Our fourth presentation of the day was Jerry Burbridge. He has taught at the University of Texas at Arlington in the Real Estate program and is currently a Project Manager for the Cherokee Nation assigned to the Department of Homeland Security - Customs and Border Protection Division. Mostly he assists in building ports and border patrol stations under the Facilities and Management organization and works with the US General Services Administration (GSA) and the Army Corps of Engineers.
Mr. Burbridge has invented a formula for evaluating and reorganizing a space, called a site assessment, and named it 6666. It comes from the belief that every piece of land, every building, room and piece of furniture has 6 sides. These six sides are made up of what we would think of as the four sides of an object and also includes the top and bottom of an area. This is really important when you think about a piece of land. Most people usually just think of the layout and square footage but don't realize that there are building restrictions on how high something can be constructed due to regulations on air space. It is also important to research what is under the land itself. If you end up buying or building on a piece of land that is found to be contaminated you will have to help pay to clean up contamination which is very expensive.
For Federal buildings, Mr. Burbridge is using this site assessment to drive more efficient reorganization of office space. From this point on an individual's usable space will be determined by their job title. For example, an executive is now allowed only 300 usable square feet and no more. This formally regulates exactly how many people can fit into a building. He also interviews the employees in every building to see exactly what they do every day, how many times they have to walk to the file cabinet, where are they located, how often do they meet with others.
What Mr. Burbridge found was that many of the employees could telecommute (work from home), a great amount of space could be saved, and productivity actually increases. Since the GSA has reached their maximum footprint allowable, his assessments are allowing them to expand their workforce and coverage while keeping them from expanding past their current footprint. It also helps them reduce operating and administrative costs which can go back into funding necessary projects, as well as reducing pollution from employees commuting to work and waste from the buildings.
I greatly appreciate Mr. Burbridge's visit to our class. His insight into how the Federal government is expanding its sustainability program to include restructuring of current working space is very interesting. I am also very proud to know that the GSA is using innovation, customer relations, and operational expertise to develop green technologies, reduce greenhouse gases, and eliminate waste from all government facilities to meet the needs of present and future generations. I truly hope that this agency continues in its efforts to increase sustainability within government facilities.
Mr. Burbridge has invented a formula for evaluating and reorganizing a space, called a site assessment, and named it 6666. It comes from the belief that every piece of land, every building, room and piece of furniture has 6 sides. These six sides are made up of what we would think of as the four sides of an object and also includes the top and bottom of an area. This is really important when you think about a piece of land. Most people usually just think of the layout and square footage but don't realize that there are building restrictions on how high something can be constructed due to regulations on air space. It is also important to research what is under the land itself. If you end up buying or building on a piece of land that is found to be contaminated you will have to help pay to clean up contamination which is very expensive.
For Federal buildings, Mr. Burbridge is using this site assessment to drive more efficient reorganization of office space. From this point on an individual's usable space will be determined by their job title. For example, an executive is now allowed only 300 usable square feet and no more. This formally regulates exactly how many people can fit into a building. He also interviews the employees in every building to see exactly what they do every day, how many times they have to walk to the file cabinet, where are they located, how often do they meet with others.
What Mr. Burbridge found was that many of the employees could telecommute (work from home), a great amount of space could be saved, and productivity actually increases. Since the GSA has reached their maximum footprint allowable, his assessments are allowing them to expand their workforce and coverage while keeping them from expanding past their current footprint. It also helps them reduce operating and administrative costs which can go back into funding necessary projects, as well as reducing pollution from employees commuting to work and waste from the buildings.
I greatly appreciate Mr. Burbridge's visit to our class. His insight into how the Federal government is expanding its sustainability program to include restructuring of current working space is very interesting. I am also very proud to know that the GSA is using innovation, customer relations, and operational expertise to develop green technologies, reduce greenhouse gases, and eliminate waste from all government facilities to meet the needs of present and future generations. I truly hope that this agency continues in its efforts to increase sustainability within government facilities.
0 comments:
Post a Comment