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.

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

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