FEDERAL POLICIES TO FOSTER INNOVATION AND IMPROVEMENT IN CONSTRUCTED FACILITIES

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FEDERAL POLICIES TO FOSTER INNOVATION AND IMPROVEMENT IN CONSTRUCTED FACILITIES: (Summary of a Symposium) Technical Report No. 129 FEDERAL POLICIES TO FOSTER INNOVATION AND IMPROVEMENT IN CONSTRUCTED FACILITIES (Summary of a Symposium) Federal Facilities Council Standing Committee on Research NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS Washington, D.C. 1996

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FEDERAL POLICIES TO FOSTER INNOVATION AND IMPROVEMENT IN CONSTRUCTED FACILITIES: (Summary of a Symposium) NOTICE The Federal Facilities Council (FFC) is a continuing activity of the Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment (BICE) of the National Research Council (NRC). The purpose of the FFC is to promote continuing cooperation among the sponsoring federal agencies and between the agencies and other elements of the building community in order to advance building science and technology—particularly with regard to the design, construction, and operation of federal facilities. Currently, 18 agencies sponsor the FFC: Department of the Air Force, Office of the Civil Engineer Department of the Air Force, Air National Guard Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers Department of the Army, Construction Engineering Research Laboratories Department of Energy, Office of Project and Facilities Management Department of the Navy, Naval Facilities Engineering Command Department of State, Office of Foreign Buildings Operations Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Construction Management General Services Administration, Public Buildings Service National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Facilities Engineering Division National Institute of Standards and Technology, Building and Fire Research Laboratory National Endowment for the Arts, Design Arts Program National Institutes of Health National Science Foundation Smithsonian Institution, Office of Facilities Services U.S. Information Agency, Voice of America U.S. Public Health Service, Office of Management U.S. Postal Service, Facilities Department. As part of its activities, the FFC periodically publishes reports like this one that summarize a symposium or have been prepared by committees of government employees. Since these committees are not appointed by the NRC, they do not make recommendations, and their reports are not reviewed and approved in accordance with usual NRC procedures. Consequently, the reports are considered FFC publications rather than NRC publications. For further information on the FFC program or FFC reports, please write to: Director, Federal Facilities Council, Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment, 2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20418.

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FEDERAL POLICIES TO FOSTER INNOVATION AND IMPROVEMENT IN CONSTRUCTED FACILITIES: (Summary of a Symposium) FEDERAL FACILITIES COUNCIL STANDING COMMITTEE ON RESEARCH Chairman Dr. Ken P. Chong, Structural Systems and Construction Processes Program, National Science Foundation Members Mr. John Leimanis, Office of Foreign Buildings Operations, U.S. Department of State Mr. Andrew R. Del Collo, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Department of the Navy Mr. John Deponai III, U.S. Army, Construction Engineering Research Laboratories Mr. Bernie O. Deschanes, Operations and Maintenance Branch, Air National Guard Readiness Center Mr. Harry H. Ellis, Jr., Facilities Engineering Division, National Aeronautics and Space Administration Mr. Andrew J. Fowell, Fire Safety and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology Mr. Steve Gordey, Operations and Maintenance Branch, Air National Guard Readiness Center Mr. Joe McCarty, Office of the Chief of Engineers, Army Corps of Engineers Ms. Juanita Mildenberg, Facilities Engineering Branch, National Institutes of Health Mr. Sun Kin Mui, Systems Branch, Facilities Division, Air National Guard Readiness Center Ms. Judit A. Quasney, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, U. S. Public Health Service Mr. William Quinn, Environmental Engineering Division, U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory Mr. Lloyd H. Siegel, Office of Construction Management, Department of Veterans Affairs Mr. Robert C. Wilson, Facilities Branch, Voice of America Mr. John G. Yates, Facilities Support Programs, U.S. Department of Energy

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FEDERAL POLICIES TO FOSTER INNOVATION AND IMPROVEMENT IN CONSTRUCTED FACILITIES: (Summary of a Symposium) Program Committee Liaison Member Mr. Noel Raufaste, Building and Fire Research Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology Non-Federal Liaison Members Mr. William Brenner, Construction Metrication Council, National Institute of Building Sciences Mr. Deane Evans, Jr., American Institute of Architects, Research Mr. Carl Magnell, Research Division, Civil Engineering Research Foundation Mr. Steven W. Polk, Research Management Foundation, American Consulting Engineers Council Mr. Jon C. Vanden Bosch, Construction Industry Institute Staff Mr. Richard G. Little, Director, Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment Ms. Lynda L. Stanley, Director, Federal Facilities Council Ms. Susan K. Coppinger, Administrative Assistant Ms. Lena B. Grayson, Program Assistant Symposium Planning Committee Dr. John W. Fisher, Chair, Lehigh University Dr. Ken P. Chong, P.E. Director, Structural Systems and Construction Processes, National Science Foundation Mr. Lloyd Duscha, Consulting Engineer, Reston, VA Mr. Stuart Knoop, American Institute of Architects, Oudens & Knoop Architects Mr. Stanley W. Smith, Consultant, McLean, VA Dr. Richard L. Tucker, Director, Construction Industry Institute Mr. Harry Zimmerman, Director, Planning and Environmental Systems, Naval Facilities Engineering Command Mr. Richard G. Little, Director, Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment

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FEDERAL POLICIES TO FOSTER INNOVATION AND IMPROVEMENT IN CONSTRUCTED FACILITIES: (Summary of a Symposium) PREFACE This nation's economy, security, and quality of life depend to a large extent on the vitality of its infrastructure. A society that neglects its physical infrastructure eventually will lose its ability to transport people, goods and information efficiently. That society will be less able to meet the needs of its citizens' for housing and employment, clean air and water, adequate energy, the control of disease, and a healthy economy. In his plan, Technology for America's Economic Growth, the President calls for an integrated program of research and a cohesive implementation strategy designed to enhance the performance and longevity of the nation's deteriorating infrastructure. The U.S. construction industry is losing a long-held advantage in domestic and international markets due to foreign competition and a lack of research investment and application of advanced technologies and methodologies. U.S. government agencies spend some $50 billion annually on the construction of facilities. This huge capital outlay provides a unique opportunity to leverage federal spending and serve as a catalyst in developing innovative construction management techniques, instituting more amenable procurement practices, and in fostering new technologies. As concluded in the 1992 Building Research Board publication, The Role of Public Agencies in Fostering New Technology and Innovation in Building, innovative government policies, programs, and practices are needed to create a cooperative, synergistic relationship between industry and government. Overseas, such relationships have demonstrated that both government and industry benefit through the improved quality and economic efficiency of the constructed product. In the

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FEDERAL POLICIES TO FOSTER INNOVATION AND IMPROVEMENT IN CONSTRUCTED FACILITIES: (Summary of a Symposium) United States, the government needs to identify the barriers hindering technological innovation, consider the changes in policies and practices needed to eliminate these barriers, and develop incentives to foster innovation that will improve the performance of constructed facilities. Fundamental changes to the system by which government acquires constructed facilities are indicated. As an example, public/private partnerships for technological innovation could better allocate both risks and rewards and encourage rather than inhibit the application of new technologies. Another is the use of a life-cycle cost approach which may in many instances be preferable to the prevailing general practice of selecting on the basis of low-bid first-cost. To address these issues, the Federal Facilities Council of the National Research Council sponsored a symposium in June 1995 involving national and international experts from industry, academia and government, including representatives of federal organizations having a cognizant interest in facility construction. The objectives of the symposium were to identify the perceived barriers to innovation, review private sector and foreign government approaches to fostering innovation, and solicit recommendations for the policy changes needed to eliminate these barriers and where and how they should be implemented. This report includes summaries of the presentations given at the symposium and the participant recommendations developed in the workshops on “Leveraging Federal Capital Investment to Promote Innovation in the U.S. Construction Industry.” Ken P. Chong National Science Foundation