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Sustainable Critical Infrastructure Systems
For the people of the United States, the 20th century was one of unprecedented population growth, economic development, and improved quality of life. The critical infrastructure systems-water, wastewater, power, transportation, and telecommunications-built in the 20th century have become so much a part of modern life that they are taken for granted. By 2030, 60 million more Americans will expect these systems to deliver essential services. Large segments and components of the nation's critical infrastructure systems are now 50 to 100 years old, and their performance and condition are deteriorating. Improvements are clearly necessary. However, approaching infrastructure renewal by continuing ...
Outsourcing Management Functions for the Acquisition of Federal Facilities
In this study outsourcing is defined as the organizational practice of contracting for services from an external entity while retaining control over assets and oversight of the services being outsourced. In the 1980s, a number of factors led to a renewed interest in outsourcing. For private sector organizations, outsourcing was identified as a strategic component of business process reengineering-an effort to streamline an organization and increase its profitability. In the public sector, growing concern about the federal budget deficit, the continuing long-term fiscal crisis of some large cities, and other factors accelerated the use of privatization measures (including outsourcing for services) as a means of increasing the efficiency of government.
Measuring Performance and Benchmarking Project Management at the Department of Energy
In 1997, Congress, in the conference report, H.R. 105-271, to the FY1998 Energy and Water Development Appropriation Bill, directed the National Research Council (NRC) to carry out a series of assessments of project management at the Department of Energy (DOE). The final report in that series noted that DOE lacked an objective set of measures for assessing project management quality. The department set up a committee to develop performance measures and benchmarking procedures and asked the NRC for assistance in this effort. This report presents information and guidance for use as a first step toward development of a viable methodology to suit DOE's needs. It provides a number of possible performance measures, an analysis of the benchmarking process, and a description ways to implement the measures and benchmarking process.
Managing Construction and Infrastructure in the 21st Century Bureau of Reclamation
In the more than 100 years since its formation, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation of the Department of Interior (DOI), through its construction program, has brought water, electric power, and recreation facilities to millions of people in the Western United States. With major water and power systems in place, the Bureau's attention has now turned to operation, maintenance, repair, and modernization of those facilities in an environmentally and economically sound manner. To help with this effort, DOI asked the NRC to advise the Bureau on "appropriate organizational, management, and resource configurations to meet its construction, maintenance, and infrastructure requirements for its missions of the 21st century." This report presents an assessment of the requirements facing the Bureau in the 21st century, an analysis of good practices and techniques for addressing those challenges, and a review of workforce and human resource needs. The report also provides alternative scenarios that describe possible future organizations for infrastructure management.
The Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing
In response to HUD's request, the NRC assembled a panel of experts, the Committee for Oversight and Assessment of the Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing, under the auspices of the Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment. Over an initial term of three years, the committee was asked to review and comment on the following aspects of the PATH program: overall goals; proposed approach to meeting the goals and the likelihood of achieving them; and measurements of progress toward achieving the goals.
Completing the "Big Dig"
Boston's Central Artery/Tunnel Project, a 7.8 mile system of bridges and underground highways and ramps, is the most expensive public works project ever undertaken in the United States. The original cost estimate of $2.6 billion has already been exceeded by $12 billion, and the project will not be completed until 2005, seven years late. The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority (MTA), the public steward of the project, requested that the National Research Council carry out an independent assessment of the project's management and contract administration practices, with a focus on the present situation and measures that should be taken to bring the project to a successful conclusion. This report p...
Learning from Our Buildings
In 1986, the FFC requested that the NRC appoint a committee to examine the field and propose ways by which the POE process could be improved to better serve public and private sector organizations. The resulting report, Post-Occupancy Evaluation Practices in the Building Process: Opportunities for Improvement, proposed a broader view of POEs-from being simply the end phase of a building project to being an integral part of the entire building process. The authoring committee recommended a series of actions related to policy, procedures, and innovative technologies and techniques to achieve that broader view. In 2000, the FFC funded a second study to look at the state of the practice of POEs ...
Financing Tomorrow's Infrastructure: Challenges and Issues
With the current emphasis on a balanced federal budget and correspondingly decreased federal participation in financing local infrastructure systems, infrastructure providers are faced with the challenge of developing new sources of capital to fund their projects. This book discusses critical infrastructure issues and brings together recognized experts in domestic and international infrastructure and finance. It provides perspectives on the issues and discusses less conventional financing techniques used in recently completed projects. This volume also discusses likely conventional financing mechanisms of the future.
Achieving High-Performance Federal Facilities
The design, construction, operation, and retrofit of buildings is evolving in response to ever-increasing knowledge about the impact of indoor environments on people and the impact of buildings on the environment. Research has shown that the quality of indoor environments can affect the health, safety, and productivity of the people who occupy them. Buildings are also resource intensive, accounting for 40 percent of primary energy use in the United States, 12 percent of water consumption, and 60 percent of all non-industrial waste. The processes for producing electricity at power plants and delivering it for use in buildings account for 40 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. The U.S. f...
