Sustainable Federal Facilities: A Guide to Integrating Value Engineering, Life-cycle Costing, and Sustainable Development (Federal Facilities Council technical report ; no. 142)

In the late 1990s, several of the sponsor agencies of the Federal Facilities Council began developing and implementing initiatives and policies related to sustainable development. Guidance related to life-cycle costing and value engineering was recognized as being supportive of sustainable development, in particular when used in the conceptual planning and design phases of acquisition, where decisions are made that substantially effect the ultimate performance of a building over its life cycle. However, specific concerns were raised that when federal agencies apply value engineering in the final stages of design or during construction in response to cost overruns, design features that support sustainable development may be eliminated. The primary objective of this study, therefore, was to develop a framework to show how federal agencies can use value engineering and life-cycle costing to support sustainable development for federal facilities and meet the objectives of Executive Order 13123. This report presents a framework explaining how federal agencies can apply value engineering and life-cycle costing to support sustainable development for facilities, thus meeting the requirements of Executive Order 13123. The report describes the research on which its conclusions are based, details facility life cycles and outlines the acquisition process, describes the acquisition of sustainable facilities, identifies issues, and lists online resources. Flow charts and other diagrams illustrate the processes described in the text. There is no index. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .............. FACILITY LIFE CYCLES AND THE ACQUISITION PROCESS 17 .............. FRAMEWORK FOR ACQUIRING SUSTAINABLE FACILITIES 23 ..............