Common Use For Spatial Data Validation

Government initiative

In 1995, the General Services Administration (GSA) made an effort to capture accurate spatial data through the process of measurements of facilities, verification of space classifications, and implementation of data maintenance processes to ensure ongoing data accuracy. This is now known as the Spatial Data Integrity Initiative (SDI).

GSA's SDI has contracted a handful of private organizations to carry out the operation. The response to the initiative has sparked innovative and highly accurate measuring methods in accordance with Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) standards, creating a new, revenue-increasing tool that will carry private building owners, facility managers, and real estate companies into the 21st century.

Using a combination of new technologies, managers and owners can track real estate and enables an organization to use space more efficiently, while at the same time, increasing their annual real estate revenue by up to 6 percent. The revenue is obtained by charging the tenants for the correct amount of space that they actually use.

The SDI project is primarily the combination of two actions; the first is the physical calculation and verification of spatial data. The second action is the use of high-tech software to store and manipulate this information. The SDI project uses highly precise, laser devices for space measurement, accurate to one-eighth inch over 300 ft. Laptops are taken into the field where software is used to electronically manage the measurements. Facility managers obtain real-time information about their facility for marketing and client assurance while monitoring from a single terminal.

The process

BOMA (Building Owners and Managers Association) has developed a handbook that permits standardized measurements and categorizations of all the spaces within a building, effectively removing all the guesswork. This standard was developed for private sector office buildings and is used by several large corporations. GSA adopted this standard for all of its buildings. The process of spatial validation goes through the following four stages:

• Space measurement: during space measurement, an accurate laser tool, a laptop with CAD software, and a trained team of professionals verify every element of the building. This is accurate one-eighth to one-half inch. The electronic drawing is produced to a standard that will be consistent across all facilities.

• Linking to the database: The resulting drawing is then linked to an external database. Every space acquires its own distinct "tag" that identifies the user, calculates the square footage, and links to the database. Any changes made to the tag in the CAD drawing will automatically occur in the database as well.

• Testing: The drawing and the database then go through an extensive series of tests that weeds out any possible errors. Accuracy of one-one hundredths of a sq.in. over an entire floor are routinely obtained. The database is now ready to generate tenant information reports.

• Maintenance: The existence of the electronic drawing facilitates easy maintenance to reflect changes. This allows the organization to focus on their core competencies.

Advantages

In the realm of costs saving by tracking real estate, facility managers and owners are provided with accurate electronic drawings with endless advantages. Building owners are able to increase their revenue not by raising the rent, but by charging for real space that was previously lost in old drawings. As a manager or owner, not only does your confidence increase in the figures, it also increases the tenant's confidence that rent has been established using commonly accepted building standards. This information is kept neat and clean in one central location; all data is stored in an electronic document management system that can be maintained and easily accessed by the facility manager or property owner. At any time, the facility manager can get a snapshot of the information for that building. With a touch of the mouse, the facility manager can calculate appropriate cost based on square footage and potentially increase their leasing revenue.

By knowing the correct square footage, one could possibly cut back on contracting costs that were initially set on incorrect square footage. Another benefit involves furniture ordering. Typically, furniture is ordered based on inaccurate drawings of a tenant's space. By obtaining the exact size of a space, one can be confident that the furniture will indeed fit. This has been a large problem to private organizations and realty companies where time and money have been wasted. For most facilities the validation process has paid for itself within the first few months followed by future revenue increases. The advantages are discovered daily by companies that realized what spatial validation could do for their organizations.

Like most new technologies, spatial data validation was pioneered by the "big boys," but it is now ready for the private sector at any level. A building can be spatially validated and drawn to the standards as one option. If there are multiple buildings involved in the process, then the addition of new software would help the building owner in maintaining and managing the information produced.

Julian Arhire is a Manager with DtiCorp.com - DtiCorp.com carries more than 35,000 HVAC products, including industrial, commercial and residential parts and equipment from Honeywell, Johnson Contols, Robertshaw, Jandy, Grundfos, Armstrong and more.

Success Of The Office Place Revolution

Teaming has been applied to everything from the formation of strategic alliances to the creation of facilities designed specifically to help reduce product cycles and bring goods to market faster. Reducing the product cycle has obvious corporate benefits since the cost of development is reduced. A major pharmaceutical company notes that every day that can be saved in getting a drug on the market saves the corporation $60 million dollars in operating expenses.

Corporations are also using teams to create learning organizations. When we work with others and open ourselves up to a variety of viewpoints and ideas, we learn from one another. The mutual interdependence required of team structures promotes a natural give and take of ideas, methods and processes, promoting an environment for an exchange of knowledge and understanding.

Statistics support the benefits of teaming. A recent survey of corporate managers found that 76% felt teams improved employee morale and 62% said teams improved management morale. As many as 80% thought teams contributed to increased profits, while 90% felt that teams improved the quality of the product or service. Significantly, 81% of those surveyed believed that teams contributed to improved productivity.

Team Types

A team is defined by Webster as "a group of people formed around a common goal" and possessing three attributes: a purpose (defined goal); a duration (a pre-conceived notion of how long the team will exist); and membership (a sense of belonging). Although many groups traditionally have a purpose and membership, the key to defining a team is duration. Without duration, the necessity to work interdependently loses priority.

Today's corporation may have many different types of teams, each varied in organizational structure, membership and tangibility. We can identify certain attributes that allow us to categorize teams into generalized groupings. These are sequential, matrixed and enabled.

A sequential team is linear in nature. The team members work on a process and each person works on one part of the whole. In many situations, team members are cross-trained and switch roles during the week. However, the entire process requires information to be "handed-off" in a sequential manner.

The matrixed team consists of members who belong primarily to another department or group but join forces at defined moments to accomplish a specified task. The key identifiers of matrixed teams are that they are cross-functional, multi-disciplinary and typically decentralized when not meeting as a team. They are most evident in organizations that have undergone reorganization or re-engineering to create what is often referred to as product lines or service lines of business.

The third distinct team formation is the enabled team. This team, like the matrixed team, is multidisciplinary but possesses a greater intensity. The enabled team member is almost always co-located (within the department and in the defined team space) and may be recognized more within the organization as a member of the team than as a component of his or her discipline. The focus is primarily to get a given task accomplished utilizing the best of the combined brain power on the team.

Organizations today are made up of combinations of these teams, which are created and aligned in accordance with staffing resources and business needs-the primary goal being to make the most of the collective brain power available. For this reason, team structures, in terms of both people and place, are elastic. Effective core team size does have boundaries, however. Research indicates that the ideal team size is eight people for the most effective communication and interaction to take place. Four to six-person teams are seen as the most efficient and 10 to 12-person teams have been shown to represent the high-end of any productive spectrum.

Physical Environment

If a team is viewed as an entity of collaboration, learning and increased communication among a group of empowered individuals, then the team must be together in a common physical setting. A live meeting is still the most effective way to communicate and engage in problem-solving and the physical environment will be a manifestation of the team members' need to be together.

The environment must be designed to foster interaction. Although we cannot design a space that guarantees team members will develop the best and brightest ideas, we can influence a pattern of experiences over time, therefore increasing the possibility that new ideas or connections will occur to people who can do something with them that becomes productive. Through provisions such as punctuated corridors, carefully placed casual meeting areas and magnet amenities like coffee pantries and reference areas, the physical layout of the team space can promote opportunities for chance meetings.

Variety is a key to designing the team area, to support a variety of work styles and structures. Workspaces should be both enclosed and open to accommodate quiet thinking time as well as opportunities for communication during more ordinary task functions. They may be a combination of dedicated areas for permanent residents and hoteling or shared spaces for more transient team members. Workspaces also need to be supported by multifunctional and specialty areas, such as war rooms and project rooms.

Team communication relies on the visual information members exchange with one another, a need referred as "displayed thinking". By displaying both individual and team ideas, a message is sent that concepts are acknowledged and under discussion. Displayed thinking not only airs the message within the team but advertises the team's purpose to the rest of the organization.

In concert to the need for displayed thinking, there is also a need for boundary management, the physical and social demarcation between the group and the organization. In our communities we know these as neighborhoods. These boundaries help to define team ownership and communicate to the rest the organization the value of the team structure. A team space that is surrounded by high walled elements, demarcated by ceiling soffits or flooring and highlighted through signage and reception cues is much easier for everyone to define than an arrangement of continuous open plan workstations.

In addition to information type, the size of the team may have a direct correlation to the amount of enclosure required. Work with many organizations has revealed that open area meeting spaces function best when groups meeting within them number four persons or less. Greater numbers seem to cause distraction to those occupying space around the team area; consequently team members meeting in those spaces do not feel they have as much freedom to communicate freely.

Above all, flexibility is one of the most important attributes. Users need to be able to adapt the environment to the needs they have at the moment. This isn't just a meeting, it's a team and this team is rewriting the rules of the game on a daily basis. Issues in flexibility range from designing buildings with large grid sizes, column-free space and adequate telecommunications data infrastructure to having the ability to just pick up and move the furniture.

Conclusion

At some point, we will all work in teams because there is value to interacting with each other and with our clients, because we are more productive and creative, and because, quite possibly, we like it! By acknowledging that teamspace is different from traditional workspace, we can recognize different team types within our organization, create environments that nourish teamwork and support this "new yet old" way of working.

Julian Arhire is a Manager with DtiCorp.com - DtiCorp.com carries more than 35,000 HVAC products, including industrial, commercial and residential parts and equipment from Honeywell, Johnson Contols, Robertshaw, Jandy, Grundfos, Armstrong and more.

HVAC Improvements For Existing Buildings – HVAC Retrofits

One way to identify tenant needs in existing buildings is to note what architects and designers are trying to create for clients in new buildings. The objective for a new building is to provide the ideal office space. Tenants are often looking for space that can address such issues as flexibility, modular space planning, environmental considerations and individual temperature comfort. A particular hot spot for many national tenants is to gain the highest level of productivity from their employees. This usually means the building will need plenty of HVAC zones, flexible office hours and point-of-use supplemental systems. These factors point to a flexible and often programmable HVAC system that can meet tenants' needs.

Architectural trends can also create new loads and requirements for an HVAC system in an existing facility. More natural light can increase heat loads; atrium designs can obstruct air distribution; additional zones can increase the overall volume of ventilated air needed, the quantity of heat to be rejected and the amount of outdoor air required. If a building doesn't have a flexible HVAC plant, then modifications or upgrades to the HVAC system will be necessary to compete with new building design and technology.

One factor that must be considered in any analysis of a possible retrofit is that an HVAC upgrade usually means that the building has to be brought into compliance with current codes. Some codes are based on prescriptive regulations; however, the trend to create a safer and healthier indoor environment can also bring new performance requirements. For example, over time, the percentage of outdoor air has gradually been increased, and current requirements may call for more outdoor air than many buildings have the capacity to condition. Bringing the building up to code may require a significant investment in upgrades beyond those originally planned.

Making Retrofit Decisions

HVAC systems are major energy users, and new HVAC technology is far more efficient than 15 to 20-year-old systems in place in buildings. In some cases, the energy savings alone are so substantial that they justify the upgrade investment. But in many commercial office buildings it can be difficult to justify an HVAC upgrade. Perhaps some upgrades have been performed over the years, reducing the energy savings now available. Or perhaps the owner has a too short a payback-period requirement for energy upgrades.

When energy savings alone do not clearly justify an upgrade, how does the facility executive responsible for a commercial office building determine whether and how to upgrade the HVAC system? It is best to start with the building profile. A relatively small or mid-sized building (less than 200,000 square feet) may present marketing opportunities not available to larger facilities. For instance, instead of converting a constant-volume system to variable-air-volume (VAV), it might be possible to make each floor a separate zone. The marketing plan could then be changed to focus on larger, whole-floor users with large bullpen work areas that do not require multi-zone improvements.

In a medium or large-sized building, upgrade options will depend more on the type of system already in place. If the base building system is a constant volume system, with the main fans delivering varied air temperatures to large sectors of the building, there isn't much choice. To serve the varied needs of today's tenants, the facility executive will need, at a minimum, to increase the zoning abilities. How this is accomplished depends on the building's design and business plan.

For example, new speculative office buildings sometimes install heat pumps, which can deliver heating or cooling to small or large zones, are easily programmable, and operate at about 50 cents a ton per hour. But is the first cost for installing heat pumps a good value for retrofits? Probably not if the building was configured as a constant-volume or multi-zone system. Using heat pumps would require running condenser piping throughout the building and changing the fresh air distribution; what's more, the actual conversion could not run parallel to the old system if this retrofit was attempted in the summer because the cooling tower would be reused.

In this case, options for conversion should be limited to a VAV conversion or to individual zone diffusing that does not reduce energy costs but does create comfort zones similar to VAV systems. VAV systems provide a constant temperature to the space, but the air volume varies with the comfort setting. If the building was constructed after 1975, it probably has some type of VAV system installed. The earlier systems did provide easy zone creation; however, after-hour and flexible operation were usually not part of the operating system.

The most difficult VAV retrofit decisions are the ones where the payback related to energy reduction has already been captured by vortex dampers or by the later addition of variable frequency drives. If the facility will not receive an initial influx of energy savings, HVAC retrofits will have to be justified based on increased flexibility, after-hour operation and supplemental cooling. The facility executive must spend the time necessary to understand the overall value to the asset from a marketing standpoint.

It is important that all values are considered when making the decision. More is involved than just the cost of energy. There will be other gains that are not so obvious. A new cooling tower or new chiller not only operates with less kilowatts per ton, it also has new heat transfer surfaces, better part-load abilities and generally reduces maintenance requirements. The amount of labor and maintenance required to service a temperamental HVAC system can be quite a surprise once it is segregated from general operating costs.

The facility executive must also look at the useful life of the existing system. Will there be parts available next year? Is there a service company that will be willing to support the system? If a decision is made to sell the building will the system be flagged as unserviceable? Can the system still be used when a big block of space comes up in two years? These are all questions to ask when a system is facing obsolescence and when reliability of building systems becomes a factor in the marketplace.

There are other building details that sophisticated tenants are aware of or will become aware of if they enlist a good tenant representative or broker. Consider a broker with a client that is considering an existing building over the brand-new building across the street. The potential tenant is concerned with the condition of the HVAC system and requests the following information:

• Is the ductwork and distribution system clean? Please offer some verification.


• How is the insulation attached? Is it interior or exterior fiberglass?

• Is sound batting provided?

• What is the zoning per terminal?

• What are the temperature setpoints of the zones? How many zones are in my space?

• What is the noise level of the terminals?

• Can we control the perimeter zones of the offices separately?

• Is there any asbestos on the HVAC system, piping or ceiling?

• How can I operate after hours and what is the cost per hour?

• If I want to add some additional servers, is there a tenant tower for condenser water?


• What are the watts per square foot and the cubic feet per minute of ventilation air?

• What am I guaranteed in the future?

• How will I be billed for use of my after-hour heating and cooling?

In the last few years, tenants have been even more concerned with the office IAQ (Indoor air quality) environment. The more important the staff is to the operation, the more concern for the users' welfare. Tenants are asking more questions like these:

• What is the outside air ratio?

• Where does the outside air for my area originate and can you achieve 100 percent economizing?

• Do you have a proactive plan for indoor air quality complaints?

• Do you allow smoking?

• Do you have pressurization, smoke tower, stairway pressurization or smoke exhaust system?


• Are there any negative air situations in this building and does any of the air come from infiltration?

• Is there any redundancy to the heating and cooling systems?

• What is the origin, quality and reliability of the electrical service supplying the building HVAC system?

Competing for Tenants

Potential tenants may also want to see the property's preventive/predictive maintenance program, or to review the energy or computerized maintenance program to determine what occurs when the building operates outside its design parameters. This is when a facility executive must know the market. Can the property afford not to retrofit? Very often an energy payback exercise will show the project being way off the owner's target. But the analysis must also take into account lease-up value, tenant retention, cash flow and ultimately overall asset value. If a property is competing with a state-of-the-art VAV building with lower operating costs and greater flexibility, where are the tenants most likely to go?

In a landlord's market, a building with an outdated HVAC system may do all right. In a tight market, with a lot of available space, that property may either have to reduce rent, offer concessions or decide to give tenants what they really want: An HVAC system that is flexible, usable, efficient and able to provide comfort and good indoor air quality for employees.

Julian Arhire is a Manager with DtiCorp.com - DtiCorp.com carries more than 35,000 HVAC products, including industrial, commercial and residential parts and equipment from Honeywell, Johnson Contols, Robertshaw, Jandy, Grundfos, Armstrong and more.