Current Projects

Predicting Outcomes of Investments in Maintenance and Repair for Federal Facilities

An ad hoc committee of experts will develop methods, strategies, and procedures to predict outcomes anticipated from investments in federal facilities’ maintenance and repair. As part of its task, the committee will address the following questions:

• What risks do deteriorating facilities, deteriorating building systems (e.g., mechanical, electrical), or components (e.g., roofs, foundations) pose to the achievement of a federal agency’s mission or to other organizational outcomes (e.g., physical security, operating costs, worker recruitment and retention, healthcare costs)?
• Do such risks vary by facility type (e.g., offices, hospitals, industrial, laboratories), by system, or by function (e.g., research, administrative)? Can the risks be quantified?
• Are there ways to predict or quantify the outcomes that can be expected from a given level of maintenance and repair investments in federal facilities or facilities’ systems?
• Are there effective communication strategies that federal facilities program managers and federal senior executives can use to better inform decision-makers regarding the cost-effectiveness of levels of investment in facilities’ maintenance and repair?
• What strategies, measures, and data should be in place to determine the actual outcomes of facilities maintenance and repair investments? How can these strategies, measures, and data be used to improve the outcomes of investments?

A report will be issued at the end of the project in approximately 18 months. The first meeting of the study panel will take place December 14 and 15, 2009 at the Keck Center.