Ames Laboratory Strategic Facilities Plan

# I. Executive Summary

> Ames Laboratory, a Department of Energy (DOE) research facility, has
> unique advantages in its relationship with Iowa State University
> (ISU). The Laboratory facilities integrated within the ISU
> infrastructure provide a campus like atmosphere for its employees.
> This integration makes it very cost-effective to operate the
> Laboratory. The average age of the research buildings is over 40 years
> but Laboratory management has devoted adequate funding for the care
> and upkeep of these government buildings so that they remain in
> excellent condition. In recent years, however, Laboratory upkeep
> support from DOE has diminished at a time when the aging buildings
> require greater resources to maintain. In addition, research
> infrastructure requirements continue to change at a faster pace than
> in the early years of the Laboratory. Today's research requires
> greater flexibility that does not exist in our current structures.
> Therefore, this plan outlines Ames Laboratory's proposal for
> investments needed to meet the research needs for the 21^st^ century.
> This proposal includes the addition of a new research facility, the
> addition of a low level waste handling facility, the remodeling of
> existing research facilities, the consolidation of research groups
> into contiguous space, the clean-up of Harley Wilhelm Hall, and an
> increased annual commitment to the care and maintenance of the
> existing facilities. This plan lays out the funding that will be
> required to accomplish these goals.
>
> The modest investment proposed in this plan will allow the Ames
> Laboratory to achieve the vision of creating research facilities
> suited for world-class research into the 21^st^ century. This is in
> keeping with the tradition at the Laboratory to have a long-term
> perspective on the facility needs of our researchers and on our
> fiduciary responsibility to maintain and preserve the assets entrusted
> to us by the Federal Government.

# II. Mission Future of the Laboratory

> A. Overall
>
> The Laboratory's mission is to conduct fundamental research in the
> physical, chemical, materials, and mathematical sciences and
> engineering which underlie energy generating, conversion, transmission
> and storage technologies, environmental improvement, and other
> technical areas essential to national needs. These efforts will be
> maintained so as to contribute to the achievement of the Vision of the
> Department of Energy and, more specifically, to increase the general
> levels of knowledge and technical capabilities, to develop new
> technologies and practical applications arising from our basic
> scientific programs, to transfer applicable technologies developed at
> the Laboratory to U.S. industry, and to prepare engineering and
> physical sciences students for the future. To this end, Ames
> Laboratory capitalizes on its close connection with Iowa State
> University to carry out interdisciplinary research focused on national
> issues.
>
> B. Programmatic
>
> Ames Laboratory has nine scientific program areas; most funded through
> the DOE's Office of Science (SC) program. They are Applied Mathematics
> and Computational Sciences, Biorenewable Resources, Condensed Matter
> Physics, Environmental and Protection Sciences, Materials Chemistry,
> Metallurgy and Ceramics, Molecular Processes, Nondestructive
> Evaluation, and Physical and Biological Chemistry. These Programs
> perform research in the areas of synthesis and processing of
> rare-earth materials with unique purity, crystal structure and
> desirability, metals and intermetallics, ceramics, polymers, advanced
> computing systems, parallel computing, forensic science and
> instrumentation, monitoring of heavy metals, industrial and DOE
> facility processes, nondestructive analysis, photonic band gaps,
> quasicrystals, sensing devices, instrumentation for genomic mapping,
> and others. Included within the Metallurgy and Ceramics Program is the
> Materials Processing Center, a DOE user facility, that prepares
> ultra-pure materials for research worldwide. The MPC has recently
> received funding to purchase new state-of-the-art instrumentation and
> also funds to perform research to develop new materials preparation
> and processing techniques.

In addition to continued successful research in its core programs, the
Laboratory has as a goal the continued development of several major
initiatives which build upon the strengths of our programmatic research.
These are summarized in the following paragraphs. Additional information
on these initiatives can be found in the Institutional Plan.

-   As an outgrowth of the Molecular Processes Program, the Lab is
    pursuing the creation of a Catalysis Center. This Center will
    facilitate the exchange of scientific information and promote
    collaboration between various groups and Laboratories involved in
    DOE sponsored catalysis research. To this end, the Center will map
    out and categorize ongoing research, look for unifying themes, and
    seek to promote collaboration between different groups and areas.
    This role will be especially valuable in bringing together various
    related scientific sub-disciplines that do not have a strong
    tradition of collaborative work with each other, such as homogeneous
    and heterogeneous catalysis, or chemical catalysis and biocatalysis.

The Center will also serve as a resource for DOE catalysis efforts by
bringing together scientists, equipment, and facilities at Ames
Laboratory and Iowa State University. The scientists at the Center will
conduct research in homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis and
biocatalysis directed toward chemical synthesis and processing. One of
the important aspects of the proposed work will be the catalytic
conversion of agricultural plant materials to useful products. The
strong scientific ties between the Ames Laboratory and ISU, as well as
their physical proximity, will also facilitate the pursuit of the
educational missions of the Center. Both graduate and undergraduate
students will be involved in research. Educational activities in the
Center will serve to both train students and generate an interest not
only in catalysis but also for energy and environmental issues in
general.

-   Building upon existing research in Ames\' Physical and Biological
    Chemistry Program, and several proposals submitted to the Office of
    Biological and Environmental Research, Ames is proposing a major
    initiative in the area of biochemical characterization and
    instrumentation. Biological research at Ames is nurtured by the
    symbiotic interaction with the internationally-recognized programs
    in biological spectroscopy, analytical instrumentation development,
    and the computational expertise of the Laboratory\'s Scalable
    Computing Laboratory (leaders in development and use of low-cost
    parallel processing clusters). In addition to the Laboratory\'s
    infrastructure, which virtually demands interdisciplinary
    interaction, the unique intermarriage of the Ames Laboratory and
    Iowa State University provides all of the advantages expected in a
    research university with current and historical strengths in a wide
    variety of biological and biochemical research areas. The Laboratory
    offers all of the advantages of the structure and expertise of a
    National Laboratory in combination with the attractive features of
    a research-oriented university to provide a unique and outstanding
    environment for cross disciplinary interactions that generate novel
    solutions to a variety of important biological questions.

-   Ames has initiated and plans to extend its program in forensic
    science. It is our intention to establish a regional center for
    forensic science which will include both state-of-the-art research/
    technological development and training which will result in degrees
    at all levels in the forensic arts. This initiative began with an
    interaction with the FBI Laboratory resulting in a site visit by the
    Deputy Director of the FBI Laboratory and four of the top FBI
    scientists to the Ames Laboratory in late 1997. The FBI asked the
    DOE\'s Office of National Security and Nonproliferation (DOE-NN) to
    jumpstart their program by funding a few of the most critical
    programs. Thus, the Ames Laboratory was able to start two major
    forensic projects in FY1998: 1) metal "fingerprinting" and 2)
    establishment of a nationwide veterinary organization to provide
    rapid response to terrorist activities involving animal-borne
    pathogens and development of new, rapid techniques for detection.
    Several more projects are being funded in FY2000, by DOE-NN.

In addition, the Laboratory has begun establishing relationships with
the Federal Aviation Administration (Security) and the Department of
Justice in seeking areas that the broad spectrum of scientific
activities of the Laboratory can support their needs and missions. Many
of the traditional strengths of the Laboratory, e.g. analytical
chemistry and metallurgical analysis, are of considerable interest to
our current and projected partners in this forensic endeavor. It has
also started exploring the regional demand for support in the forensics
sciences. A series of contacts between Laboratory staff and criminalists
at the Iowa Criminalistics Laboratory revealed that forensics
professionals in the State of Iowa want, and need the kind of scientific
assistance that Laboratory scientists can provide. In response,
Laboratory staff have submitted proposals seeking funds for forensics
developments suggested by Iowa criminalists. Laboratory staff have also
begun to expand upon state contacts, reaching out to criminalists in the
surrounding states. The initial responses suggest that they too want and
need the kind of scientific and technical support that Ames Laboratory
scientists can provide. More formal contacts between Laboratory and
regional criminalists have occurred during this fiscal year, in order to
investigate the structure and the functions of a potential regional
forensics science support center. This could be located on the campus of
Iowa State University as part of the Ames Laboratory, and could be
dedicated to the basic scientific investigation of key problems in
forensics, to the application of established scientific methods to
practical problems in forensics, to training for forensics
professionals, and to experimental case work (in cases where
conventional forensics techniques have failed).

-   Finally, another area that Ames is working on expanding is the
    Biorenewable Resources Program. Its mission is to develop
    alternatives to fossil resources and petrochemicals based on
    agricultural resources. To accomplish this, a new partnership
    between the University's engineering, chemistry, agriculture and
    business departments and Ames Laboratory has been proposed to foster
    the development of a robust biorenewables industry. This will result
    in more sustainable economic growth and living standards, an
    improved environment, more profitable farming, and economic
    development in rural communities.

> Ames Laboratory is uniquely positioned to assess and develop
> biorenewable alternatives (conventional crops and biomass) to the
> petrochemicals industry and thereby enhance value-added agriculture,
> U.S. competitiveness and rural economic development. Together, these
> organizations make Ames Laboratory ideally situated to assume a
> leadership position in this area. Iowa State University, a land grant
> college has long been a leader in the agricultural and physical
> sciences and engineering, and has on its campus, not only Ames
> Laboratory, but the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment
> Station (including the Center for Crops Utilization Research). In
> addition, there are many other academic departments and other research
> centers on campus that are in a position to contribute to such an
> effort.

# III. Infrastructure Vision, Goals and Objectives

> The Ames Laboratory will strive to provide and maintain infrastructure
> to meet its current needs and enable the Laboratory to continue to
> conduct world-class research far into the future. Ames Laboratory
> facilities will be safe, secure, and environmentally responsible. The
> facility will be managed to maximize effectiveness and efficiency,
> building on the strengths of the unique partnership with ISU so that
> the Ames Laboratory will continue to be the most cost-effective
> Laboratory in DOE. The Laboratory is committed to a long-term
> perspective toward maintaining the facilities, thus avoiding
> short-term decisions that have long term consequences. The facility
> will be maintained in excellent to outstanding condition as determined
> by the Facility Condition Index. Infrastructure improvements will be
> done to keep pace with advancing technology and new paradigms of
> scientific collaboration so that the research efforts are not
> restricted. The facility must be flexible and adaptable to enable
> Program efforts to respond efficiently to new developments and
> changing priorities in the increasingly dynamic research environment.

# IV. Facility and Infrastructure Issues

> The Ames Laboratory operates in government-owned buildings that are
> located on approximately 10 acres of University land that has been
> leased to the Federal government on a long-term (99 year) basis. The
> facility is integrated into the ISU campus in such a way that ISU
> provides and maintains the site-wide infrastructure (e.g. heating
> plant, chilling plant, roads, etc.). In effect, the Laboratory
> experiences the benefits of "third party financing" by the very nature
> of our operation. Because of this unique partnership, both the
> Laboratory and the University are significantly impacted in site
> development issues around the lease area of the Laboratory. The
> Laboratory\'s interests in the University\'s overall site planning
> considerations are represented by the interactions of Laboratory
> officers and senior staff members with the major University committees
> and bodies that are responsible for campus planning, physical
> facilities, long-range development, and space utilization.
>
> The Lab occupies approximately 325,000 gsf in government-owned
> buildings. Over 70% of this space is contained in three major
> research-use buildings built between 1949 and 1960. An office-use
> building (less than 15% of total) was built in 1994 which consolidated
> most administrative and support functions in one location for improved
> efficiency, allowing space in other buildings to be redirected to
> research activities, and decreasing space rented from the University.
> The balance of the space is contained in several small auxiliary
> buildings constructed during the 1960\'s. These buildings house
> storage space, records handling and storage, material receiving areas,
> warehouse functions and shop facilities. (See Ames Laboratory Site
> Plan in the appendix to this document for an overhead view of the
> facilities and its incorporation into the ISU campus.)
>
> Laboratory operations utilize not only the Federally-owned buildings
> of the main site, but also space in University-owned buildings
> adjacent to the main site. Ames Laboratory has research activities in
> area totaling approximately 60,000 square feet in the University
> buildings. Because of partnering with University research efforts and
> sharing this space, the Laboratory is charged for the equivalent of
> 30,000 square feet (approximately 15% of the government owned space).
> A support building approximately 1.5 miles away at the Applied
> Sciences Center Site (formerly the Ames Laboratory Research Reactor)
> is utilized for handling and packaging low level contaminated waste
> for shipment to waste sites. The building is in very poor condition.
> The Laboratory is dependent on the University for the maintenance and
> upgrading of these facilities. Because of the resource limitations of
> the University, they are not able to maintain and update these
> facilities to the same standard that the Laboratory maintains in the
> government-owned buildings. The ISU Campus Master Plan targets one of
> these buildings, dating from the early 1900's, for demolition. As
> such, no improvement re-investments and minimal maintenance efforts
> are going into the building. The Laboratory must deal with the
> condition of this space and its eventual loss.
>
> The advancing age of the government owned buildings is also a
> significant issue. The average age of the research space is 46 years.
> The general nature of the Laboratory's buildings is satisfactory;
> however, modernization is required. It has historically been the
> Laboratory management\'s policy to devote adequate attention and
> resources to facilities maintenance, although; in recent years, budget
> restrictions and the increasing demands of aging buildings have
> rendered this policy more difficult to follow. The Deferred
> Maintenance recorded in the FIMS database is \$1.9M. In FY2000, less
> than \$25K was directed towards this from Corrective Maintenance
> funds. At this point, the facility is in excellent condition based on
> the FCI, however, this is unlikely to continue at current funding
> levels especially when the goal is to provide space suited for 21^st^
> century research activities.
>
> GPP funding is currently at \$500K per year. The average funding
> between FY1991 and FY1995 was approximately \$800K. With the recent
> trend, the ability to upgrade and modernize the infrastructure
> continues to erode. Larger projects must be phased over several years
> because they cannot be funded within a single year's GPP allocation.
>
> In order to provide "Laboratories of the 21^st^ Century," continuous
> improvements in Information Technology Infrastructure will need to be
> accommodated. Improvements in the network infrastructure, security,
> central services and remote access are included in this ten-year plan.
> Where technology will take us, in the next 10 years, is hard to
> predict other than the fact that communication speeds will increase
> and more people will be "connected" in some way or another. Cyber
> security will grow in its importance with the increase in use of
> centralized services, remote access and offsite collaborations.

# V. Planning Assumptions

> In developing this plan the following assumptions were used:

1.  The Laboratory will see growth at the level of inflation or modestly
    above. This is based on the fact that our core competencies continue
    to be vital to the DOE, plus we are pushing out into the new areas
    discussed earlier (biorenewable resources, biochemical
    characterization and instrumentation, catalysis and forensics). The
    Laboratory will have to see modest growth in core funding in order
    to increase the annual level of maintenance provided to the facility
    and move in a positive direction toward the targets established by
    DOE.

2.  One of the University-owned buildings that we currently occupy space
    in (Office and Lab Building) will be demolished. The University has
    this action in its long-term facilities plan but has not yet set a
    date. This will require relocation of one research group and several
    other offices. This group will be relocated into the new facility
    requested in this plan.

3.  A new research facility will be constructed to accommodate several
    research groups that we seek to grow or that are currently spread
    out among DOE- and/or University-owned buildings and who would
    benefit from contiguous space. At present, this facility would house
    the Physical and Biological Chemistry Program (relocated from the
    Office and Lab Building which will be torn down and from Gilman
    Hall, a University-owned and maintained building), the Computational
    Sciences group, the Biorenewable Resources group and the
    new Catalysis Center. This new facility would provide greater
    flexibility for researchers to develop a working environment that is
    better suited to their current and future research needs.

4.  The Laboratory's efforts to develop new partnerships and
    collaborations through the use of WFO agreements and CRADAs will
    continue to grow. This anticipated growth will not only help
    maintain our core competencies but increase the operating funds
    available to support the Laboratory.

# VI. Plan for Modernization

# A. Site

> Ames Laboratory has unique advantages in being located on the Iowa
> State University campus. The majority of the site infrastructure
> requirements are provided through the partnership with the University.
> For example, roads, sidewalks and parking are provided and maintained
> by the University. Small parking areas and sidewalks associated with
> individual buildings are maintained by the Laboratory. The ISU campus
> is served by a district steam and chilled water generating plant and
> distribution system. The Laboratory does not take responsibility for
> the infrastructure of these systems until they enter our facility.
> Grounds maintenance is also provided by the University. Because of
> this unique partnership, there are no site infrastructure
> modernization projects which need to be included in the plan.

# B. Existing Facilities

> 1\. Rehab/Upgrade

# • [Systematic Laboratory Space Modernization (GPP).]{.underline} The Ames Laboratory buildings which house research activities have an average age of 46 years. The nature of the research activities and the facility needs of that effort have changed dramatically over that time period. With the pace of technology advances, this trend will continue and accelerate over the next ten years. There is a need to have a systematic program to update and upgrade the occupied space in these buildings to provide effective facilities for the research effort and achieve a "preferred" work environment. Architectural programming will identify optimal configurations to provide flexible, efficient, and productive research areas. The renovation work will upgrade space layout, utility fixtures, finish materials, lab furniture, hoods, information systems, security systems, utility capacity and flexible distribution of services. An annual program of upgrading 3,000 square feet of net usable space and the associated support spaces (e.g. corridors, exits, circulation space and rest rooms) would enable the Laboratory to upgrade approximately 1/4 of its research space during this ten year plan. This program will also support the ability to accommodate new technology and evolving program emphases. It will provide a systematic means to consolidate program activities and locate cross discipline research staff to enhance collaboration. Support space with advanced telecommunication capabilities will contribute to a broader collaboration across the DOE complex and with other research partners. The cost for modernizing 3,000 square feet of space is \$275K. Productivity enhancements of 10% are commonly utilized per DOE guidance when Laboratory activities are able to be consolidated in facilities incorporating current technology and programmed for those activities. Based on this, the modernization would provide a simple payback of six years.

> Resource Needs:
>
> GPP -- The systematic laboratory space modernization project will
> require additional GPP funds in the amount of \$275K/year.
>
> • [Information Technology]{.underline}. Network infrastructure
> improvements will be phased in and targeted to those with the greatest
> resource needs. Anticipated improvements will allow the Laboratory to
> utilize channel bonding of Gigabit Ethernet on the backbone network,
> voice over IP, video-conference to the desktop, 10 Gigabit/second
> communication speeds, wave division multiplexing and wireless network
> infrastructure technologies. The Laboratory will move to IPv6
> addressing from IPv4 addressing for improved security and
> expandability.
>
> Security will be enhanced to accommodate the increased use of
> information technology to assist in research programs. The Laboratory
> has submitted a cyber security plan that provides a systematic process
> to improve cyber security, while allowing research to continue as
> freely as possible given today\'s environment. This security plan will
> require constant improvement as new opportunities and new threats are
> identified over the next ten years. Current plans and future
> improvements include items such as bastion hosts, firewalls, biometric
> authentication, VLAN security, voice recognition and vicinity ID.
>
> Centralized services will need upgrading over the next 10 years.
> Document management will come to the forefront as a way to reduce the
> cost of creating, moving, storing and disposing of records. Digital
> photocopy/fax/scan systems, along with electronic document storage
> systems, will be incorporated into the Laboratory's infrastructure.
> Upgrades to the central administrative computer will be required in
> order to keep up with the continuous increase in machine resources
> today's processes demand. These increases will require the use of GPE
> funds.
>
> Remote access techniques will require improvements as the need for
> secured systems increases. The Laboratory encourages its researchers
> to collaborate with researchers at other Laboratories and institutions
> and to utilize the user facilities that exist around the DOE and other
> scientific complexes. Access to the Laboratory's cyber systems will
> need to be as convenient as possibly without exposing the Laboratory
> to any undue risk. Some of the new tools that will allow remote access
> include virtual private networks, remote access equipment controllers
> and 3D data immersion visualization.
>
> Resource Needs:
>
> GPE -- The upgrade to the central administrative computer will require
> GPE funds. Expectations are that this computer will be upgraded in
> FY2002 and FY2007. Upgrades will amount to \$140K each year.
>
> Operating -- Improvements to the network infrastructure, security,
> services and remote access will be accommodated out of overhead funds.
> The estimated costs include only the hardware and software to maintain
> and improve these areas and the annual costs fluctuate based on the
> timing of the upgrades. The estimated annual costs are as follows:
>
> FY2002 \$160K FY2007 \$155K
>
> FY2003 55K FY2008 110K
>
> FY2004 55K FY2009 55K
>
> FY2005 55K FY2010 55K
>
> FY2006 120K FY2011 55K
>
> 2\. D&D

#  [Remediation and Renovation of Harley Wilhelm Hall]{.underline}. During the late 1940's and early 1950's, the U.S. Government conducted research and production on Thorium-232 in Harley Wilhelm Hall at Ames Laboratory. Thorium production activities continued until 1953. These activities, including production, processing, machining and handling of thorium resulted in release of the fine-powdered form of thorium. The production processes and design of the building resulted in the contamination of portions of the building. Subsequent remodeling and decontamination activities minimized the contamination levels in occupant exposure areas and have provided protection assurance for building occupants and the public. The remaining areas targeted for remediation include utility chases, sub-basement tunnels and active and abandoned utility components within these spaces.

> Successful completion of remediation and renovation will allow
> unrestricted access to and utilization of spaces which are currently
> restricted through administrative controls. Future work in the
> building on space remodeling and building system changes would be done
> without any risk of exposing workers or spreading contamination.
>
> See also ESH&I Plan ADS A99D0003.
>
> Resources Needs:
>
> EM Funding -- The remediation and renovation of Harley Wilhelm Hall
> will require funds estimated at \$2,915K. It is projected that funds
> will be provided as follows:
>
> FY2002 \$500K
>
> FY2003 680K
>
> FY2004 775K
>
> FY2005 960K
>
> C. New Facilities

# 1. New Research Facility

> **•** The Laboratory rents approximately 30,000 square feet of space
> in ISU buildings. The ability to pursue collaborative efforts with ISU
> staff housed in ISU buildings provides excellent opportunities for
> flexibility, efficiency, and economy. This is especially true when the
> initiatives are in the infant stage. However, as these initiatives
> grow, there is a need for contiguous space in Ames Laboratory
> facilities to provide quality facilities and the level of support that
> will allow the program efforts to operate more efficiently. Much of
> the rented space is inadequate for meeting the needs of 21^st^ century
> research and the Laboratory cannot pursue capital improvements in
> University space. As discussed previously, the Laboratory uses space
> in the Office and Lab Building which is slated for demolition in the
> ISU Campus Master Plan. As such, no improvement re-investments are
> being made in the building and minimal maintenance is being performed.
> It is estimated that the research efforts in over 50% of the rented
> space would benefit from dedicated contiguous space in Ames Laboratory
> facilities. To consolidate the Physical and Biological Chemistry
> activities which will be displaced from the Office and Lab Building,
> 10,000 net square feet will be required. With the collaborative
> resources of the University, the Laboratory is uniquely positioned to
> adapt and respond to DOE mission needs in the dynamic research
> environment of the 21^st^ century. However, to operate efficiently, a
> new facility designed to provide multipurpose capabilities with
> built-in flexibility is vital to the success of these ventures.
>
> The new facility is programmed for 10,000 net usable square feet
> (nusf) for Physical and Biological Chemistry, 8,000 nusf for
> consolidating Scalable Computing Lab activities and Computational
> Sciences initiatives, and 12,000 nusf for additional consolidation
> from rented space and for initiatives in Biochemical Characterization
> and Instrumentation, Catalysis Center, and Biorenewable Resources.
> Collaboration from co-locating these activities into one facility will
> improve their efficiency and effectiveness.
>
> A 50,000 gross square foot (gsf) building will be built adjacent to
> existing Laboratory buildings. Lease lines will be adjusted as
> necessary to incorporate the new building. Design priorities will
> include built-in flexibility for setting up and rearranging research
> activities, utility distribution systems with provisions for upgrading
> to future technologies with minimal disruption to research areas,
> space layout and telecommunication capabilities to support onsite and
> offsite collaboration, aesthetics that provide a preferred working
> environment, and responsible use of resources over a 50 year life
> cycle of the facility.
>
> Resource Needs:
>
> Line Item Funding -- The new facility will require funds estimated at
> \$17M. It is projected that these funds would be provided beginning in
> FY2005 with construction start and ending in FY2007.
>
> 2\. Low Level Waste Handling Facility

**•** Currently, low-level radiological waste is staged in the Waste
Handling Facility located approximately 1.5 miles northwest of campus in
a non-DOE building. The building was utilized as a waste facility for
the Ames Laboratory Research Reactor during the 1960's and 1970's. Upon
decommissioning of the Reactor and transfer of the real property to Iowa
State University, Ames Laboratory continued to utilize the facility for
Low Level Waste staging as part of a beneficial-use agreement. This
proposal would support the establishment of a new Low Level Waste
Handling Facility and decontamination of the existing Waste Handling
Facility. This effort would reduce the Department's responsibility for a
legacy facility and reduce the risks associated with the transfer of Low
Level Waste to a remote site via public roads. Department of
Transportation regulations are a significant factor when transporting
low-level waste from Ames Laboratory buildings to the current Waste
Handling Facility. Locating a Low Level Waste Handling Facility in a DOE
building on the main campus would decrease transportation
considerations. To that end, a new building would be constructed.
Chemical laboratory hoods, laboratory benches, compaction equipment and
appropriate storage would be provided.

> The new building will be a simple pre-engineered building shell of
> approximately 3,000 square feet. Interior layout, interior materials,
> equipment, and engineered safety systems will provide a safe and
> efficient facility for handling and preparing low-level waste for
> shipment. Decontamination of the current facility being vacated is
> included in the total project cost.
>
> Resource Needs:
>
> GPP -- The new Waste Handling Facility will require additional GPP
> funds in the amount of \$350K. It is projected that these funds will
> be provided in FY2004.

# D. Real Property Operations and Maintenance

# As discussed earlier, the average age of the research buildings at the Ames Laboratory is 46 years. The Laboratory has traditionally placed a high priority on maintaining the facilities. This ethic of quality has helped to keep our facilities in excellent condition as measured by the Facility Condition Index in spite of the age. The funding for the preventive and corrective maintenance efforts in FY2000 are right at a four-year average of \$505K per year. This is approximately 0.8% of the Replacement Plant Value (RPV). A target figure of 1.5% is recommended by the Federal Facilities Council which indicates how efficiently Ames Laboratory is maintaining the facilities. However, the facility continues to age, infrastructure needs become more advanced and deferred maintenance will lead to more costly repairs later if they are not dealt with. The 0.8% funding level maintains day-to-day maintenance operations but does not provide the resources significantly decrease the deferred maintenance backlog or cover additional deficiencies which will develop over the next ten years. Funding for real property maintenance will need to increase to at least 1% of RPV (\$675K) over the next five years in order to prevent additional deferred maintenance costs and to keep the facility in excellent to outstanding condition.

> See also ESH&I Plan ADS A98D0007.
>
> Resource Needs:
>
> Operating Funds -- Funding to support operations and maintenance will
> need to increase from current levels to \$675K per year starting in
> FY2004. Starting in FY2008, support levels will need to increase to
> \$715K per year when the new facility comes on line.
>
> FY2002 \$632K FY2007 \$675K
>
> FY2003 652K FY2008 715K
>
> FY2004 675K FY2009 715K
>
> FY2005 675K FY2010 715K
>
> FY2006 675K FY2011 715K

# VII. Resources Needs Summary

> See attached spreadsheet entitled "Ames Laboratory Resource Needs for
> Achieving SC Vision for 21^st^ Century Labs."

# VIII. Plan Development and Prioritization Process

> This Plan was developed with the assistance of the functional managers
> in those areas affected by the needs assessment and decision process
> of this exercise. The planning committee was comprised of the
> Laboratory Director, Deputy Director and the Associate Directors for
> Science and Administration, the staff responsible for the Lab's
> planning process and the various managers (particularly facilities,
> information services, budget and ES&H). They reviewed the current
> Institutional Plan, the deferred maintenance costs, the aging of the
> DOE --owned buildings and the FCI identified in the Facilities
> Information Management System (FIMS), budget allocations for GPP and
> GPE, and other mitigating information such as Iowa State University's
> Master Plan, projected areas of research funding, the growth of other
> federal agencies and industrial sponsored research, along with a
> review of space utilization of Ames Laboratory researchers within
> University owned buildings and the condition of that space.
>
> The committee, after a thorough discussion and review of existing
> information, determined that the request for a new research facility,
> as detailed within the Institutional Plan, was definitely needed in
> order to retain world-class scientists and to make various existing
> science programs functionally more efficient and effective. It also
> determined that a consolidation of ES&H activities from external
> University owned facilities to the main Laboratory site was desired
> because of safety and transportation issues. The committee also placed
> a high priority on trying to increase the GPP funds received each year
> from DOE. GPP funding traditionally falls short of the Lab's needs and
> therefore major improvements to the infrastructure have to be done in
> stages over several years. There was also identified as a priority the
> need to upgrade our information communication backbone to keep current
> with emerging trends and peripherals to maintain open communication
> with our collaborators around the world.
>
> Once each of these priorities was detailed including project costs, a
> budget for each project was developed by the functional manager and
> reviewed by the Budget Officer. The detailed explanations and proposed
> budget for each project was then reviewed one final time and the
> funding priorities set based on the most pressing needs perceived by
> the Laboratory's Strategic Facilities Committee.

# IX. Performance Metrics and Change Indicators

> To achieve the Office of Science vision for 21^st^century
> laboratories, facilities must attain high standards for both
> capability and condition. The Laboratory's performance with regard to
> the condition of its facilities is currently measured and tracked
> through the Facility Condition Index (FCI) contained in the current
> contract between DOE and ISU. The latest self-assessment found the
> local facilities to be in "excellent" condition. The FCI is a good
> indicator to use for the Strategic Facility Plan from the perspective
> of the facility condition but it is lacking in terms of measuring the
> capability of laboratory facilities. It does not track progress toward
> upgrading facilities to incorporate current technology and practices
> to meet the needs of scientists doing world-class research in the
> 21^st^ century.
>
> The whole plan to implement the improvements necessary to achieve this
> vision is dependent on the availability of funding to carry out these
> projects and initiatives. To track this critical success factor, a
> management report will be developed that lists the projects and
> indicates the funding status. Once projects are funded we will develop
> milestones to track the progress of each project.
>
> We will also work with DOE-HQ to develop these projects in their
> entirety so that they meet the needs and expectations of DOE and the
> Laboratory. This will include the proper documentation to get these
> projects into the queue for approval and funding.

# X. Appendices

> 1\. Ames Laboratory Site Plan
>
> 2\. Ames Laboratory Resource Needs for Achieving SC Vision for 21^st^
> Century Labs