VFA.facility 8.4 was released to ASP sites on November 1, 2008. It adds new green functionality for understanding the costs and payback of sustainability inititatives, and enhances usability within the Configure tab.

VFA.facility Green Functionality – VFA.facility 8.4 allows organizations to indicate which requirements and actions will promote a building’s sustainability, to categorize them by specific areas of sustainability based on a preselected rating system, to document the costs and paybacks of green actions, and to generate related reports.

• Enabling Green Functionality  The new green functionality is enabled by a VFA administrator. By default, all ASP sites have Sustainability enabled, with the exception of sites that have previously been custom configured to manage information about green requirements. Customers wishing to change the Sustainability settings of their site (to enable or disable green functionality) should contact help@vfa.com.
• Selecting a Site-Wide Green Rating System  When Sustainability is enabled, a site-wide green rating system is selected. Currently available options include:
  
  
  • VFA Standard
  • LEED-EB
  • EO 13423
  • Green Guide to Healthcare
  • Green Globes
     
    
  By default, the “VFA Standard” rating system is used. Customers may request that a different rating system be enabled from the current options, or that VFA enable a customized rating system which they define.
• Creating Green Requirements and Actions  New data fields related to green information are available within the Requirement and Action screens.
   
  
• Green as well as conventional Actions can be associated with most Requirements (excluding renewals and locked requirements).
• Actions now include fields for tracking Green Project Savings, including Annual Savings, Payback in Years, and Type of Savings.
• Users may associate Green Actions with appropriate sustainability categories (for example, energy efficiency, water conservation, etc.) based on the green rating system chosen. Users may choose multiple categories, but must select one primary category.
• A Requirement can be designated as having a green corrective Action by selecting the “Green Project” checkbox within the Requirement.
• Employing Green Cost Data   In the RSMeans Estimator, green line items are available to allow users to create construction cost estimates using the latest in green building technologies, design concepts, standards and costs. Select the "Green" checkbox in the Estimator to display only related green line items.
• Generating Sustainability Reports   There are two new standard reports available in the “Reports” tab for evaluating the impact of green Actions, and comparing their costs and paybacks with conventional Actions:
   
  
• Sustainability Payback Report
• Green Action Report

VFA.facility Configure Tab Enhancements – A new user interface design within the “Configure” tab enhances usability for Administrators who manage user access and configure the site.