CFaR Current Project Abstracts

University Capital Project Strategic Intent

[CFaR041-22]
Principal Investigator:
Ian Wagschal
Director of Facilities
University of King’s College
with academic mentor:
Kenn Sullivan, Ph.D.
Professor, School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment
Arizona State University

Universities undertake capital projects to advance their institutional mission and strategy. This is the strategic intent of the project. Capital projects also pose significant risks. Projects can exceed their budgets, and be delivered late. Faculty, students, administrators, and board members can become dissatisfied with the project, creating political risks. These risks can cause serious disruption to university operations and finances, as well as damage the reputation of the university and the project team. The problem that there is little research investigating how strategic intent is a factor affecting the success of project delivery.

Question #1 (current): Does a focus on strategic intent positively impact university capital project delivery?
Question #2: Are there specific factors around the focus on strategic intent that impact success more than others?
Question #3: What risk tool would leverage the most import factors of strategic intent?

Planned Preventive Maintenance – Decision Support System

[CFaR040-19]
Principal Investigator:
Theodore J. Weidner, Ph.D., P.E., AIA, F.ASCE, DBIA, CEFP
Professor of Engineering Practice
Division of Construction Engineering & Management
Purdue University
with:
Soojin Yoon, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Construction Engineering Technology
Oklahoma State University

Preventive maintenance is an important and yet little-studied area of facility engineering. It is unclear if preventive maintenance does what the name suggests (prevent future maintenance) or whether it is just a way to keep maintenance employees busy. It is necessary to analyze data from facility maintenance records to determine the efficacy of preventive maintenance and to determine if there is benefit either through reduced annual costs, increased component/system life, or a combination of the two. Utilizing the data from higher education facility maintenance organizations may provide an answer.
Click here to participate in the research.

Custodian Impact on Student Success

[CFaR039-18]
Principal Investigator:
Steven D. Gilsdorf, CEFP
Senior Director, Facilities Operations and Maintenance
Wayne State University

The role of custodial personnel is often overlooked and undervalued in the equation for student success. This study will identify behaviors of custodial personnel that have a potential positive impact on student success, and ask the question, “What role behaviors are presented by custodial personnel that impact student success in university settings?” The study will identify additional areas where FM organizations can provide important and relevant support toward student success.

Multi Criteria Decision-Making Models for Repair and Replacement Decisions of Condition-Based Building Maintenance

[CFaR038-18]
Principal Investigator:
Deniz Besiktepe, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Construction Management Technology
Purdue University Polytechnic Institute

Aging and rising building stock have critical importance on a country’s economic and social well-being. For institutional organizations, particularly those with large building portfolios, an effective facility management approach is required to ensure these buildings function properly for their missions. The main purpose of this study is to generate a decision-making model for the effective repair and replacement decisions for building maintenance. The research will also identify the benefits of repair vs. replacement decisions with the proposed condition assessment support framework and MCDM compared to decisions given without model. Even though cost and budget are typically considered as the main factors in the decision-making process of building maintenance, concerns such as health and safety threats, loss of use, and lower performance will be emphasized as other significant factors in the decision-making process.

Measuring the Current Practices of Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Principles Used in the Procurement of Flooring in Higher Education

[CFaR036-17]
Principal Investigator:
Jeffrey L. Campbell, Ph.D.
Brigham Young University, ret.

The purpose of this research is to measure and understand how TCO principles are and are not being used in the procurement of flooring in higher education. By measuring the current practices of TCO principles used in the procurement of flooring in higher education, APPA and other stakeholders will better understand:

• what the most important variables there are in the flooring purchasing decision
• if TCO principles are actually impacting the long-term ROI (return-on-investment) for one variable (flooring) in colleges and universities
• what the current level of TCO knowledge is understood in the procurement of flooring
• what the current level of actual TCO application is being practiced in the procurement of flooring
• what enablers and inhibiters there are in gaining TCO knowledge and actual application.