Client
Berkeley Lab is a leading research center for environmental studies, nanoscience, quantitative biology, physics and nuclear energy. Managed by the University of California, Berkeley Lab is overseen and funded by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The Berkeley Lab complex, spanning 203 acres, consists of 107 buildings including the Advanced Light Source, a soccer-field-sized accelerator complex; the Center for Beam Physics; the National Center for Electron Microscopy; cancer research labs; genomic sciences labs and an energy sciences network facility.
Challenge
Berkeley Lab used disparate systems, including spreadsheets and databases, to maintain facility condition information and generate reports to meet DOE requirements. While this system allowed Berkeley to meet basic reporting requirements, it did not provide sophisticated cost modeling capabilities or allow integration with IBM Maximo®, the software Berkeley Lab used to manage the execution of facilities projects, including work order management.
Compliance with sustainability mandates, specifically Executive Order 13423 and the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, was another important objective for Berkeley Lab. Provisions of the mandates require new buildings and major renovations of over $5 million to achieve LEED® Gold certification, that correspond to the number of credits accrued in five green design categories: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources and indoor environmental quality. Additionally, DOE sites are required to have at least 15 percent of their existing portfolio compliant with the E.O. Guiding Principles by 2015. Like so many other organizations, Berkeley Lab needed an effective and efficient way to critically evaluate the sustainability of their buildings and identify cost-effective measures that would help them meet the requirements of the mandates.
Solution
Berkeley Lab saw an opportunity to create a comprehensive, integrated facilities assessment,
analysis, planning, work execution, and reporting system. In creating a newly integrated system,
Berkeley Lab had multiple criteria, including the ability to:
- Incorporate consistent facility condition assessment methodologies that addressed the way
the lab functioned and the DOE requirement for reporting.
- Develop detailed cost models for replacement plant value.
View lifecycle information.
- Logically group maintenance work into projects, and plan and prioritize projects.
- Automate the transfer project information to Berkeley’s work order management system.
Automate the update of condition information upon the completion of maintenance and
renewal projects, including updates on actual costs and indices.
- Integrate sustainability assessments and capture of green data.
Results
The integration of VFA.facility, IBM Maximo, and Green Building Assessments has met the key objectives of Berkeley’s integrated facilities management initiative, including:
- Creation of a central repository for facility and infrastructure condition data
- Ability to organize and prioritize deficiency maintenance needs using standardized criteria
- Ability to generate deferred maintenance projects with consistent budget estimates
- Support of compliance with federal sustainability and energy mandates EO 13423 and EISA 2007
- Improved accuracy in forecasting future capital renewal and maintenance needs
- Long-term capital renewal modeling capability, showing need versus available funding and the resulting FCI
- Support of compliance with DOE real property asset management and facilities information management system user guidelines for reporting asset information
- Achievement of Mission Readiness as mandated by the DOE
By developing detailed cost models in VFA.facility using a consistent methodology, Berkeley
Lab was able to increase the accuracy of its replacement plant values, which were previously
estimated based on insurance policy values. The new system has facilitated the development
of Berkeley’s five-year sustainment plan, and lifecycle renewal forecasting for its ten-year site
plan. Additionally, the Lab achieved Mission Readiness, which is critical for its future growth.
