GSA Office of Governmentwide Policy

**[REAL PROPERTY POLICYSITE]{.underline}**

Fall 2004

**[Best Practices Special Edition]{.underline}**

**A Message from Stanley F. Kaczmarczyk**

**Deputy Associate Administrator for Real Property**

Innovators from the Federal Government are developing the ideas, tools,
and methods to improve asset management. The practices they develop help
improve the way Federal agencies manage the over 3 billion square foot
inventory. These practices enable us to manage the Federal portfolio
better, develop higher performing workplaces, focus on citizen services,
protect our environment, and much more.

The Office of Real Property is pleased to present the eighth Best
Practices Special Edition of Real Property Policysite newsletter. The
newsletter includes the latest array of best practices and policies,
culled from the top practitioners in the Federal real estate sector.
They represent areas of:

-   Alternative Financing

-   Asset Management and Planning

-   Contracting

-   Customer Partnerships

-   Energy/Energy Savings

-   Historic Preservation

-   Innovative Policies

-   Space Planning

-   Strategic Planning

-   Sustainability

-   Tools and Models

Twelve agencies submitted entries for the 2004 GSA Achievement Award for
Real Property Innovation. The top award winning entries were:

-   Guidelines for Wireless Telecommunications Facilities, Department of
    the Interior

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-   **Military Housing Privatization Initiative**, Department of Defense

Two superlative entries received the honorable mention designation:

-   **GSA's "Best Value" Facilities Management Partnership Schedules,**
    General Services Administration

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-   **Environmental Risk Index Performance Measure**, General Services
    Administration

We are also pleased to announce the first recipients of the Adopted Best
Practice award. This category was established to recognize the goal of
having these best practices shared across the Federal Government to
further improve asset management in the Federal sector. The award
winning entry in this category is:

-   **Army Strategic Master Space Plan**, Department of the Army

We expect that the adopt-a-practice category will continue to grow in
future years. To be eligible for this award, a Federal organization,
team or individual must have applied an innovative practice or policy
submitted to our Award program in a previous year by another Federal
agency. Winners will receive \$5,000 for an individual, or \$10,000 for
a team of two or more.

Agencies may apply [year round]{.underline} for the Adopted Best
Practice award. You can get more information about this exciting award
and the best practices available by checking out our website at:

**www.gsa.gov/realpropertypolicy**

and clicking on \"Achievement Award\" and \"Best Practices.\" We look
forward to receiving your submissions!

I also encourage you to submit your new ideas next year for the 2005
Real Property Innovation Awards Program. Please contact Mr. Richard
Ornburn at (202) 501-2873 or by e-mail at richard.ornburn@gsa.gov with
any questions on the award program.

### Stan Kaczmarczyk

#### 

#### Table of Contents

##### Adopted Policy and Practice

-   **Alternative Financing**

    -   **Asset Management and Planning**

    -   **Space Planning**

    -   **Strategic Planning**

    -   **Sustainability**

##### Innovative Policy and Practice

# Alternative Financing

-   **Asset Management and Planning**

-   **Contracting**

-   **Customer Partnerships**

# Energy/Energy Savings

-   **Historic Preservation**

-   **Innovative Policies**

-   **Tools and Models**

**ADOPTED POLICY AND PRACTICE**

**Alternative Financing**

04-APO-001

04-POL-002

Ford Island Master Development Agreement

Department of the Navy

The U.S. Navy, Pacific Division Real Estate Team used the ideas of
03-POL-003, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Ames Development Plan and combined it with 01-PRA-019, Navy's Outleasing
and Partnership Initiatives and 01-POL-004, Department of Defense (DOD)
Enhanced-Use Leasing Initiative to develop and award the Ford Island
Master Development Agreement (MDA).

A multi-disciplined team from the Navy blended a wide variety of legal
authorities, public and private funding, and business approaches to
infuse energy and development to restore Ford Island, which is contained
in the Pearl Harbor Naval Complex. Using bold innovation, this high
performance team developed a masterful marketing strategy for
implementing the program and was successful in obtaining special
legislation in September 1999 (10 USC 2814) to enter into the Ford
Island Master Development Agreement that was executed in June 2003. The
groundbreaking legislation, which included both conveyance and leasing
authorities, predated the enhanced use authority for similar
undertakings.

The concept plan for Ford Island grew out of a unique set of
circumstances. An old airfield, several military training facilities, a
data processing office, two bachelor quarter facilities, approximately
50 housing units and a number of significant historic buildings dominate
Ford Island. A small vehicle ferry and a fleet of launches for Navy
personnel were the only means of access until the Ford Island Bridge was
completed in 1998.

The \$800 million Development Program for Ford Island encompasses
military construction, housing privatization projects, private
commercial ventures, and enhanced use leasing. The team identified
underutilized or excess properties and leveraged them to obtain in-kind
construction on Ford Island. Over 1,600 acres in five main areas on the
island of Oahu, HI, including approximately 2,000 family housing units,
are covered in the MDA in exchange for an immediate \$84 million benefit
to the Navy, with future sales expected to provide an additional \$50
million. All leases contain substantial protections and safeguards for
the benefit of the Navy as it relates to asset management, in addition
to future upward rental adjustments based on certain future market use
triggers. The 20 year net present value of this transaction to the Navy
is over \$180M, resulting in an exceptional leveraged return on minimal
investment.

For more information, contact Mr. Joseph Calcara at 808-472-1504 or via
e-mail at joseph.calcara@navy.mil.

**Asset Management and Planning**

04-APR-002

Comprehensive Real Estate Master Program

Department of the Treasury

General Services Administration

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) adopted the practice of the Tennessee
Valley Authority's (TVA) best practice 03-PRA-018, Strategic Facility
Plan, in developing its Comprehensive Real Estate Master Program
(CREMP). The IRS modernization, both in business and facilities, became
a priority with the Congressional passage of the IRS Restructuring and
Reform Act of 1998. The ten IRS campuses, which occupy approximately 10
million square feet in over 80 buildings across the country, form the
backbone of the nation's tax processing infrastructure. An extensive
analysis of the existing campus portfolio underscored how critical
upgrades were needed to revamp and realign the agency's real estate
portfolio with its new business vision.

Published in 2003, CREMP provides a new, holistic approach to the entire
campus planning process. It captures the assessments and recommendations
of a comprehensive, collaborative study undertaken by the IRS and the
General Services Administration (GSA). The key features of CREMP
include:

-   Accommodating the impact of electronic filing, projected to account
    for 80 percent of all individual tax returns filed in 2017

-   Integrating the business vision of making each campus a Center of
    Expertise to increase IRS customer service capabilities

-   Translating gains from new IRS operational realignments into
    optimized space requirements

-   Improving the workplace environment by using space and modern
    technology more effectively, and creating a safe work environment
    for IRS employees

CREMP addresses the transformation in operational requirements of IRS
business units that have led to dramatic changes in the quantity and
nature of space requirements at the campuses. These include:

-   A reduction in total portfolio space requirements by 16 percent over
    15 years. The reduction in space requirements from 9.7 million
    rentable square feet (RSF) to 8.1 million RSF will be achieved
    despite a projected growth in returns filed. A potential savings of
    up to \$40 million is expected in rent over 15 years.

-   A substantial decrease in paper-based tax processing space
    requirements due to the penetration of electronic filing of tax
    returns, and an increase in customer-service oriented office space.

-   The reduction or "right-sizing" of support and ancillary spaces
    translating into substantial rent savings.

-   Consolidation and co-location of campus functions, leading to
    increased operational efficiency and productivity.

-   Resource optimization by focusing on the long-term cost benefits of
    renovation versus replacement.

CREMP recommends the renovation, upgrade, or replacement strategies for
the ten campuses to support the IRS's long-term modernization
initiatives and also provides strategies for optimizing interim
decisions regarding the campus portfolio:

-   **Renovation/Upgrade Campuses:** Five campuses are to be renovated
    and upgraded where the main buildings are in workable condition, and
    their current sites allow for facility consolidation and programmed
    growth. Significant upgrades for building equipment systems, new
    electronic applications, and on-site expansion will be carried out
    at these campuses.

-   **Replacement Campuses:** Five campuses are to be replaced by new,
    consolidated state-of-the-art facilities. Economic analysis
    substantiates the benefit of replacing these campuses since the
    recurring costs associated with continuing to operate them in their
    current state will cost the government more over time.

The total cost for IRS Campus Modernization is \$2.32 billion, which
will be distributed over a 10-15 year period to ease the allocation of
capital funding, and to minimize the disruption in tax-collection during
implementation. CREMP empowers IRS with a pro-active, long-range
facilities planning practice that makes real estate an integral part of
the agency's business planning strategy, enabling IRS to complete its
business system modernization and the reinvention of the American tax
service.

For more information, contact Mr. Rob Hewell at 215-446-4640 or via
e-mail at rob.hewell@gsa.gov.

**Space Planning**

04-APR-001

Department Of Justice Office Consolidation Plan

Department of Justice

General Services Administration

The Department of Justice (DOJ) adopted the methods used by the
Department of the Energy (DOE) in its Best Practice 97-PRA-008, DOE
Headquarters Space Consolidation for its own consolidation into the
Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Main Justice Building. The completion of RFK
Modernization Project in June 2004, along with expiring leases in
thirteen different locations in Washington, DC, between April 2003 and
December 2006, present an opportunity for DOJ to stabilize rent rates,
achieve partial consolidation of the Offices Boards and Divisions (OBD),
and improve security for hundreds of employees. The DOJ Office
Consolidation Plan involves the backfill of RFK and the replacement of
the 1,500,000 square feet of expiring leased space in DOJ's inventory.

DOJ has been working with GSA for several years to address this pending
wave of expiring leases and the concurrent completion of the RFK
Modernization Project. The current plan is predicated upon the
following:

-   The RFK Modernization project is ending and DOJ components must move
    back to RFK;

-   Rent stability, management efficiencies and improved security are
    best achieved in fewer, larger buildings;

-   Good business practices dictate planning for the 13 expiring leased
    locations; and

-   Expiring leases must be competed, so many relocations will be
    necessary even if no consolidation is sought.

    The expiring leases provide an historic opportunity to consolidate
    the litigating divisions, achieve long term cost avoidance in rent,
    and improve security for DOJ employees. For cost considerations,
    rather than moving everyone to new buildings DOJ will try to retain
    its largest buildings and reduce the numbers of employees to move.
    Excluding the relocations to RFK, approximately 4,600 employees are
    affected by expiring leases. Of these, only 46 percent or
    approximately 2,100 are scheduled to move.

    This plan maintains single tenant, DOJ locations close to RFK;
    improves security for small components; limits move and other costs
    by backfilling existing DOJ space and reusing existing space
    configurations; and achieves rent avoidance by releasing several
    class A locations and maintaining lower rent, class B locations.
    Other benefits include improved internal workflow processes,
    streamlined buildings management functions, improved space
    utilization, and increased shared services.

For more information, contact Mr. Adam Bodner at 202-307-1867 or via
e-mail at adam.h.bodner@usdoj.gov.

**Strategic Planning**

04-APR-004

Army Strategic Master Space Plan

Department of the Army

> The Space and Building Management Service -- Washington (SBMS-W), the
> real property manager for the Army in the National Capital Region
> (NCR), provides facilities services for its fifty tenant agencies.
> These tenant agencies experience constant organizational, operational
> and mission related changes that influence their housing needs. SBMS-W
> has to meet the challenge of keeping up with changing housing needs of
> its tenant agencies. Over the past few years this task has become even
> more challenging with stringent security requirements for buildings.
>
> The SBMS-W has adopted the best practice 03-PRA-018, TVA Strategic
> Facility Plan for developing a strategic master space plan to meet its
> real property management challenges for three million square feet of
> leased space. The master space plan, conducted for the first time from
> May 2002 to June 2003, provides recommendations and strategies to
> assist the Army in making sound asset management decisions for its
> leased space portfolio for a 10-year period. The plan will be updated
> and evaluated on an annual basis to assure the validity of its
> recommendations.
>
> The master plan goal is to optimize the Army's leased space portfolio
> while effectively accommodating the Army's housing needs. The proposed
> master space plan will:

-   Enhance operational effectiveness by reducing average number of
    > buildings per Army tenant from 3 to 1.

-   Optimize lease portfolio by reducing leased space to 50 percent and
    decreasing number of leased buildings from 48 to 10.

-   Reduce rent by 50 percent leading to annual rent savings of \$30
    million.

-   Improve security at all proposed lease facilities in compliance with
    > the Army's security measures, providing a more secured workplace
    > to Army personnel.

-   Enhance customer satisfaction by accommodating tenants' current and
    > future housing needs and by strengthening communication between
    > SBMS-W, its tenants and Army planning agencies.

> Following the TVA's best practice, the Army strategic master space
> plan aligns the organizational mission and operational needs both at
> the individual tenant level and at the overall Army level. In
> addition, the master space plan has established an objective framework
> to collect and evaluate existing facility data on an annual basis.
> This framework has resulted in substantial time saving for the ongoing
> data collection effort for the 2004 master plan update.

For more information, contact Mr. Ed Negron at 703-614-5002 or via
e-mail at edgardo.negron@hqda.army.mil.

**Sustainability**

04-APR-003

Incorporating LEED into NASA's Facilities

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NASA adopted 00-POL-004, GSA's Building Green for the Future for its
practice of Incorporating LEED into NASA's Facilities. NASA adopted the
concept of sustainable design as a best practice in the delivery of
design and construction services for facilities agency-wide. In 2002,
NASA issued a policy directing its facilities to incorporate sustainable
design principles into facility projects to the maximum extent possible.
In 2003, NASA took a step further in issuing a policy that directed all
new construction and major renovations starting in FY 2006 to obtain
silver certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design (LEED), Green Building Rating System.

Two existing best practices of design for maintainability and total
building commissioning existed in the NASA facility program. NASA saw
that the principles of sustainable design, design for maintainability
and total building commissioning all shared common goals in delivering
facilities. Those goals included:

-   Provide a safe and healthy facility

-   Use resources efficiently and effectively

-   Reduce operating costs

-   Improve operations and maintenance

-   Meet the users needs in the facility

In order to communicate the best practices to its personnel, NASA
incorporated the three best practices into one training course, which is
titled "Sustainable Design for Facilities." The course provides a global
overview of why sustainability is important in today's environment. It
also introduces the principles of sustainability; provides an overview
of the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED Green Building Rating System
for New Construction and Major Renovations, and provides project
examples of implementing sustainable designs. The course ties the
principles of design for maintainability and total building
commissioning directly to the principles of sustainable design.

The Sustainable Design for Facilities course is designed to assist NASA
personnel in understanding and meeting the new requirement for LEED
silver certification on new construction projects. Program managers and
facility personnel from all NASA facilities will have the opportunity to
take the course.

NASA currently has three facility construction projects underway that
are seeking LEED certification. Two additional projects starting
construction during FY 2006 have goals of achieving LEED silver
certification. The policy for achieving LEED silver certification in
NASA\'s Construction of Facilities program sets the bar for optimizing
site potential, minimizing non-renewable energy consumption, using
environmentally preferable building products, protecting and conserving
water, enhancing indoor environmental quality and optimizing operational
and maintenance practices.

For more information, contact Mr. Calvin F. Williams at 202-358-2322 or
via e-mail at calvin.williams@nasa.gov.

# 

# INNOVATIVE POLICY AND PRACTICE

# Alternative Financing

04-PRA-005

Walter Reed Army Medical Center Enhanced Use Leasing Project

Department of the Army

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

The Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) has engaged in an Enhanced
Use Leasing (EUL) project involving both the rehabilitation of an
historic real estate asset and a parcel of underutilized land located on
the WRAMC campus. EUL is a real estate financing tool that allows the
Federal government to lease its real property that is underutilized due
to condition or lack of construction, renovation, or demolition funds to
the private sector.

This tool allows the Army to benefit from private sector resources to
finance, design, construct, operate, and maintain real estate assets for
a term not to exceed 50 years. In return, the Army receives a
fair-market return for the real property as either cash or in-kind
consideration and a return of the constructed or renovated asset at the
end of the lease term. EUL can save money by reducing Federal payments
for operating and maintenance costs, and it can generate income from
previously underutilized property. It also provides a unique tool to
leverage private sector dollars instead of scarce Federal dollars to
fund operations, maintenance, and construction.

The WRAMC EUL project involves the revitalization of a 246,000 square
foot historic office building and a 300,000 square foot new laboratory
and administrative office facility with a parking structure on 8.2 acres
of vacant land. Through the WRAMC EUL project, the Army will be able to
leverage an estimated \$160 million of private capital to develop the
lab and office facilities. This tool will also enable WRAMC to renovate
and build facilities in a significantly shorter time frame than could
have been done if through government appropriations.

For more information, contact Mr. Alan King at 202-782-3355 or via
e-mail at alan.king2@us.army.mil.

04-PRA-012

Leavenworth Veterans Affairs Medical Center Rightsizing and Enhanced Use
Leasing Historic Redevelopment

Department of Veterans Affairs

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Heartland Network and Eastern
Kansas Health Care System have developed a unique Enhanced Use Leasing
(EUL) project at the Leavenworth, KS, campus that will rehabilitate
thirty-seven, 1800\'s vintage historic buildings through leasing
underutilized assets for up to 75 years.

This mixed-use redevelopment avoids the demolition of one of the ten
most endangered sites in the nation, according to the National Trust for
Historic Preservation. The Leavenworth campus was constructed in 1885
following the Civil War as the Western Branch of the National Home for
Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. The campus included barracks, mess hall,
staff housing, chapel, library, hospital, amusement halls, shops,
laundry, stable, greenhouses, and other facilities. The campus was
designated on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.

The success of this project is attributed to financial viability
accomplished through the mixed adaptive re-use, which includes an
assisted living facility, housing, small business offices, artistic
venues, academic classrooms and homeless veterans transitional housing.
A private developer has invested \$70 million towards the project, which
also includes an expansion of the Leavenworth National Cemetery. As a
result of this initiative, the VA will achieve a cost savings of
\$800,000 per year for maintenance of vacant buildings and land.

For more information, contact Mr. Carlos R. Escobar at 816-701-3026 or
via e-mail at carlos.escobar@med.va.gov.

04-PRA-013

Military Housing Privatization Initiative

Department of Defense

Over many years, government-owned military housing had deteriorated to
the point it was affecting the quality of life for service members and
their families. By 1996, more than 60 percent of the military housing
inventory needed to be renovated or replaced. Traditional methods to
revitalize the housing would have cost over \$30 billion and taken 30 to
40 years. Congress provided new authorities to use private sector
expertise and capital to accelerate improvements to the housing
inventory and help provide quality affordable housing. Using these
privatization authorities, DOD has developed projects that provide
higher quality on and off base housing faster and at less cost than
traditional methods.

DOD has now awarded 30 projects and has over 60,000 privatized housing
units and expects to have 136,000 units by the end of FY 2005. The
project team has developed agreements that protect the government
interest but maintain private sector control and management. The
military culture has changed to allow control of base housing to be
ceded to the private sector. The project has provided housing worth
\$6.2 billion while using only \$550 million in appropriated
construction funds. To further support the success of the initiative,
quality of life surveys have shown the military families to be
overwhelmingly positive about their revitalized homes.

Before projects are approved, a comprehensive analysis is conducted to
determine how many military families can be housed in the local
community. Projects leverage government assets and transfer existing
housing and land to the private sector to offset the need for government
cash subsidies. Housing units are built to private market standards and,
if there is a time in the future when they are not needed for military
families, the developer will be able to rent them to the public. A
reinvestment account captures excess revenues for future
recapitalization.

For more information, contact Mr. Joseph K. Sikes at 703-607-3207 or via
e-mail at joseph.sikes@osd.mil.

**Asset Management and Planning**

04-PRA-010

Environmental Risk Index Performance Measure

General Services Administration

GSA, with approximately 330 million square feet of space under its
purview, assumes various risks as a property owner and manager. To
better identify and manage the risks relating to the environmental
safety and health of its properties, GSA developed a new performance
measure, the Environmental Risk Index (ERI).

The ERI was created as a measure of the \"safety and health\" of GSA
workplaces. GSA had to define what safe and healthy workplaces meant in
the context of its operations and goals. With expertise provided from
its environmental managers, the development group was able to balance
the diverse environmental risk issues confronting GSA and establish the
13 categories within the ERI.

The ERI establishes a measure of risk for individual buildings based on
a series of multiple-choice questions from 13 categories, covering areas
such as asbestos, indoor air quality, and storage tanks. Each question
has a numeric value attached to its corresponding answers, which are
based on predetermined weights, resulting in a risk measure for that
category.

The ERI provides GSA with a measure that can:

-   Be readily explained to GSA leadership and members of Congress

-   Show how appropriated funds would improve the environmental
    performance of a particular building or of GSA buildings as a whole

-   Integrate environmental and safety practices into the GSA business

-   Reduce operations and property disposal costs

-   Increase customer satisfaction by providing safer and more healthful
    workplaces

-   Increase marketability of assets and property value

-   Further GSA's environmental and safety leadership by meeting
    regulatory requirements and its social commitment

    At the Regional and building levels of analysis, the ERI data can
    quickly elucidate characteristics of specific properties that pose
    the greatest environmental risk while providing a tool that measures
    and tracks this risk over time. GSA may also use the ERI data to
    find common themes and areas of opportunity in the Regional program.
    Prioritizing environmental risk mitigation can be done by risk area
    on a building, regional, or national basis or among the set of risks
    at a given property. The ERI also facilitates integration of
    environmental considerations into the asset planning process.

    More specifically, the ERI and the cyclical Physical Condition
    Surveys (PCS) have been integrated into each building's Asset
    Business Plan, the core planning document for GSA properties. Using
    the information from the Asset Business Plan to prioritize repair or
    reinvestment work, asset managers can make better investment
    decisions. Thus, the ERI supports a more comprehensive assessment of
    a property or properties that leads to a more encompassing
    investment decision.

For more information, contact Ms. Debra Yap at 202-501-4373 or via
e-mail at debra.yap@gsa.gov.

**Contracting**

04-PRA-007

GSA's "Best Value" Facilities Management Partnership Schedules

General Services Administration

In a groundbreaking venture, GSA now has in place a series of ten
dedicated facilities management schedules that enable the Federal
government's private sector business partners to market their services
to a huge Federal audience in over 400,000 facilities through a single
contract vehicle.

Qualified business partners agree to perform work to high standards and
at an attractive discount, guaranteeing that Federal agencies will
receive the best value available. The service categories include
complete facilities management and maintenance, fire alarm and
suppression systems, environmental services and energy management, and
independent elevator inspection. An eleventh schedule -- facilities risk
management services -- is currently under study.

This program highlights a remarkable partnership between two GSA
services with very different missions. On the one hand, through its
numerous vendor schedules, the Federal Supply Service (FSS) serves as
the source for virtually every commercial product or service an agency
might need. On the other hand, the Public Buildings Service (PBS)
specializes in real estate -- designing and constructing buildings,
leasing space, and renovating, repairing, and maintaining existing
facilities. Through the collaboration of these two organizations, GSA's
customers and business partners gain seamless service and realize
outstanding value.

In the words of GSA Administrator Stephen Perry, the fact that two
Services working together "...nearly brought tears of joy to my eyes!"
The partnership program represents a model for a fully integrated, 'one
GSA' approach to service delivery.

The 'turnkey' approach of the multiple award schedules (MAS) is built
upon pre-qualified firms that pre-price their products and services and
guarantee customers their best value. The savings from this program are
significant: in cost (eighteen percent lower than prevailing commercial
rates, in one example), time (acquisition reduced from eight to twelve
months to an average of fifteen days), and versatility (two or more MAS
contractors can team for a total solution).

By leveraging the facilities knowledge of PBS, the acquisition expertise
of FSS, and the combined buying power of the Federal government, GSA
provides best value products and services to its customers. This program
boosts GSA's performance, increases customer and business partner
satisfaction, and provides timely, cost-effective support for Federal
real property requirements nationwide. PBS Commissioner M. Joseph
Moravec sums up: "...a model for value-added service...the business case
is compelling."

For more information, contact Mr. Michael Jawer at 202-501-0553 or via
e-mail at michael.jawer@gsa.gov.

**Customer Partnerships**

04-PRA-003

Space Allocation and Relocation Communication

Department of Transportation

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Last year, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) developed a
three-day, custom designed class for FHWA offices that have a pending
office relocation. An instructor from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
presents techniques on space programming, space layout, FHWA space
standards, and selecting interior finishes with quality in mind. The
instructor also explains how to identify and arrange relocation teams to
ensure that all aspects of the relocation are considered and scheduled
in order to minimize office disruptions.  The class also discusses FHWA
policies on space allocation, FHWA policies on tenant improvements, and
gives pointers on how to perform some basic facilities management while
ensuring a good relationship with the local GSA office.  The class
covers office safety, tips on developing an occupant emergency plan
for a new facility, and ergonomics for the office.  The class also
brings in a guest speaker who recently experienced an office relocation
to discuss lessons learned.  GSA is also invited to explain all of the
services it provides to make the relocations occur smoothly.

During the class, the process of how space policy was implemented at
FHWA is explained. The National Workspace Plan (NWP) is explained to
course participants. According to the NWP, every office is allowed the
same square feet per person with a "plus factor" or support space that
is the equivalent to the space allowance for at least two people.

The NWP records the utilization rates of every office and serves as a
tool to determine which offices should be given more space, and which
should release space if the opportunity arises. This plan also allows
the offices to rate their own building conditions, telephone systems,
and furniture so that we can have an idea of where we need to budget for
enhancements. The Space and Telecommunications Team updates the NWP
annually by presenting the space information to the offices and allowing
them to rate their facilities. When consensus is reached on the NWP, it
is used as a budget tool and as a "yardstick" to weigh requests from
offices. The NWP is also referenced in the annual budget call.

The two classes held have received fantastic ratings. Plans are underway
to film the GSA module of the next class. Although the Headquarters
staff is always available to guide offices through their facilities
related experiences, having a teacher, spending three days just
discussing various aspects of space and telecommunications management
and having GSA come to do presentations and answer questions quickly
puts them in a position of confidence and prepares them to take on a
relocation. This class also serves to acquaint the FHWA offices with GSA
and to familiarize them with the services that are offered.

For more information, contact Ms. Carol Bowling at 202-366-9112 or via
e-mail at carol.bowling@fhwa.dot.gov.

# Energy/Energy Savings

04-PRA-001

Berkeley Lamp Project

Department of the Interior

As a tenant in the Federal Building at 909 First Avenue in Seattle, WA,
the National Park Service (NPS) developed an innovative practice to
purchase Berkeley Lamps and Wattstopper Isolet units for each private
office and cubicle workspace. The historic Federal Building has 1930's
style architecture and uses daylighting and modern energy efficient
lamps, fixtures and controls. When tasked to upgrade the T-12
fluorescent fixture in drop down ceilings, the common practice is to
retrofit to T-8 technology. The NPS developed the idea to leave the T-12
fixtures in place and purchase Berkeley Lamps for offices and cubicles.
The NPS determined that the lamps could provide even greater energy
savings through reduced waste, cost, and improved indoor air quality.

The Berkeley Lamp, developed by the Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory, contains two separate compact fluorescent lamps for upward
and downward illumination with dimmer controls. By purchasing 80 lamps
the NPS was able to:

-   Reduce the total job cost by an estimated 80 percent

-   Avoid solid waste disposal of 450 fixtures, 900 lamps, 450 ballasts,
    and a large number of broken ceiling panels

-   Avoid indoor air quality problems caused by disruption of the sealed
    plenum and any required painting

-   Avoid future overhead fixture repositioning when rearranging office
    configurations because the lamp moves within the workspace

-   Empower employees to control individual office illumination levels

-   Convert lighting choice from having large banks of lights on, to
    having only individual cubicle illuminated as necessary

-   Allow better use of daylighting resource

-   Achieve additional energy savings by providing the ability to turn
    off lamps and other electrical devices controlled by the occupancy
    sensor power strip

For more information, contact Mr. Stephen E. Butterworth at 206-220-4277
or via e-mail at steve_butterworth@nps.gov.

04-PRA-006

The Greening of GSA's Procurement

General Services Administration

GSA's Northeast and Caribbean Region\'s green power procurements are
precedent setting, as they far exceed the Federal Government\'s goal of
2.5 percent of facilities electricity requirements coming from green
energy sources by FY 2005. The 75 million kilowatts (kWh) of green power
that GSA is buying for its own buildings in New York and New Jersey
equals 33 percent of GSA\'s regional electricity requirements or 13
times more than Executive Order 13123 requires.

Because of its extremely large power requirements GSA has successfully
leveraged its huge buying power by aggregating purchases of green power
for other Federal agencies and non-Federal agencies. The successful
results from this large procurement create an even lower rate for green
electricity than GSA is currently paying for non-green electricity.
Effective June 2004 GSA will pay only 10.66 cents per kWh for the same
amount of electricity generated from green energy sources. GSA is
therefore saving over \$51,000 per year and is also purchasing 100
percent renewable power.

GSA also requires companies selling green power to GSA and its customers
to submit annual reconciliation reports to verify that the procurement
of green power is based on EPA, New Jersey and New York State Public
Service Commission standards. The practice of buying green power is
clearly beneficial, but not every Federal agency has sufficient internal
resources to solicit and award green power contracts.

As GSA acquires more experience in buying green power the prices for
that commodity will continue to decline. An example of the price decline
for 100 percent green power has occurred at 26 Federal Plaza in New York
City, the third largest Federal Building in the nation. GSA has signed a
contract for green power at 10.66 cents per kWh as opposed to 10.8 cents
per kWh for non-green power. This contract truly demonstrates how GSA
adopts to ever changing energy market conditions.

For more information, contact Mr. Brian K. Magden at 212-264-0591 or via
e-mail at brian.magden@gsa.gov.

04-PRA-011

GSA\'s New England Environmental Partnership

General Services Administration

GSA's New England Region continues to be committed to the development
and implementation of sound environmental practices. This Innovation
Entry focuses on recent activities that have been enacted in this
region. The buildings highlighted include John F. Kennedy Federal
Building, John J. Moakley United States Courthouse, the A. A. Ribicoff
Federal Building, and the James C. Cleveland Building.

The John F. Kennedy (JFK) Federal Building in Boston, MA, is the largest
and most prominent Federal facility in the New England Region. The JFK
Federal Building continues to have a vigorous recycling program. One
30-cubic-yard dumpster each week is diverted from the landfill stream.
This program shows a savings of approximately \$25,000 per year in
hauling and tipping fees. Not only paper, but also cardboard, cans,
bottles and plastic are recycled. A great success in this area was
achieved in 2002 and 2003 by working with industry to buy recycled
carpeting. Used carpet is returned to the manufacturing process, through
the Interface America ReEntry Program. Over 225,000 pounds of carpeting
have been diverted from the landfill back into the manufacturing
process. The work with Interface also qualifies as a Green Purchasing
Initiative.

Through partnering with Work, Inc., a cleaning contractor, green
cleaning has been initiated at the JFK Federal Building.
Recycled-content paper products and nontoxic, citrus-based cleaning
agents are being used. In addition, high traffic public restrooms have
electric hand driers installed to eliminate the use of paper towels.
This cleaning program has also been enacted at the A. A. Ribicoff
Federal Building in Hartford, CT, by partnering with Easter Seals of
Connecticut.

Since 2000, JFK has been rated an Energy Star Building. The JFK Federal
Building is operated on electricity and purchased steam with a small
amount of gas for cafeteria use. Within the last year, a chiller
replacement, lighting automation and condensate reuse project was
completed. A 900-ton chiller with R-11, a CFC based, ozone-depleting
refrigerant, was replaced with two 500-ton, R-123 refrigerant chillers,
eliminating 1500 pounds of ozone-depleting substances and making the
chiller plant more energy-efficient and creating system redundancy.
Condensate from the purchased steam has been turned into an ice melt
system during winter and a domestic water heating system for the
remainder of the year. The system has saved energy, conserved water, and
at the same time eliminating the potential for thermal pollution in the
sewage system.

The 135,000 square foot James C. Cleveland Federal Building in Concord,
NH, has just completed a major renovation. Some 2,500 cubic yards of
material were diverted from landfills during the renovation. The
majority of this material was duct, air handlers, studs, ceiling grid,
wiring, gypsum, fiberboard and rug. An additional 150 cubic yards of
reusable material was dismantled in the building and kept out of
landfills. It is estimated that 60 percent of materials demolished on
this project were recycled or reused. In addition to materials salvaged
by local municipalities, specialty items such as cipher locks, electric
strikes and alarm systems were salvaged by the Buildings Manager for
future use.

A project to recommission the John J. Moakley U.S. Courthouse in Boston,
MA, was undertaken working through the Area-wide Electric contract with
NSTAR Energy of Boston. The seven year old building is a high energy
user due to its complexity, need for humidity control to maintain its
valuable wood panels and its public activities that take place in the
evenings and on weekends. It operates an ice storage plant that makes
ice off peak to save on electric demand. The effort undertaken through
NSTAR concentrated on the control system and setting parameters around
which the ice storage system operated. New parameters were established
for the systems allowed for the taking advantage of free cooling by
reworking the operating sequences. This effort has resulted in a
reduction of 14 percent or 125,997 BTUs per gross square foot in 2003.
It is expected that this will increase to a 20 percent reduction for
2004.

For more information, contact Mr. James E. Devir at 617-565-7902 or via
e-mail at james.devir@gsa.gov.

**Historic Preservation**

04-PRA-014

Cuyahoga Valley Countryside Initiative

Department of the Interior

The Cuyahoga National Park struggled with the issue of how to handle
large inventories of historic farm properties. The National Park Service
(NPS) needed to balance the cost of preserving and managing these farm
properties while ensuring that the cultural landscape values were
preserved. The NPS partnered with the Cuyahoga Valley Countryside
Conservancy to bring new energy, and external financial and agricultural
technical capability to revitalize derelict farm properties.

The Cuyahoga Valley Countryside Initiative is an innovative program,
conceived and implemented under the leadership of the Superintendent of
the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, with multiple program objectives:

-   Preservation of agricultural properties and rural landscape values
    in a National Park setting

-   Effective balancing of the park\'s cultural and natural resource
    management objectives

-   Adaptive re-use of historic farm properties for contemporary and
    environmentally sustainable agricultural purposes

-   Conversion of financial liabilities (unused farm properties) into
    financial assets (revitalized privately operated farms) which
    generate income for the park

-   Leveraging private investment with targeted public expenditures for
    maximized mission attainment in a cost-effective manner

-   Providing for private use of farm properties while ensuring public
    accessibility and educational opportunities

-   Involving the community in multiple levels of program involvement as
    lessees, non-profit members and supporters, customers, and visitors

-   Accomplishment of the park\'s legislative mission of preserving the
    historic, scenic, natural, and recreational values of the Cuyahoga
    Valley

The Countryside Initiative is not an attempt to preserve the Cuyahoga
Valley as a static museum landscape. Rather, with the assistance of a
non-profit partner, the initiative seeks to harness community resources
with public real property assets to create a quality, lived-in National
Park setting. The goal of the Countryside Initiative, to be attained
over a 10-15 year period, is to transform a derelict agricultural
landscape into an exemplar model of sustainability that sensitively
balances cultural and natural resource management objectives. In a
decade or so, the Countryside Initiative will transform the Cuyahoga
Valley into a vibrant model of an environmental best practice in a
National Park setting.

For more information, contact Mr. John P. Debo, Jr. at 440-546-5903 or
via e-mail at john_debo@nps.gov.

**Innovative Policies**

04-POL-001

Guidelines for Wireless Telecommunication Facilities

Department of the Interior

The National Park Service issued the Guidelines for Siting, Design,
Construction, and Operation of Wireless Telecommunication Facilities
("WTF Guidelines"), which provide a clear roadmap to both public and the
private sector organizations for the installation of wireless
telecommunication facilities, such as cellular, PCS, WiFi, and other
wireless communications networks within the 75,000-acre Golden Gate
National Recreation Area, a unit of the National Park Service in the
Department of the Interior. The park is located in San Francisco, Marin,
and San Mateo counties in northern California.

Through its WTF Guidelines, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area can
protect its diverse natural and cultural resources while accommodating
industry requirements for establishing wireless communication networks
with high quality communication services. The Guidelines also benefit
public safety services provided by the Golden Gate National Recreation
Area law enforcement rangers and fire protection and suppression
personnel.

The WTF Guidelines articulate park goals and objectives and provide
examples of potentially acceptable and unacceptable sites for wireless
telecommunication facilities. The WTF Guidelines then proceed to set
forth design standards and construction requirements for WTF
installation. The guidelines conclude with a description of the permit
issuance, installation, and management process for approved WTF
projects.

The WTF guidelines have been widely praised, as striking a balance
between the demand for wireless telephony and the natural and cultural
environment found in the National Recreation Area. Local government
agencies are using the WTF guidelines for their own WTF planning and
project review.

For more information, contact Mr. Paul Batlan at 415-561-4471 or via
e-mail at paul_batlan@nps.gov.

**Tools and Models**

04-PRA-002

Alteration, Investment and Repair (AIR) Process

General Services Administration

Developed in GSA's National Capital Region (NCR), the Alteration,
Investment and Repair (AIR) Process is a three-level analysis of capital
assets to establish work and funding priorities at each step of the
capital asset program:

-   Planning

-   Approval

-   Execution

The AIR model serves to quickly and efficiently

1.  Quantify the investment, maintenance and customer-driven needs in
    the capital asset inventory;

2.  Prioritize these needs by asset; and

3.  Prioritize overall funding needs across the regional portfolio.

The needs of an asset vary according to condition, age, tenants and
other factors. Some require minor system overhauls; some simply more
intensive maintenance; while others need a more extensive reinvestment.
NCR's capital inventory, the largest in GSA, covers the spectrum of
investment objectives. AIR allows analysts to quickly sort out capital
alternatives along three tracks: Investment, Maintenance and Customer
(labeled by the identified need driving the expenditure). Work items
funneled through the PBS automated repair and alterations database
(IRIS) fill out the Asset Business Plans (ABP), one of which is drawn up
for each capital asset. Then the projects within each ABP are
prioritized within the three tracks. Finally, at the Portfolio level,
ABPs are reviewed and projects prioritized for funding.

By focusing attention upon the key strategic questions relating to the
portfolio, protecting asset value; contributing to asset income
potential; and ensuring continuity of client mission, AIR has allowed
regional asset teams to generate the greatest return possible per dollar
and hour spent on funding allocation. Tools already existing to provide
analysts with key repair and alteration data have been seamlessly
integrated into AIR. The model has been so successful in NCR that it has
been replicated, in whole or in part, in all other GSA regions. Not only
has the GSA National Office issued repair and alteration guidance to all
regions based upon the AIR business model, but the IRIS database has
been modified to show priority coding for projects based on the three
AIR tracks, and the national planning and budgeting process also sets
investment targets according to their investment, maintenance and
customer impacts.

For more information, contact Mr. Joseph Lawler at 202-205-2371 or via
e-mail at joseph.lawler@gsa.gov.

04-PRA-004

Electronic "Reverse Auction" Software Tool

General Services Administration

GSA's Greater Southwest Region liked the results previously obtained
from use of the electronic "reverse auction" procurement method so much,
it determined to explore further application of this procurement method
to other potential reverse auction opportunities. The Region carefully
considered other areas of opportunity for the application of this
electronic commerce procurement technique and included this procurement
technique as part of a carefully conceived strategic plan to further the
government's business interests.

The Region drafted and submitted a business case and an application for
grant of funding to the PBS CIO's "venture capital board" seeking
funding to develop a GSA reverse auction software tool. The Region's
economic evaluation suggested that ownership of the software and source
code by the Government would be more efficient and economical then
paying licensing fees and auction hosting fees to obtain use of similar
software from a commercial source. "Commercial off the shelf" (COTS)
software was considered for purchase and use, but upon economic
evaluation was rejected. Moreover, COTS software is mostly crafted to
address private commercial sector needs, and would not be specifically
tailored to the government's unique procurement laws, regulations,
requirements, and specific applications. These government requirements,
and attendant socio-economic programs differ significantly from the
private sectors.

The CIO's Office favorably reviewed the application and awarded the
development grant to the Regional team. The software tool was developed,
pilot demonstrated, feedback loops established, and the resulting
software both refined, and enhanced. Proposed guidance and
implementation practices were researched, drafted, and circulated for
comment within the agency. Applications of reverse auctions by other
Federal agencies and by state and local governments were studied for
purposes of determining the most successful approaches and for lessons
learned. The GSA procurement community was invited to participate in the
software development process, and those responding were intimately
involved in the development of useful features of the new software tool.
GSA procurement professionals, and the development contractor fielded a
complete software/hardware application for use in conducting electronic
commerce reverse auction procurements.

The auction software was developed to meet all requirements of the OMB
policy guidance on E-Commerce tools, and the PBS CIO's established
technical requirements. The software was designed to be robust and user
friendly, while also providing many time and labor saving features to
contracting officers that make use of it. The software is scaleable,
built on standard GSA systems architecture and is section 508 compliant.
It provides confidentiality of the data submitted and is secure so that
issues of potential procurement fraud are avoided. In fact, having
developed its own system the government is able to exert much greater
control over the procurement process and data then when it permits
outside auction hosts to have dominion over the procurement, and conduct
it on their servers.

For more information, contact Mr. Kevin Myles at 817-978-9942 or via
e-mail at kevin.myles@gsa.gov.

04-PRA-008

Corporate Property Automated Information System

Department of Agriculture

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is proactively implementing
Executive Order 13327, Federal Real Property Asset Management, which
promotes the efficient and economical use of America\'s real property
assets to assure management accountability for implementing Federal real
property management reforms.

USDA reported more than \$8 billion in real property assets in FY 2002.
As the second largest landholder in the Federal government, USDA owns
approximately 192 million acres of land and occupies approximately 51
million square feet of owned and leased space. In both FY 2002 and FY
2003, USDA achieved a clean opinion on its audited financial statements,
in part, through the efforts to reconcile, account for, and value the
real property assets. In order to sustain the clean opinion and to
improve overall management of real property assets, USDA began a program
to provide an automated solution for managing real property.

Through its own initiative to improve management accountability, USDA
initiated a project to implement the first department-wide real property
automated information system. This new department-wide system, Corporate
Property Automated Information System (CPAIS), which was implemented May
24, 2004, provides an integrated solution. CPAIS standardizes USDA real
property accounting, real property business processes and provides
management of the entire real property portfolio including owned real
property, commercial leases, and General Services Administration (GSA)
assignments.

CPAIS provides the capability to manage assets at a corporate and agency
level, as well as to address security and continuity of operations
issues. It improves analytic capabilities, allowing increased asset
utilization, cost management, analysis and reduction of maintenance
expenses. CPAIS puts USDA in an improved position should it face a
natural disaster or terrorist attack. Implementation of CPAIS allows
USDA\'s Senior Real Property Officer to develop and implement agency
asset management plans and meets the requirement of development of a
single and descriptive database of USDA\'s real property assets.

USDA sought and achieved a cost effective and efficient methodology for
implementing this department-wide system, by standardizing and
re-engineering an existing USDA agency system. USDA has gone from
concept to department-wide system implementation in 18 months;
delivering capabilities, functions and information never before
available either to agencies or the Department. This achievement places
USDA at the ready for managing real property assets.

For more information, contact Ms. Denise R. Hayes at 202-720-7283 or via
e-mail at denise.hayes@usda.gov.

04-PRA-009

Capital Asset Management System

Department of Veterans Affairs

The Department of Veterans Affairs\' (VA) Capital Asset Management
System (CAMS) is a new approach to portfolio management decision-making.
Portfolio management aims to achieve greater return on investment,
market value, and program performance at lower real property costs. CAMS
is a commercial off-the-shelf portfolio management software system that
VA configured to manage its portfolio of real property assets.

CAMS is an integrated, Department-wide system that enables VA to
establish, analyze, monitor, and manage its portfolio of capital assets,
including buildings, land, leases, agreements, equipment and information
technology. CAMS allows for web-based input of asset planning and
funding applications and extracts key capital asset cost, schedule, and
performance data from several existing Departmental and administration
data sources. The data is assimilated, analyzed, and presented to track
and monitor VA assets against performance goals within and across asset
types and organizations.

A comprehensive, corporate-level capital asset management function had
been needed for some time. Beginning in May 2002, VA implemented a pilot
to capture, track, and evaluate all real property initiatives within the
Department using commercial off-the-shelf software that most closely
offered a comprehensive, corporate-level capital asset management
function. VA refined and migrated the successful prototype into a
limited CAMS for information technology and lease asset classes. Full
production and deployment of CAMS for all VA asset classes was completed
in summer 2004.

The system captures and reports actual costs per square foot of VA owned
and leased buildings. CAMS enables the Department to compare operating,
maintenance, energy, and total ownership costs between facilities and
between fiscal years to identify possible excessive expenditures. While
there may be valid reasons for the outlying costs, CAMS provides the
prompts for further investigation and possible improvements in
organizational efficiency.

CAMS promises to provide nearly immediate cost savings with the
implementation of the leases asset type. The system will cost VA
approximately \$4.5 million to fully develop and deploy. Comparing VA\'s
current lease costs to commercial benchmarks, the Department has the
potential to lower annual lease costs by as much as \$880,000. This rent
variance was identified with the benchmarks and provides VA considerable
leverage in negotiating leases.

For more information, contact Ms. Cynthia Krohmal at 202-273-8005 or via
e-mail at cynthia.krohmal@mail.va.gov.