massive solar project at Luke Air Force Base is expected to provide power for a majority of the base by 2011, strengthening the U.S. Defense Department’s reputation as Arizona’s biggest proponent for renewable power and energy efficiency.
Luke Air Force Base may become a solar force
July 24th, 2010Is your team reactive or proactive?
July 24th, 2010Is your facility management team drifting too far toward being reactive? What can you do to operate more proactively?”
Sounds pretty common right?
Sometimes it helps to step back a bit.
Are you reacting to the same types of things over and over?
Are there “fixes” you could implement more broadly to eliminate similar issues?
Are repair / renovation projects considering all aspects of a particular building, and can you apply similar jobs to multiple buildings at the same time?
How recent was a condition assessment done, or updated? Condition-based repair/renovation can go a long way toward proactive facility management.
Are you capturing and reusing previous repair/renovation job estimates for future use to save time and money?
Plumbers keep the flow at Pope AFB
July 20th, 2010While most people don’t think about how they get their water, it is the mission of every civil engineer plumber to make sure clean water is received, and all water delivery systems are in working order.
Plumbers routinely install, repair and maintain piping, fittings and fixtures involved in the distribution and use of water in a building, but for members of the 43rd Civil Engineer Squadron plumbing flight, it’s more than that.
Find out more about Air Force Plumbers at Pope AFB.
JOC and 4d, 5d BIM
July 17th, 20104d-5d BIM will support facility management and associated construction projects, however, more efficient construction project delivery methods MUST be linked to your BIM strategy.
Whether integrated with 4d, 5d BIM or stand alone, Job Order Contracting – JOC / SABER – is the standard for facility renovation, repair, and sustainability construction project control and transparency.
Whether you’re in higher education, K-12, state/local government, DOD, or healthcare, the need to increase construction project efficiency has never been greater.
JOC reduces costs and increases quality by fostering collaboration, rewarding performance, and cutting through the archaic, ad-hoc processes associated with traditional DBB (design bid build) and provides additional benefits vs. design build.
From concept, through close-out, proven software www.4Clicks.com available to embed and assure the JOC process and it is populated with an exclusive 400,000 line item extension of the RSMeans cost database. Features and benefits include in the JOC software technology deliver robust performance and “real-time” visibility for managing construction projects, programs, and contracts including JOC, SABER, IDIQ, SATOC, MATOC, MACC, POCA, and BOA. With features including collaboration, cost control, automated technical evaluation, document management and full reporting capabilities.
Project-based organizations within AEC, Commercial, and Public sector industries use e4Clicks to reduce capital construction time and costs. General contractors, sub-contractors, A/E’s and owners owners and public institutions efficiently manage billions of dollars of critical facilities repair, renovation, and sustainability project data in one central software system, where process management best practices are supported. Project team members collaborate to scope projects and avoid potential areas of risk before they impact project delivery performance and cost.
Change to FAR 51 Creates New Opportunities
July 14th, 2010A recent change to FAR 51.1, Contractor Use of Government Supply Sources, may create expanded opportunities for GSA Schedule vendors. The change now permits Prime Federal Contractors to use the GSA Schedule as a source of supply when deemed appropriate for fulfillment of agency requirements. Previously, this was rare and only authorized on cost-plus contracts.
To learn out more please visit this site.
JOC / SABER – The Solution for “GREEN”, “Sustainability”, and LEED EB
July 8th, 2010Sustainability and Green refer to the designing and maintaining the built environment to in concert with economic and ecological needs.
Federal agencies are required to achieve 30% energy and water reductions by 2015 and zero use of fossil fuel by 2030 with schools and municipalities facing similar requirements.
JOC (Job Order Contracting) and SABER (Air Force equivalent of JOC) are optimal methods for efficiently planning, bidding, and executing sustainability projects with the funding available from billions of dollars via the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
Many “green” projects, however, suffer from poor planning and costly paperwork/contract document and project management issues largely associated with outdated contracting methods.
JOC offers a remedy for EB (existing buildings) / LEED EB green renovation projects.
JOC allows the owner and contractor to work together from the beginning, scoping the project, and developing the plans, specifications and requirements to complete the sustainability / green renovation, repair or minor construction projects, on time and within the approved budget. If owners decide to go the LEED® certification route, they can review current conditions with contractors and discuss construction concerns and associated remedies to reach established targets – up-front – with a firm fixed price for each delivery order, prior to issuing a notice to proceed.
Peterson Air Force Base Honors Victims of 9-11
June 23rd, 2010A long time 4Clicks’ client, JBI Construction, was asked to build a 9-11 Memorial for the Peterson Air Force Base, as part of a joint venture partnership with SB Construction.
On April 30, 2010 a piece of damaged steel was delivered to the JBI Construction warehouse, a floor beam from the World Trade Center.
Designed and managed by the 21st Civil Engineering Squadron via a SABER contract, construction was a collaborative effort fortified with a spirit of dedication and remembrance.
The memorial dedication ceremony was May 18, 2010. The plaque reads:
“In Remembrance of the nearly 3,000 innocent lives lost at the hands of terrorists on September 11,2001.
This steel beam – recovered from the remnants of the World Trade Center – is pointing towards New York, and pays respect to the lives lost there.
The Pentagon-shaped planter honors our fallen comrades and friends at the Pentagon. The Pennsylvania soil in the planter pays tribute to the brave passengers of Flight 93.
From the ashes of the terrorists attack on September 11 arose U.S. Northern Command, a combatant command ready to defend the homeland and support civil authorities.
This memorial is for all to know that U.S. Northern Command stands ready to defend liberty.
Let us never forget.”
MasterFormat Updates
June 16th, 2010MasterFormat® Updates:
Did you know Masterformat2004 will now be revised annually each spring?
Did you know there is now a new Division?
The major updates to MasterFormat2004 are:
A new division, Division 46 – Water and Wastewater Equipment, which significantly expands the document’s coverage of environmental engineering specifications
Revisions to Division 44 – Pollution and Waste Control Equipment, so that it complements the addition of the new Division 46
New specifications related to polished concrete (Division 03)
The next revisions are scheduled to be announced in spring 2011.
RSMeans is an excellent cost basis
June 14th, 2010How many times have you heard … RSMeans costs are “too high” or “too low”? …. You can’t use RSMeans for replacement value?
RSMeans is the “Bible” for most, if not all, experienced and successful cost estimators. RSMeans is an excellent cost basis to derive construction/replacement, renovation, repair, and maintenance values. Proper adjustments in forming an estimate based up localized experience, conditions, and knowledge can then be applied to supplement the cost information.
The U.S. Government (among others: higher education, K-12 school systems, state/local governments, private industry) uses RSMeans as a the primary basis for contract payments, budgets, and replacement cost estimates.
What’s the difference between construction cost estimating, and construction cost engineering?
May 24th, 2010Another great question from a 4Clicker – “What’s the difference between construction cost estimating, and construction cost engineering”?
“Construction Cost Estimating” is the process/service of determining the future cost of a construction project/program for a new building, or the repair, maintenance, renovation, or renewal of an existing building ( or other physical infrastructure asset – dam, roadway, bridge…) computed on the basis of available information . The use of a reference construction cost databases (for example, RSMeans, combined with local knowledge is typically considered “best practice”.
“Construction Cost Engineering” is the process/services of creating cost data (for example, reference costs, cost databases and/or costing algorithms) for the purpose of for construction, repair, maintenance, or capital planning purposes. Cost engineering is an area of engineering practice concerned with the “application of scientific principles and techniques to problems of cost estimating, cost control, business planning and management science, profitability analysis, project management, and planning and scheduling.
e4Clicks Project Estimator let’s estimators be estimators, not cost engineers.