Capital Project Planning
Suggested basic phases, steps and activities or milestones (not necessarily listed chronologically) for launching a capital project in the United States are outlined below:
A- Begin the Planning Process. This initial activity has been labeled "pre-design and planning." Set aside at least 1% of the anticipated project costs. Attaching money to the process, early on, will minimize the useless activity of "planning for the sake of planning." The educational facility planner’s (an educator who is also a planner) job is to ensure that the educational institution who is also a partner in planning, clearly defines the functions to be performed in the facility through focused strategic planning activities. The advantage of this step, completed in the absence of an architect, is to clearly define the functions the will go on in the spaces. Note, at this point the architect has not been employed. (Obviously, the activities discussed here are more for small to medium sized school districts that do not have architects as full-time employees.)
Example
Pre - design and planning activities:
* An interactive discussion on sound planning premises.
* Importance of environmentally friendly facilities (Green - LEED).
* How a philosophy of work, teaching, or learning suggests certain goals for facility design.
* A comprehensive review of research-based examples of design patterns that influence Behavior, Attitude, and Learning.
* A qualified educator who is also a planner guides the educational organization through activities leading to a specific concept design based on organizational goals.
* The outcome is a detailed, research-based, illustration of what the clients want the facility to be.
B- Forecast Client Population. Review records of past practices and adjust the forecast to match the new goals and objectives of the organization established in Step A. When working for public schools, forecast the school district's student population for at least 10 years – 20 is better.
C- Determine Feasibility by conducting an area analysis and program and organizational analysis.
*D- Establish Space Needs and Sustainability Goals.
E- Prioritize Needs.
F- Formally Adopt Findings of the Needs Assessment and above activities (A, B, C, D, E).
G- Given the Results of the Analysis, Decide to Build a New Facility or Renovate Existing Structures.
H- Complete the Concept Design Process with Owners and Stakeholders.
*I- Hire an Architect and Convert the Concept Design into Working Schematic Drawings (Translate Functions into Forms). You may include organic (GREEN – LEED specifications) concept design in steps A - H above.
J- Develop Capital Budget Estimates with the Assistance of a Professional Estimating Service.
K- Acquire Financing for the Project (this is a parallel activity)
L- Engage in the Construction Process
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* (Optional) Architect may be engaged as early as Step D.
CODA
In the process outlined above, I attempt to bring a modern version of an old idea to educational facility planning that emphasizes "true" stakeholder engagement. I am attempting to take you back in time to the 1940s through the 1970s, while employing modern and relevant technology in planning today, including the LEED concepts.
If you wish to get a feel for where my foundation and research interests originate, then think in terms of the survey movement of the 1940s and 1950s, systems analysis of the 1960s, the EFL of the 1970s, and the crisis movement of the 1980s and 1990s (the dark ages of educational facility planning, ... the day the "music died" - the time when many school facilities in the United States were planned with a "drive-through window" mentality allowing little input from the clients). [Think windowless classrooms, for example - think exclusion of the people that pay the taxes for school construction from the process - think elimination or minimization of educational facilities planning as part of the graduate curriculum for educational leaders].
For graduate students wishing to find a dissertation topic, I strongly recommend a comprehensive historical analysis of the school facility planning process in the United States, perhaps from the era of Henry Barnard to the present. A team approach (3 or 4 dissertations) might yield a better product. This activity is, in my opinion, a bright spot for educational facilities planning and its future. “The future ain't what it used to be.” From Yogi Berra quotes!
Planning is essential and necessary to success of a building project. Consideration of various needs and resources available will direct the vision of projects and will help calibrate a balance between cost reduction and required need. Capital to begin a project will indeed spur confidence in a project. It will also be especially important to detemine projections and sustainability of a project to ensure that it is necessary for educational needs. Great blog and post!
ReplyDeleteT.Jones TSU
Thanks for the outline of phases, steps and activities involved in planning building projects. I found one of the phases of particular interest. For Phase G: Determining whether to renovate an existing structure or build a new facility. You simply stated using an analysis of the previous A - F phases. In the district in which I am employed there are schools that were built as part of the WPA programs. There are beautiful. I see new schools being built with all the latest while older schools 50 - 60 years old are dilapidated. I think that the morale of students, teachers and the community are affected by the condition of the school. I have been curious about how these type of decisions are made. Perhaps as you suggested a protocol analysis would assist in making the decisions more consistent, productive and fair.
ReplyDeleteThe steps that you present are helpful and make sense. The dilemma that I see is the few schools I have witnessed that do not even come close to following these guidelines. I think that it may be helpful for smaller, rural schools to go ahead and start with an architect who is experienced in these things and who can walk the school personnel and stakeholders through these steps that you present. The thought of building a new facilitiy, although exciting, may also be very stressful and scary to most people in smaller districts. Thank you for offering these helpful steps as a guideline.
ReplyDeleteIn forcasting client population, do you find it more difficult to do in our current economy? You mentioned forecasting the school district's student population for at least 10 years, but I ponder if this is harder to do with the amount of housing forclosures and jobs that are being reduced in many areas.
ReplyDeleteJ. Martin - TSU
I have worked in several districts which built new buildings without the input of the stakeholders especially those who have to work within them. Classrooms designed to perform in only traditional manners with rows of students sitting quietly at their desks do not work well for other non-traditional uses. Placement of such things as outlets, cabinets, switches, white boards, projectors, and screens, needs to take into account movement within that room or future possible uses. By not including students, teachers, and members of the community, those facilities can be obsolete before they are even built.
ReplyDeleteA. Carter TSU
I am particularly interested in the Pre-Design and Planning Activities. I would wager that these are likely to be the activities chiefly guided by a superintendent or facility manager. Is there a more in depth resource that covers these topics (comprehensive review of research-based examples of design, how philosophies guide design, etc.)? Is there a certification program that could be attended by school leaders that would give them the qualifications to perform these pre-design activities efficaciously?
ReplyDeleteI would like to post a comment or actually a wondering regarding phase B. - Forecast Client Population. You recommended determining the district's student population and their needs for 10 to even 20 years when planning school facility improvement or building new. With all the charter, voucher and virtual schools increasingly becoming a reality, I consider planning for the future needs for public school facilities as a difficult task. Many educators feel that this type of education is a fad and will phase out. I think virtual schools are becoming more of a reality than we realize.
ReplyDeleteIt is refreshing to have a professional give practical guidelines that can be followed before the hiring of an architect, thus saving the district some money in the process. This way the district is not also wasting time trying to figure out what they really want and need while the architect is really not needed. By following these steps the smaller district can come to the architect with a direction and the partnership of the district and the architect can hit the ground running.
ReplyDeleteJ. Purser
I noticed a brief mention here of green planning. Though, this is a short outline of the beginning steps, do you feel that schools are working toward or away from green planning in today's economy? Are the needs assessments and priority goals vastly different in the various regions of the country?
ReplyDeleteJDuckett
One thing that I have noticed in the specifics under plannning is that of sound. Being a former band director, I am rather atune to acoustics within the walls of the schools. For the most part the older buildings I have been in are fine, but newer buildings tend to have sound bleed from room to room.
ReplyDeleteWhile this is bad for athletics, band, choir, drama, and art; it truly impacts traditional non-elective classrooms the most. For example, when one classroom roar bleeds out into the hallway or even through the wall to another classroom and interrupts instruction.
I would hope to ensure solid accoustical treatment of a school to diminish or really eliminate this issue. In addition, would this not make schools safer? For example, if I had hallways without carpet (many schools do)and a lone gunman or disgruntled parent storms the castle so to speak, then carpet would help diminish sounds that would help diffuse difficult situations by helping localize noise and then an agent of the school could easily identify any concerns that they may have.
I have found accoustices are vital to learning and can be easily overlooked in the building process; however, learning can be good or it can be bad depending on a learner's experience. Our focus has to be on providing the best learning environment and sound can provide for this.
TJones TSU
I am currently employed in a small school district where the administration is very frugal and it does pay off. Ten years ago we added a wing to an existing WPA built school. The planning process didn't include the stakeholders and the lowest bid probably built the building. I can see where the whole process outlined above is necessary for all involved. I have printed the information to keep for future reference. Thank you for the great information.
ReplyDeleteB.Irick (TSU)
One of the hardest things for a school board too understand is how long it takes just to get to the building process. Our board did not relized the amount time and money that had to be spent just to try and get a bond passed. It was a great learning experience for everyone.
ReplyDeleteCGibbs(TSU)
My knowledge of facilities planning is very limited so it is nice to see the Capital Project Planning phases listed out to help me understand more. Like previous posts, I really took attention to step B. Forecast Client Population because I feel it is getting more difficult to predict. I have heard of schools being built better never able to open due to lack of funds or the student population wasn't as big as projected. It is very challenging to predict that far ahead when trends are constantly changing due to the economy. I agree though that is necessary to always plan for the foreseeable future. S.Ellason (TSU)
ReplyDeleteTwelve years ago or so, my district had a demographer do a study to determine growth trends; he determined we would need multiple new buildings. A new subdivision promised many new students. A bond was passed and construction began. As time passed, however, the pace of growth slowed, and homes in the new subdivision stopped selling. Some of the plans for new buildings were put on hold, and some remodeling was postponed until greater need and funds present themselves.
ReplyDeleteI guess the lesson I learn from this is that you get the best advise you can, plan accordingly, and make adjustments as you go. You can't remain inactive, nor can you make a plan and stick with it, regardless of later developments.
I have read the initial post and all the comments with great interest. Schools are not only critically central to how each community functions daily but also extremely important in the formation of habits and culture for the next generation of humans.
ReplyDeleteI firmly believe that a school facility reflect a community and vice versa, which can be envisioned, planned, and implemented in many different possible ways. While going through all of the steps and procedures - mentioned above - to streamline the effectiveness of these facilities, let us step back and evaluate what we are creating from an ecological and environmental perspective as well.
Let us remember that a school that is safely walkable, bikeable, and enjoyable by its community can provide communal places and activities that can glue the community together rather than facilitating the isolation of its members.
As regards to ecological and environmental aspects, let us remember that, at the end of the day, the planning process should yield an environment that is designed to charge, stimulate and activate its members physically and socially. The most ecologically and environmentally responsible facilities would be the ones that are planned to be less dependent on vehicular transportation systems, which also tend to isolate humans, reduce interactions, and increase many other undesirable social and developmental consequences.
Once these environments are developed they tend to regulate our lives for generations. While it is relatively hard to forecast what the world would be like for the next generations some of the foundational facilities of our communities should provide a stable ground for ecological cohesion and environmental sustenance into the future.
TToros-KSU