Department of Veterans Affairs
Washington, D.C.
(800) 827-1000
www1.va.gov
For 75 years, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has provided health services and benefits to American veterans. In 1930, the newly established Veterans Administration had 31,500 employees, a $786-million budget, and served 4.6 million veterans. Now known as the Department of Veterans Affairs, today’s VA has more than 235,000 employees, a budget of nearly $70 billion, and serves almost 25 million veterans. Now the second-largest cabinet department, the VA has one of the most diverse, challenging, and rewarding missions in the U.S. government. The VA strives to meet the needs of America’s veterans and their families in a responsive, timely, and compassionate manner to recognize their service to the nation. With 220,000 employees, more than 160 hospitals, hundreds of outpatient clinics, and 58 regional offices (totaling 1,142 facilities valued at $35 billion), the department stands ready to meet the healthcare and benefits needs of the nation’s 25 million living veterans today and in the future. Managing 5,602 owned buildings totaling 145.2 million square feet and 12.2 million square feet of leased space, the VA facilities management department’s mission is to provide exceptional asset management services and expertise to the Veterans Health Administration and other department administrations to deliver high-quality and cost-effective facilities in support of United States veterans. Efficient energy management and increased energy conservation has allowed more of the VA’s resources to be directed toward providing high-quality services to veterans. The facilities management department has revitalized its energy conservation program (ECP) to encompass all major VA entities to maximize energy conservation efforts. In FY04, the VA began reporting agency-wide energy achievements in concert with its commitment to agency-wide asset and portfolio management. The VA ECP has five essential components: energy goals and requirements, energy commodity acquisition, energy investments, energy data reporting, and a broader category of management tools, which includes training and incentive awards programs. Currently, there are over $1 billion in energy conservation and efficiency needs projected throughout the VA’s infrastructure. For more information about specific facility and key staff information on the 1,142 Veterans Affairs’ facilities, listed in the agency’s on-site Facility Directory, visit (www1.va.gov/directory/guide/home.asp?isFlash=1).
Directorate of The Civil Engineer, Headquarters Air Combat Command
Langley Air Force Base, VA
(757) 764-2001
(Although the editorial staff was not able to obtain current data pertaining to the Directorate of The Civil Engineer, Headquarters Air Combat Command, due to the significance of this portfolio, Buildings is printing information provided for last year’s census.) Information provided by the Directorate of The Civil Engineer, Headquarters Air Combat Command (ACC), Langley Air Force Base, VA, points to the breadth and width of this organization’s oversight of facilities and its involvement in the housing, support, and administration of facilities for Air Force personnel. The total square-footage portfolio exceeds 98 million square feet of space. 415 Office Buildings: 2.39 million square feet. 103 Shopping Centers: 2.87 million square feet. 35 Educational Buildings: 703,020 square feet. 59 Healthcare Buildings: 1.45 million square feet. 518 Hotel/Motel Buildings (comprising 26,694 units): 8.01 million square feet. 12,332 Multi-Family Housing Buildings (comprising 23,188 units): 34.63 million square feet. 5,803 Other Commercial Buildings: 37.25 million square feet. 625 Industrial Buildings: 5.79 million square feet. The Directorate also reports involvement in 20 Airfield Pavements: 1.09 million square yards; 1,413 Utilities Systems: 43.66 million linear feet; and 386 Support Infrastructure (roads) Installations: 24.51 million square feet. Dollar Volume of Capital Spending in 2004 Devoted Toward Facilities: Minor Construction, Restoration Modernization, $615 million; Restoration and Modernization, $363 million. Dollar Volume of Operational Spending in 2004 Devoted Toward Facilities: Sustainment, $209 million; Labor, $75 million; Utilities, $91 million; Service Contracts, $148 million; Supplies/Equipment, $50 million; Other (including Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Defense), $5 million; Military Family Housing, $140 million; and Investment Equipment, $10 million. Number of Professionals Involved Full-Time in Facilities: 10,027. Regarding projects under way, the Directorate reports that it “performs and manages maintenance, repair, and construction for ACC’s $35-billion physical plant at 15 major bases and numerous smaller installations. Annual work performed in 2004 totals $660 million (Additions/Alterations, $148.4 million; Maintenance/Repair, $248 million; Improvements, $8.4 million; and New Construction, $255.3 million). Some work will be completed in FY04, while the remainder will be completed in the following 12 to 18 months.”
Federal Bureau of Prisons
Washington, D.C.
(202) 307-3198
www.bop.gov
While the primary business of the Federal Bureau of Prisons is operating correctional facilities, certain administration, support, and policy functions are carried out by the central office, six regional offices, and two training centers. The Bureau operates 141 institutions of several different security levels to house a broad spectrum of offenders in an appropriate manner. Each facility is placed in one of five groups: minimum, low, medium, high, and administrative. Facilities are identified as Community Corrections Management Offices, Correctional Institutions, Detention Centers, Federal Correctional Complexes, Federal Correctional Institutions, Federal Detention Centers, Federal Medical Centers, Federal Prison Camps, Federal Transfer Centers, Metropolitan Correctional Centers, Medical Centers for Federal Prisoners, Metropolitan Detention Centers, and U.S. Penitentiaries. Number of facilities in each region include: Mid-Atlantic, 22; North Central, 25; Northeast, 22; South Central, 28; Southeast, 24; and Western, 26. It’s the mission of the Federal Bureau of Prisons to protect society by confining offenders in the controlled environments of prisons and community-based facilities that are safe, humane, cost efficient, and appropriately secure, and that provide work and other self-improvement opportunities to assist offenders in becoming law-abiding citizens.
General Services Administration, Public Buildings Service
Washington, D.C.
(202) 501-1100
www.gsa.gov
The GSA provides superior workplaces for 1 million federal workers and manages a total inventory of over 330 million square feet of workspace in 2,000 U.S. communities. Fifty-five (55) percent of the agency’s total inventory is comprised of government-owned buildings; the remaining 45 percent is in privately owned leased facilities. Through the GSA’s internationally recognized Deign and Construction Excellence programs, the best private-sector architects, construction managers, and engineers design and construct award-winning courthouses, border stations, federal office buildings, laboratories, and data processing centers. The GSA’s Public Buildings Service also leases space to federal customer agencies; repairs, alters, and renovates existing facilities; operates over 100 childcare centers; disposes of real property for the GSA and other federal agencies; practices energy conservation, builds green, and recycles; and preserves/maintains more than 400 historic properties in the federal government’s inventory. The Public Buildings Service’s environmental goal is to eliminate all damage to the environment resulting from its operations. The challenge is to achieve this while continuing to provide superior workplaces for federal employees across the United States. The current energy reduction target in GSA buildings is 30 percent by 2005 and 35 percent by 2010 against the 1985 baseline.
Public Works and Government Services Canada
Hull, QC, Canada
(800) 622-6232
www.pwgsc.gc.ca
Managing one of the largest and most diverse portfolios of real estate in Canada, Public Works and Government Services Canada’s (PWGSC) property management department is the Government of Canada’s real property expert. Real property professionals include office accommodation specialists, architects, engineers, real estate experts, and asset and facility managers. With $7 billion worth of real property holdings (254 buildings), PWGSC awards some 2,000 construction contracts worth more than $700 million, and over 500 contracts worth $75 million, for architectural and engineering consulting services. Fifty-two (52) percent of PWGSC’s 6.7 million square metres of space is owned, and 48 percent is leased. Using industry-developed and approved environmental assessment tools in the design, construction, and management of buildings, the PWGSC inventory is now 34-percent more energy efficient and 24-percent more greenhouse gas efficient than in 1990. The department is also committed to meeting the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design™ (LEED) Silver rating, but strives for Gold ratings in all new buildings.
U.S. Postal Service
Washington, D.C.
(800) 275-8777
www.usps.com
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is among one of the largest facilities managers in the United States in either the private or public sector. The facilities department is responsible for nearly 35,000 buildings across the country - one in each U.S. community. The USPS delivers mail to over 142 million homes, businesses, and post office boxes; serves over 7 million customers daily; and delivers more than 206 billion pieces of mail each year. It owns 8,800 facilities and leases 25,840, for a total of 34,640 facilities comprising over 300 million square feet of space. In nearly 40 percent of its facilities, the USPS has been a tenant/occupant for more than 30 years. The facilities department has 760 authorized positions, and is nationally recognized for its commitment to sustainability and energy-efficient design. The USPS currently has 381 new construction (owned) projects and 89 new construction (leased) projects under way.
* Indicates statistics received from company, based on Buildings’ Who’s Who questionnaire. In cases where information was not supplied in response to Buildings’ Who’s Who questionnaire, information was derived from public information: 10K reports, company websites, industry-related reports, Hoover’s Online, and other published and electronic materials.
