Investments in Federal Facilities

Facilities now owned by the Federal Government are valued at over $300 billion. It also spends over $25 billion per year for acquisition, renovation, and upkeep. Despite the size of these sums, there is a growing litany of problems with federal facilities that continues to put a drain on the federal budget and compromise the effectiveness of federal services. To examine ways to address these problems, the sponsoring agencies of the Federal Facilities Council (FFC) asked the National Research Council (NRC) to develop guidelines for making improved decisions about investment in and renewal, maintenance, and replacement of federal facilities. This report provides the result of that assessment. It presents a review of both public and private practices used to support such decision making and identifies appropriate objectives, practices, and performance measures. The report presents a series of recommendations designed to assist federal agencies and departments improve management of and investment decision making for their facilities. Table of Contents Front Matter Executive Summary 1 Context 2 Facilities Asset Management 3 Decision Making to Support Organizational Missions 4 Environments for Effective Decision Making 5 Alternative Approaches for Acquiring Federal Facilities 6 Adapting Principles and Policies from Best-Practice Organizations to the Federal Operating Environment Bibliography Appendixes A Biographical Sketches of Committee Members B Committee Interviews and Briefings C Interview Discussion Outline