Prepared by:
Gary Sills, PSB, Construction Services
Dan Levernier, (sp) Division of State Architect (DSA)
Sandra Felderstein, DGS, Administration Division - Executive Office
Nick Cimino, Building & Property Management (BPM)

Our task was to explore how decision-focused evaluations might be developed in the DGS. A decision-focused evaluation is aimed at informing specific upcoming decisions, such as:

• Contribute to key planning or programmatic decisions that are particularly expensive, uncertain or contentious
• Diagnose troubled projects
• Test innovations, such as new building types, new technologies, new design approaches, including sustainable designs, new officing arrangements, high tech schools or classrooms, etc.

Specific Upcoming Decisions

1. East End - Raised Floor
2. Indoor Air Quality Portable Building
3. Energy Conservation Methods/#

1. East End - 350,000 square foot Building with Under-floor Air Technology
   • Question 1: What should be the initial focus? - Testing the viability of new technology; flexibility for moves and changes; satisfaction with user controls; cost effectiveness. Convince DOF and other agencies that innovation may be effective. Past experience has hurt innovation in energy technologies.
   • Question 2: How might it help me and my department? What advantages might it provide the DGS overall? - Improved customer satisfaction; cost savings; greater productivity.
   • Question 3: Who should be the "hero"? Who should initiate and run the project? - Mike Courtney initiates by establishing a team: Sandra Felderstein volunteered to run the survey and Nick Cimino volunteered to advise and coordinate with RESD & BPM.
   • Question 4: Who should be involved? - PRES staff and representatives from DSA, PMB, PSB and BPM.
   • Question 5: How can we integrate it with daily procedures and activities in the DGS? - PRES will be responsible for staff work surveys and interviews. 
   • Question 6: What barriers are there to implementation? - Few examples in private sector or government buildings from which to draw information; DOF / Legislative Analyst objections to additional cost.
   • Question 7: How can we overcome the barriers? - Commitment from the administration to support sustainable building technology; Upper Management buy-in by Dennis Dunne and Mike Courtney; active and energetic support from assigned staff.
     

2. Indoor Air Quality of School Buildings
   • Background on Issue: Air Quality in school buildings is receiving increased public scrutiny. Much of the attention has been focused on portable buildings. Evaluations of air quality need to be conducted in both portables and permanent buildings. The causes and sources of air quality concerns has been the subject of considerable speculation. Areas to be examined include maintenance and operation of HVAC; out-gassing from materials, moisture, humidity and mold.
   • DSA promulgates regulations and conducts reviews for Public School Buildings
     • Structural,
     • Fire and Life Safety
     • Access Compliance
     • General Code Compliance
     • Don't have authority for mechanical and electrical systems
   • Question 1: What should be the initial focus? - Healthy air quality for students and teachers in public schools.
   • Question 2: How might it help me and my department? What advantages might it provide the DGS overall? - Sets standards for codes and regulations. We may learn lessons that apply to other buildings. This also helps us accomplish the Department of General Services Mission.
   • Question 3: Who should be the "hero"? Who should initiate and run the project?: In both cases, the office of the State Architect, with outside consultation on indoor air quality.
   • Question 4: Who should be involved? - The aforementioned air quality consultant, DSA, portable building manufacturers, local school districts, and the School Facilities Planning Unit of the Department of Education.
   • Question 5: How can we integrate it with daily procedures and activities in the DGS? - Overseeing and monitoring the consultant.
   • Question 6: What barriers are there to implementation? - Funding, political sensitivity, and manufacturers' resistance to change.
   • Question 7: How can we overcome the barriers?- Early involvement, sharing information with parties involved.

3. Energy Conservation
   • Question 1: What should be the initial focus? - Energy efficiency - Energy Conservation Measures; Demand Management
   • Question 2: How might it help me and my department? What advantages might it provide the DGS overall? - Increased conservation awareness, lower costs, and more efficient buildings. Higher customer satisfaction with natural lighting, increased productivity, and increased occupant control over their workspace.
   • Question 3: Who should be the "hero"? Who should initiate and run the project? - Initiated by the Energy Czar, the Energy Assessments group should plan it with the advise of Building and Property Management.
   • Question 4: Who should be involved? - PMB, PSB, DSA, PRES, ES companies.
   • Question 5: How can we integrate it with daily procedures and activities in the DGS? - By improved communication and a deeper understanding of our mission and goals.
   • Question 6: What barriers are there to implementation? - Time constraints for appropriate input and implementation.
   • Question 7: How can we overcome the barriers? - More communication; commitment from the Administration to remove obstacles; an extended timeframe for input and implementation.