Tag: ACE

ACE is a joint venture of the American Institute of Architects, Associated General Contractors, and the American Council of Engineering Companies of Virginia, to educate and promote best practices of the design and construction industry. In 2018, its inaugural year, ACE held three collaborative forums that connected the design and construction professions with those that hire them. What resulted was an improved understanding of what makes projects successful from the perspective of all stakeholders, an intimate forum for business development, and an opportunity to learn about future projects.

On November 13th, ACE had its fourth and final Joint Owner Forum of the year in Roanoke. This year, we have engaged various local governments from around the Commonwealth. This session hosted stakeholders and decision-makers from the City of Roanoke, Roanoke County, Radford City Schools, and the Town of Blacksburg.

The panel consisted of the following participants:

Nell Boyle, LEED AP BD+C – Sustainability/Outreach Coordinator [City of Roanoke]
Randy Formica, PE – Director of Engineering and GIS [Town of Blacksburg]
Robert Graham – Superintendent [Radford City Schools]
Terry Kemp – Architect I [City of Roanoke]
Tarek Moneir – Acting Director of Development Services [Roanoke County]
Morgan Yates, CBO – Building Commissioner [Roanoke County]

Below is a snapshot of the key points discussed:

Upcoming Projects

• Utility, water/wastewater and infrastructure projects in the Town of Blacksburg
• Radford City Schools has aging buildings and facilities, estimated $34-$36M needed for all capital improvements for schools
• Roanoke County is focused on transportation (419 corridor), stormwater and stream restorations. The County recently installed a new permitting system to facilitate the design and construction process
• The City of Roanoke will have a bridge renovation, two new fire stations upcoming, bus transfer station, and begin the planning of an “Innovation Corridor” to connect to Virginia Tech facilities

Procurement Methods

• Annual services contracts are utilized frequently in this region by municipalities
• The PPEA process has been used for a police department, library, safety center, parking garage, and school projects. It appears that the Town of Blacksburg and Roanoke County have used this project delivery method most frequently
• CM-at-Risk has not been used by any entity yet

Energy Efficiency and Sustainability

• The City of Roanoke has made the most progress in terms of documentation and benchmarking of sustainability. By the end of 2024, its goal is to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions by 12.5% for municipality buildings and 10% for other community structures. These are new goals as the City has continually been decreasing GHG emissions over the recent years. The City tracks energy usage in all facilities.
• The City of Roanoke’s standard is to design and build to LEED Certification
• Roanoke City Schools will be engaging in a large ESCO contract soon
• Radford City Schools is looking for opportunities to save money with utilities. Honeywell recently did a study to show building energy inefficiencies which indicated that the City spends about $50k per month in utilities.
• The Town of Blacksburg has a Sustainability Manager. All new buildings are expected to be designed to LEED Silver

Regional Issues

• Transportation: Valley Metro Service – extending service between the City and County
• Balancing bicycle/pedestrian/automobile networks
• Affordable housing and Senior living units
• Urging of the General Assembly to have funding reach rural Virginia
• 40%-50% increase in wages to keep a good labor force in construction; increasing minimum wage may compound this issue
• It is difficult to project escalation in capital programs budgeting. Some projects have been bid two to three times because of the increase in construction costs

Best Practices for Success

• Responsiveness
• Demonstrating control of the schedule
• Remember that you are an extension of our staff
• Come to an interview and show that you have put some thought into the design challenge
• Prove your ability to allow collaboration and engagement, especially with the community
• Call our locality the RIGHT name
• When the project is complete – come back and check on it
• Accountability, Communications, and Trust (ACT)
• Get to the point in your RFP proposal (BLUF – Bottom Line Up Front)
• Customer service and develop effective ways of communication
• Ask for a debrief if you don’t get the project
• It can be helpful if the A/E is able to share projected energy savings from preliminary energy models during the RFP and interview stage.

Our Joint Owner Forum series will continue in 2020 so please stay tuned!

“If you are on a term contract as a design consultant and you are sitting around waiting for us to give you task orders, then you are doing it all wrong – Insert yourself into our team”
— Tom Nicholas, PE; City of Virginia Beach Facilities Engineer

ACE Virginia Joint Owner Forum Recap with Hampton Roads Local Governments

ACE is a joint venture of the American Institute of Architects, Associated General Contractors, and the American Council of Engineering Companies of Virginia, to educate and promote best practices of the design and construction industry. The unique component to these forums is that it includes those with the authority to hire architects, engineers, and contractors or those that possess influence during the selection process of these professionals.  What has resulted is an improved understanding of what makes projects successful from the perspective of these key stakeholders, an intimate forum for business development, and an opportunity to learn about future projects. 

In 2019, ACE plans to hold four collaborative events that engage various local governments from around the Commonwealth.  On April 23rd, ACE had its second forum of 2019 in Downtown Norfolk.  This event hosted stakeholders and decision makers from the Cities of Norfolk, Suffolk, Chesapeake, and Virginia Beach.  The event was followed by a networking reception that allowed for more intimate conversation with the panelists.

The panel consisted of the following participants:

Wilbur Hogge, PE – Facilities Construction Manager [Chesapeake]
Gerry Jones, RA – Director of Capital Programs [Suffolk]
Oliver Love, Jr.  – Building Systems Bureau Head [Norfolk]
Tom Nicholas, PE – Facilities Engineer [Virginia Beach]

As a region, issues of importance that were identified were transportation, resiliency, and environmental stewardship.  As such, great dialogue was exchanged regarding sustainability, upcoming projects, how to get work, and procurement vehicles.  Each segment included the audience in a question and answer period that proved to be engaging and valuable. The below sections provide a high-level overview of the discussion. 

Sustainability:  In general, each municipality is a firm believer in the importance of sustainability and has made it an integral component of the project delivery process.  As such, design professionals and general contractors are required to design and construct to identified sustainability standards.  However, it is not uncommon for the municipality to apply for an official sustainability certification only in special circumstances.  The conversation on sustainability also included resiliency.  For example, the City of Chesapeake requires structures to be built 18 inches above the 100-year floodplain.

Upcoming Projects:  Each panelist provided insight on current and upcoming capital projects.  In general, public safety projects are being undertaken throughout the region (ex: fire stations).  It is noted that the City of Virginia Beach is investing significantly in stormwater management projects, to the tune of $644M over the next five years, to counteract sea-level rise. 

How to Get Work: 

The below outlines the most prominent tips offered by these decision-makers:

• Honesty – Tell me if the proposed budget is not going to be feasible
• Quality Control – Please incorporate our review comments
• Bring the team that will be doing the work to the interview
• A regional presence can be important – You are an extension of our staff
• Keep to the schedule
• Be realistic with your construction cost estimates so that the City can have realistic expectations on bid-day
• If you are on a term contract as a design consultant and you are sitting around waiting for us to give you task orders, then you are doing it all wrong – Insert yourself into our team

Procurement Vehicles: Each locality uses a variety of procurement methods for project delivery identifying advantages and disadvantages of each.  Design-Bid-Build continues to be the most common delivery method, however, each Owner shared their concerns about lack of control over the selection of the general contractor.  Norfolk and Suffolk have used Design-Build on projects and find it favorable.  It appears that Construction Manager At-Risk and PPEA models are the least utilized.  It was noted that annual services contracts, or term contracts, are great vehicles for design consultants to build relationships with City staff.    

The next forum will take place in September with Northern Virginia area local governments.