Department of General Services

Real Estate Services Division & Division of the State Architect

MINUTES
POST OCCUPANCY EVALUATION PROGRAM
KICK OFF MEETING
APRIL 12, 2001
1102 Q St. — Conf. Rm. 5000-01
Sacramento

Attendees:

Dennis Dunne, Chief Deputy Director, DGS
Steve Castellanos, State Architect, DSA
Mike Courtney, Deputy Director, DGS
Jack Barr, Chief, PSB
Rich Sturman, Chief, CAM
Cheryl Fuller, Fuller Coe
Craig Zimring, Consultant
Lee Willoughby, PMB
Norton Chapman, PSB
Richard Conrad, DSA
Lisa Drury, CAM
Sheral Gates, APE
Bruce Johnson, BPM
John Otto, PMB
Bettie Tsuda, PMB

Purpose of the Meeting: Kick-off meeting for the Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) program.

1. GOALS

The goal of the Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) program is to complement the DGS Excellence in Public Buildings Initiative by providing the fundamental basis for measuring the quality of the design and construction of public buildings. Both Messrs. Dunne and Courtney felt that the POE would raise the bar on the good work already being done by the department. The POE concept has been around for over 30 years and is currently being used by the federal GSA. If done well, they felt our POE program could put us ahead of many programs in the United States.

Mr. Zimring added that while cars and computers have gotten better over the years, buildings being built today are no more comfortable than those built ten years ago. If changes are to be made, it becomes incumbent on the large building deliverers to make that change. Large building delivery agencies such as the GSA and DGS can set the standards and change the way buildings are being constructed in the country.

The goal is to build buildings that provide a safe and comfortable work environment to enhance worker morale and productivity.

2. CHARTER

Copies of the POE Team Charter were handed out at the meeting. The responsibilities of the Charter Team are as follows:

1. Strategic Plan - Develop a POE Strategic Plan that will consider application of POE on capital projects in RESD as well as school projects through DSA.
2. Quick Response Study - Develop a plan for Quick Response Studies (QRS) that can be applied on capital projects in RESD as well as school projects through DSA.
3. Consistency – Insure that development work on the Strategic Plan and QRS be considered and be consistent with the RESD Business Plan, Excellence in Public Buildings, Blueprint for State Facilities, One DGS, Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Building Design and other applicable initiatives.
4. Teams - Form POE Advisory Teams that consist of customers of RESD, representatives of school districts and the Department of Finance.
5. Implementation Plan - Develop an Implementation Plan following acceptance of the POE Strategic Plan and QRS by the Steering Committee and Executive Sponsors.
6. Training Plan - Develop a POE Training Plan to be presented throughout DSA and RESD following acceptance of the POE Strategic Plan and QRS by the Steering Committee and Executive Sponsors.
7. Evaluation - Remain active and meet quarterly with the Steering Committee and Executive Sponsors for a period of two years to evaluate the effectiveness of the POE Program and make recommendations for changes.

3. CONSULTANT TEAM

To assist the charter team in attaining the above, the services of Cheryl Fuller and Craig Zimring (Fuller, Coe & Associates, Inc.) have been retained. Both Mr. Zimring and Ms. Fuller have been involved with POE for years and are nationally recognized experts in this field.

4. WASHINGTON, D.C. TRIP

Mr. Chapman reported on his recent trip to Washington, D.C. to attend two functions — a POE conference conducted by a federal agency and a day-long meeting on GSA Design in Excellence for Federal Buildings. He found both to be highly informative and valuable in how we evaluate existing buildings. He also learned of GSA's web-based facilities management program currently being used on over 1,700 buildings. GSA has used POE for over 10 years, most recently on the Federal Courthouse in Sacramento, where DGS staff observed the process. In some cases the architect is compensated for including POE into their projects. A "Design Excellence in Leasing Model Summary" handout was distributed that offered five different models that could be used in leasing arrangements. The Lab in Richmond is planning to use two or three of these models.

Mr. Willoughby added that opening a dialog with GSA on POE and other common challenges would be beneficial to both parties. Since GSA and DGS are the two largest developers of public projects, they could learn much from each other.

5. SCHEDULE

The consultant team (Cheryl Fuller and Craig Zimring) will be drafting the language for the Team's Strategic Plan and Quick Response Studies (QRS). The following is a schedule for receipt of some of the drafts:

• Late April 2001 — Draft goals and objectives
• Late May 2001 — Strategic Plan draft
• Late August 2001 — QRS draft

The Charter Team will receive the drafts and then submit the final drafts to the Steering Committee for review prior to submission to the Executive Committee for approval

6. KICK-OFF ACTIVITIES

The consultants have set up a website (http://herring.cc.gatech.edu:8080/dgspoe/2) for disseminating information on the DGS POE program. Mr. Zimring urged Team members to get the word out on the site, which is set up to be interactive. A walk-through/demonstration during the meeting displayed how questions or comments could be posted on the site, promoting discussions and/or responses. Mr. Willoughby asked the consultants to add schools to the website.

The consultants also proposed a kick-off contest with a cash award as an incentive to get people interested and involved in POE. The contest would be for RESD and DSA employees to submit a statement in response to the question: "How Can Post Occupancy Evaluation help you or DGS do a better job?" Ms. Fuller added that linking the website to the contest announcement would get more people to visit the site.

Management was supportive of the contest idea. The Charter Team will serve as the judging panel and the winner would receive a cash prize as well as their statement being posted on the POE website. Since public funds cannot be used for such a cash prize, Messrs. Dunne, Castellanos and Courtney have donated out-of-pocket cash for a $100 award.

It would be desirable to get the contest published via e-mail, and the Team was given approval to move forward quickly on this. It was anticipated that a the e-mail could go out as early as Friday (4/13) or the following Monday (4/16). The consultants will prepare the contest language and submit it to the Team for approval prior to distribution.

7. EXCELLENCE IN PUBLIC BUILDINGS

Mr. Castellanos reported that the DGS Excellence in Public Buildings Initiative was based upon Senator Moynihan's efforts to build better GSA buildings. Public policy goals and public works projects impact local communities and the marketplace, and we need to think in the long term — 50-70 years down the road. Sustainability is key in determining if a 50-year old building can be retrofitted or must be replaced. And the escalating energy crisis means that energy efficiency must also play an important role in public works construction projects. He felt the POE program would allow us to collect the needed data to build better and more efficient buildings, and that the California Building Code would benefit from the lessons learned as well.

Mr. Conrad indicated his support of and the critical need for building commissioning. Commissioning will be included as part of the scope of work on numerous capital projects.

8. TEAM MEMBER INVOLVEMENT

Mr. Willoughby commended the consultants and Team members for their support and active involvement as this program gets started. He encouraged their continued support and commitment as the program advances along.

To keep Team members and interested parties apprised of this program's progress, meeting minutes, notes, bulletins, etc. will be posted on the website for easy access and faster dissemination.

9. CHALLENGES

Mr. Willoughby acknowledged that, while there is strong support of the POE program from top DGS management, the challenge lies in obtaining an equal level of support from the rest of RESD and DSA staff, our clients, DOF and the LAO. The burden would be on the Charter Team, Steering Committee, and Executive Sponsors to work with affected participants to engender the needed support and proactive involvement to make this program successful.

Mr. Dunne indicated that we should plan up front for what the database should contain. He recommended charette sessions involving DGS, client agencies, and decision-makers to find out what we need to know about all projects. We don't what to overburden the program or our clients with gathering of excessive and unnecessary data.

Mr. Sturman noted that it was proposed the initial POEs would be on projects that cost over $1 million. That would leave a lot of smaller but equally important projects unsampled. He suggested exploring other alternatives like seeing how many of a particular type of project we do a year rather than the cost. There are usually only a few high-cost projects but many lower cost projects at multiple sites (i.e., forest fire stations). These smaller multiple-location projects may benefit more from POEs than a high cost, single-location project.

Mr. Sturman added that the CAM Branch conducts an annual Customer Survey which focuses on services provided over the course of a year, but that those surveys did not provide clear information to management on how individuals in the Division are performing. The POE QRS could be a tool for instant feedback on how a specific project is doing.

10. NEXT MEETING

The next meeting of the POE Charter Team will be held on Thursday, April 26, 2001, 9:00 — 11:30 a.m in Conference Room 5000-01, 1102 Q Street, Sacramento.

11. OTHER ITEMS

Messrs. Dunne and Willoughby commended all those involved in the development of the POE program.

I, Bettie K. Tsuda, do hereby certify that, to the best of my knowledge, the foregoing is a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Post Occupancy Evaluation Kick Off Meeting held on the April 12, 2001.

Respectfully submitted,

Bettie K. Tsuda
Assoc. Govt. Program Analyst
Phone: (916) 323-1481

cc: Meeting Attendees
Steering Committee Members
Charter Team Members