to ten years out.

Project Selection

The Principal Planning Engineer meets with each School and Center every year to review their needs, identify the School or Center’s priorities, and determine where those priorities match immediate or high needs in the database. These synergies can become a project that is started in the upcoming fiscal year. Prior to the School or Center’s Capital Plan submission, the Principal Planning Engineer sends a letter identifying the projects that are earmarked for that coming fiscal year. These letters are approved by the Vice President of Facilities and Real Estate Services.

Schools and Centers are also encouraged to collaborate with Facilities to bring down the needs as quickly as possible. The short-listed projects that are included in the letters represent potential FY 2010 projects. The list may be altered to support other needs deemed higher priorities as they arise. The projects represent a commitment, barring unforeseen emergencies, by the Division of Facilities & Real Estate Services to carry out the projects during the fiscal year of 2010. Any unused funds, following the support of the above identified projects, will be returned to central Facilities Renewal Funds and redistributed according to updated priorities.