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.
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
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
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
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