A Framework for Identifying Key Decision Makers for ......A Framework for Identifying Key Decision...
Transcript of A Framework for Identifying Key Decision Makers for ......A Framework for Identifying Key Decision...
A Framework for Identifying Key Decision Makers for Institutional Owner Capital Projects
Sushil Brion Shenoy
Thesis submitted to the faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Science
In
Civil Engineering
Annie R. Pearce, Co-Chair
Michael J. Garvin, Co-Chair
Chris M. Fiori
August 14th, 2009
Blacksburg, VA
Keywords: Stakeholders, Key Decision Makers, Framework, Institutional Owner, Construction Project
A Framework for Identifying Key Decision Makers for Institutional Owner Capital Projects
Sushil Brion Shenoy
ABSTRACT
The Federal Government spends $40 billion dollars a year maintaining its facility portfolio. As a
result of the size of investment and current economic conditions, the government and other
institutional owners are facing increased pressure to optimize their investment in their portfolios.
Green design offers a way for owners to accomplish this. Part of the definition used by the
General Services Administration (GSA) for sustainable or green design is minimizing the total
life-cycle ownership cost of a facility. Many tools, such as BUILDER or IMPACT, are available
to aid institutional owners in this task; however, most do not take into account non-rational
behavior since they apply a strict rational logic. In order to develop tools that take non-rational
behavior into account, a framework needs to be developed for identifying which actors are worth
studying or modeling. This research seeks to fill this gap by developing a framework that can be
applied to public sector institutional owners. The framework is based on prior work done in the
fields of stakeholder theory and engineering management, and it uses research methodologies
from the social sciences as its building blocks.
iii
Acknowledgments IwouldliketothankDr.Pearce,Dr.Garvin,andDr.Fiorifortirelesslyguidingmethroughthis
process.Fortheirencouragement,faithinme,andpushingmetoexcel,Iwillbeforever
thankful.IoweaspecialthankstoDr.PearceforpointingoutnotonlytheareaswhereIhad
strayedbutalsoawaytogetbackontherightpath.
Ialsowouldliketothankmyfamilyfortheirsupportduringthisendeavorandforteachingme
thebasicskillsthatIneededtobesuccessfulatit.
Finally,IwouldliketothanktheCranwells,SandyYoung,JonathanButtner,thestaffandpeople
ofCru,andallmyotherfriendswhoencouragedmeduringtheroughtimes.
iv
Table of Contents
ListofTables………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. vii
ListofFigures…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. viii
Chapter1:Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………. 1
1.1PublicSectorInstitutionalOwners……………………………………………..………………… 2
1.2InvestmentTools……………………………………………………………………………………………4
1.3CostingMethods…………………………………………………………………………………………… 5
1.4ProjectDecisions…………………………………………………………………………………………… 6
1.5ResearchOverview……………………………………………………………………………………….. 9
Chapter2:Background…………………………………………………………………………………………………10
2.1HistoryofStakeholderTheory………………………………………………………………………. 10
2.1.1DefinitionofaStakeholder………………………………………………………………10
2.1.2IdentificationofStakeholders………………………………………………………….12
2.2ApplicationofStakeholderTheory………………………………………………………………… 14
Chapter3:ResearchDesignandMethodology……………………………………………………………..16
3.1ApplyingStakeholderTheory………………………………………………………………………… 16
3.2ThesisQuestion…………………………………………………………………………………………….. 16
3.3QuestionDevelopment…………………………………………………………………………………. 16
3.3.1DecisionFocus…………………………………………………………………………………16
3.3.2KeyDecisionMaker……………………………………………………………………….. 21
3.4FrameworkDevelopment…………………………………………………………………………….. 22
3.5ProtocolDevelopment………………………………………………………………………………….. 26
3.5.1DocumentReviewProtocol……………………………………………………………. 27
3.5.2Semi‐StructuredInterviewProtocol…………………………………………………31
3.5.3IndirectObservationProtocol………………………………………………………… 33
Chapter4:DataCollectionandAnalysis……………………………………………………………………….34
4.1DocumentReviewFindings………………………………………………………………………….. 34
4.1.1DecisionMakerInvestigation…………………………………………………………. 34
v
4.1.2CandidateProjectIdentificationandSelection…………………………………37
4.1.3PossibleMeetingsIdentification………………………………………………………38
4.2Semi‐StructuredInterviewFindings………………………………………………………………. 39
4.2.1FirstInterview………………………………………………………………………………… 39
4.2.2SecondandThirdInterviews………………………………………………………….. 42
4.2.3FourthInterview…………………………………………………………………………….. 43
4.3IndirectObservationFindings……………………………………………………………………….. 43
Chapter5:Validation…………………………………………………………………………………………………...44
5.1DocumentReviewProtocolValidation…………………………………………………………. 44
5.2Semi‐StructuredInterviewProtocolValidation…………………………………………….. 46
Chapter6:Conclusions…………………………………………………………………………………………………47
6.1ResearchConclusions……………………………………………………………………………………. 47
6.2OrderofProtocols………………………………………………………………………………………….47
6.3ValidationofProtocols………………………………………………………………………………….. 47
6.4ResearchSummary……………………………………………………………………………………….. 48
Chapter7:Discussion…………………………………………………………………………………………………. 49
7.1DocumentTypes…………………………………………………………………………………………… 49
7.2PeopleasData……………………………………………………………………………………………… 49
7.3StakeholderTheory………………………………………………………………………………………. 50
Chapter8:Limitations,Impacts,andFutureResearch………………………………………………….52
8.1Limitations……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 52
8.2Impacts…………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 52
8.3FutureResearch……………………………………………………………………………………………. 52
References……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………54
AppendixA:ResearchMethodologies………………………………………………………………………….59
AppendixB:DocumentAnalysisProtocol…………………………………………………………………….62
AppendixC:Semi‐StructuredInterviewProtocol………………………………………………………….66
AppendixD:IndirectObservationProtocol…………………………………………………………………..73
vi
AppendixE:TranscriptofInterviewA…………………………………………………………………………..75
AppendixF:TranscriptofInterviewB…………………………………………………………………………..99
AppendixG:DocumentReviewProjectMap………………………………………………………………..112
vii
List of Tables
Table2.1:ChronologyoftheDefinitionof“Stakeholder”(AdaptedfromMitchelletal.
1997)…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 10
Table3.1:SampleStudiesandTopic………………………………………………………………………………. 18
Table3.2:UniformatIISample(DOC1999)……………………………………………………………………. 19
Table4.1:RequiredDocuments(VirginiaTech2009)……………………………………………………… 37
Table4.2:InterviewResults…………………………………………………………………………………………… 41
viii
List of Figures
Figure1.1:USGovernmentBudgetTrends(EOPUS2008)……………………………………………… 1
Figure1.2:ProjectLifecycle(AdaptedfromGarvin2003andKlotzetal.2007)………………. 6
Figure1.3:ProgrammingDecisions(AdaptedfromGarvin2003andKlotzetal.2007)…….7
Figure1.4:RelationshipComplexityinaConstructionProject(Pearceetal.2008)…………..8
Figure2.1:ExamplesofStakeholderMaps…………………………………………………………………….. 13
Figure3.1:HighSystemCostChart(DerivedfromDOC1999)………………………………………… 20
Figure3.2:FrameworkforIdentifyingKeyDecisionMakers(DMs)………………………………. 25
Figure3.3:ProtocolExample……………………………………………………………………………………….. 27
Figure3.4:CandidateProjectMap............................................................................... 30
Figure4.1:FacilitiesOrganizationChart(VirginiaTech2008)……………………………………….. 35
1
Chapter 1: Introduction
Publicorganizationsandagencieshavesignificantcapitalintheirfacilityportfolios.Thefederal
government,forexample,hasover500,000facilitiesinitsportfoliowithmorethan$3billion
squarefeetoffloorspace–anarealargerthanthestateofNevada(NRC2004;GSA2008).In
addition,thefederalgovernmenthad$24billiondollarsworthofconstructionputinplacein
2008(CensusBureau2008).Afacilityportfoliothislargeanddynamiccomeswithahighprice
tag.Thefederalgovernmentspendsalmost$40billionperyeartomaintainitsexistingportfolio
(NRC2004).Basedonthefederalgovernment’sreceiptsforthe2008fiscalyear,the$40billion
expenditurewasabout1.5%oftotalreceipts(EOPUS2008).Inthefederalbudgetingprocess,
facilitymaintenanceisconsideredpartofthediscretionaryspendingcategory(NRC2008).
Figure1.1projectsthatdiscretionaryspendingfundsaregoingtodecreasesubstantiallyover
thenextseveraldecades.
Furthermore,theGeneralAccountingOffice(GAO)hasidentifiedfederalrealproperty
managementasahighriskareain2003andthenagainin2007(GAO2003;GAO2007).Away
ofdealingwithcompetingstakeholderinterests,legalandbudgetarydisincentives,andbetter
capitalplanningpracticesisneededtoaddressthehighriskarea(GAO2005).
Figure1.1:USGovernmentBudgetTrends(EOPUS2008)
2
Oneofthewaysthatpublicorganizationsandagenciesaretryingtodealwiththesechallenges
isthroughthepursuitofsustainabledesign.TheU.S.GeneralServicesAdministration(GSA)
definessustainabledesignasthepursuitofthefollowingfivegoals(GSA2008):
1) Usinganintegratedteamapproachtodesign,construct,andoperateitsbuildings
2) Reducingthetotallife‐cycleownershipcostoffacilities
3) Improvingenergyefficiency,waterconservation,andreducingmaterialconsumption
4) Providingsafe,healthy,andproductivebuiltenvironments
5) Promotingexcellenceinenvironmentalstewardship
Thisresearchfocusesonaidingpublicsectorinstitutionalownersinachievingthesecondgoal
ofsustainabledesignasdefinedbytheGSA.Toachievethis,whopublicsectorinstitutional
ownersareandametricformeasuringthetotallife‐cycleownershipcostofafacilityneedsto
bedeveloped.
1.1 Public Sector Institutional Owners
Thereisnogenerallyaccepteddefinitionforwhatapublicsectorinstitutionalownerisamong
constructionscholars.Publicsectorsimplyreferstothegovernmentsectorasopposedtothe
privatesector;therefore,thekeywordsforthisclassificationare“institutionalowner”.Therest
ofthispaperwilluse“institutionalowner”torepresentpublicsectorinstitutionalowners.
AsearchconductedonJune13th,2009,ofallthearticlesinthelibraryoftheAmericanSociety
ofCivilEngineers(ASCE)yieldsnoresultsforthekeywords“InstitutionalOwner”.Similarly,a
searchusingthesamekeywordsonthesamedayinEngineeringVillage,adatabasethat
combinesCompendex,EiBackfile,InspecArchive,andNTISdatabasesintoonedatabase,
returnsonlytwodocumentsneitherofwhichisrelatedtoconstruction.ScienceDirectand
Scirusbothreturnbetween150and500records,butnoneofthearticlesaddressinstitutional
ownersinaconstructionsense.Theyfocusoninstitutionalownersasinvestors(Kaneand
Velury2004;Ljungqvistetal.2007;MatvosandOstrovsky2008);therefore,theresearcher
proposesthatthefollowingcharacteristicsbeusedtodefineaninstitutionalowner:
1) Assetsthatarenotreadilytraded
3
2) Sometypeofstandardizedprocurementprocedure
3) Anin‐houseconstructiondepartment
4) Severalcapitalprojectsbeingpursuedconcurrently
5) Projectsatdifferentstagesofdevelopment
6) Assetswhichhave50+yearlifecycles
Thesecharacteristicswereidentifiedthroughdiscussionamongtheresearcher’speers,the
researcher’sownexperienceworkingforinstitutionalowners,anddiscussionswithexpertsin
thefieldsoffacilitymanagementandsustainability(Garvin,M.,Pearce,A.,andFiori,C.,
committeemeeting,February2009).Examplesofpublicsectorinstitutionalownersthatmeet
thesecriteriaanddemonstratethesignificanceofthemaretheDepartmentofDefense(DOD)
andVirginiaTech(VT).Theverynatureofthemissionsforbothoftheseorganizationsmakesit
difficulttotradetheirfacilityassets.Anairfieldisdifficulttosellanduniversitiesneedthe
stabilityofowningtheirownfacilitiessotheyarenotaffectedbytheupsanddownsofthe
economyasmuch.Itiscriticalforthemtohavestandardizedprocurementproceduresbecause
theirsizeandthenumberofotherentitiestheyinteractwitharewaytoomuchforasingle
persontohandle.Thisfactalsonecessitatestheirneedforanin‐houseconstruction
departmenttomanagealltheseinteractions.Institutionssuchasthesedonotremainstatic
either.Theyhavetocontinuallychangetomeettheirmission’scurrentorfutureneeds;hence,
thecharacteristicsofhavingseveralprojectsbeingpursuedconcurrentlyandatdifferentstages
oftheprojectlifecycle.Theseinstitutionsalsohaveverylonglifespans.TheDODwillbein
existenceaslongastheUnitedStatesis,andVTwillmostlikelybeinexistenceaslongasthe
stateofVirginiais.Sincetheseorganizationsunderstandthis,theirfacilitiesareoftendesigned
tolastforaverylongtime.The50+yearcharacteristicsimplyseekstocapturethislongterm
outlook.Forexample,moststructuresthattheFederalEmergencyManagementAgency
(FEMA)buildsaretemporaryinnature,andthuswouldnotfitthisdefinition.
ThesecharacteristicsofinstitutionalownerscoupledwiththetrendshowninFigure1.1makes
itveryimportantforthemtooptimizetheirinvestmentintheirfacilities.Sustainabledesignand
4
greenbuildingofferonwaytoaccomplishthis;however,inordertoinvestingreenbuilding,
institutionalownersneedeffectivetoolstohelpoptimizethatinvestment.
1.2 Investment Tools
Therearetoolscurrentlyavailableforoptimizinginfrastructureinvestmentfromatechnical
performancevs.economicviabilitystandpoint.Forexample,Liu(2009)developedaparametric
modelforbridgeinvestment.KeysarandPearce(2007)identified275decisionsupporttoolsto
aidinthegreendesignprocess.TheUSArmyCorpsofEngineers’sConstructionEngineering
ResearchLaboratory(CERL)hasdevelopedseveraldecisionsupporttools.Someofthemareas
follows(CERLb2009):
1) BUILDER‐stores real property building information and more detailed system inventory
is modeled and/or collected which identifies building components and their key life-cycle
attributes
2) PAVER‐optimizes the use of pavement repair funds via a Pavement Condition Index
(PCI)
3) HEATER–hascondition-prediction models that forecast a heating system’s deterioration
over time. Based on the comprehensive inspection, maintenance and repair needs can
be identified and prioritized.
4) REMR(Repair,Evaluation,Maintenance,andRehabilitation)‐involvedinplanningand
budgetingformaintenanceandrepair(M&R)ofcivilworksfacilitiesandequipment
5) IMPACT(IntegratedMulti‐YearPrioritizationandAnalysisTool)–amodel that simulates
the annual fiscal cycle of work planning/executing and displays building, system, and
component conditions up to ten years into the future.
6) RAILER–evaluates railroad track and plans effective, economical railroad track M&R
program while also storing data on railroad track inventory, inspection results, track
conditions, M&R costs and policies, work history, and other essential items.
Thesetoolsaredesignedtooptimizetheallocationoffundsandplanmaintenanceneedsfor
theirrespectivearea.PAVER,forexample,isdesigned,“toaidpavementmanagersand
engineersintheinventory,conditionassessment,conditionprediction,andlongrange
maintenanceplanningforpavements(CERLa2009).”Theydonotincorporatetheactual
5
tendenciesofthepeopleinvolved.Theyevaluatetheirrespectivesystemintermsofwhatthe
mostrationalactionwouldbe;however,theactionsofpublicsectorinstitutionalownersare
notalwaysrational.Rationalityistheacceptanceofaparticularcourseofactionoverother
alternativesbasedonagivensetofaxiomsorrulesthatmostpeopleconsidersensible
(adaptedfromGoodwinandWright2004).Atoolisneededthatconsiderstheissueofinvesting
ingreendesignfromtheperspectiveoftheactualactorsinvolved.Thistoolwouldneedto
considerthebehavioroftheactorsthemselvesinordertocapturethenon‐rationalactions.The
specificbehaviorofinterestisthedecisionmakingtendenciesoftheactorsinvolved.Thisraises
thequestionofwhattypesofdecisionsareimportant.
1.3 Costing Methods
Inordertodeterminewhetherornotadecisionisimportant,oneneedsametrictoevaluate
decisionswith.Themostoftenusedmetricbyinstitutionalownersiscost,andthereareseveral
differentmethodsforcostingthatarecommonlyused.Methodsthatconsideralifecycle
perspectivearelife‐cyclecosting(LCC),totalcostassessment(TCA),andtotalcostofownership
(TCO)(EllramandSiferd1998).Thedifferencesbetweenthesedifferentmethodsarerather
subtle.
Lifecyclecostingisdefinedasthesumtotalofthedirect,indirect,recurring,nonrecurring,and
otherrelatedcostsincurred,orestimatedtobeincurred,inthedesign,development,
production,operation,maintenance,andsupportofamajorsystemoveritsanticipateduseful
lifespan(EPA1995).TCAisdefinedasthelong‐term,comprehensivefinancialanalysisofthe
fullrangeofpositiveandnegativecashflowsofaninvestment.Itistheprocessofprimarily
integratingenvironmentalcostsinternaltoanorganizationintothecapitalbudgetinganalysis
(EPA1995).TCAcanincludeexternalcostsbutprimarilyfocusesoninternalones(EPA1995).
TCOisdefinedasadollarpersquarefootvalueforfacilitiesthatincludesallfacilities‐specific
costsassociatedwithconstruction,preservation,maintenance,andoperationofthefacility
(IFMAetal.2008).
ThebiggestdistinctionbetweenthedifferentmethodsisthatLCCisasubsetofbothTCOand
TCA.TCOandTCAareessentiallythesamebecausetheybothincludeLCCasapartoftheir
6
scopeandtrytocaptureabroaderbaseofcostsassociatedwithacapitalproject.Theslight
differencebetweenthetwoisTCAapproachescostingfromanenvironmentalperspective
whileTCOleansmoretothestrictlybusinessside(Beaver2000).Tolimitthescopeofcoststo
beconsidered,thisresearchisgoingtouseTCOasthemetricforevaluatingdecisions.
Expandingthecostsconsideredtoincludeenvironmentalandsocialcostsisanareaforfurther
research.
InordertouseTCOtodeterminetheimportanceofdifferentdecisions,decisionsthataremade
duringthelifecycleofaprojectneedtobeidentified.
1.4 Project Decisions
Constructionprojectshaveseveralphasesduringitslifecycle.Figure1.2depictsanexampleof
thephasesofageneralproject’slifecycle.Duringthesephases,decisionsaremadethatwill
impactthecostofthebuilding.
However,theearlieradecisionismadeduringaproject’slifecyclethegreateritsimpactonthe
project’scostwillbe.Forthisreason,thisresearchwillfocusondecisionsmadeduringthe
programmingphase(Hendrickson2000).Therearestillmanydecisionsthataremadeduring
theprogrammingphasethatwillaffectaproject’scost.Figure1.3illustratessomeofthe
decisionsmadeduringthisstage.
Figure1.2:ProjectLifecycle(AdaptedfromGarvin2003andKlotzetal.2007)
7
Identificationofneed,functionaldesigndecisions,andprojectdeliverymethodselectionare
examplesofsomeofthedecisionsmadeduringtheprogrammingphase(Garvin2003).Thefirst
decisionaninstitutionalownermakesistheidentificationofneed.Fromtheidentificationof
need,decisionsaremadethatresultinafunctionalorconceptualdesignofwhatthesolution
totheneedwouldbelike.Fortheprojecttocontinue,theownerneedstodecidewhichproject
deliverymethodtopursuesincetheprojectdeliverymethodwilldeterminetherestofthe
project’slifecyclepath(Garvin2003).Moredecisionsarethenmadetobringtheprojecttoa
schematicdesignstage.Onceaprojectreachestheschematicdesignstage,itmovesfromthe
programmingphasetothedesignphase.
Institutionalownersfaceanotherprobleminthefactthattheyhavemultipleobjectivesto
balancewithmultipleresourceconstraints(HsiehandLiu1997).Forexample,aninstitutional
ownermayneedtobalancealarger,higherperformingHVACsystemwiththedesireof
occupantstohaveaskylight.Thesemultipleobjectivesstemfromthevarietyofpeopleand
equipmentthataspaceisdesignedforandthepotentialchangesthespacemayundergo
Figure1.3:ProgrammingDecisions(AdaptedfromGarvin2003andKlotzetal.2007)
8
throughoutitslifecycle.Figure1.4illustratesthecomplexityofrelationshipsbetweendifferent
peopleinvolvedinthedevelopmentofafacility.
Also,themedianlifespanofacommercialfacilityintheUSisbetween65‐80years,andthis
leadstogreateruncertaintyinhowthespacewillhavetobeusedoverthelifespan(DOE2008).
Thelongerthelifespanafacilityhas,thegreaterthepotentialfortheneedsoftheoccupantsto
changedueinparttoadvancesintechnologyandexpectedcomfortlevels(Brand1994).For
example,inthelast20years,occupantshavegonefromonlyrequiringadeskandchairto
requiringacomputer,faxmachine,internetaccess,andprintingcapabilitiesinadditiontothe
originaldeskandchair.Thishasresultedinasignificantincreaseinplugloadsfromtheextra
equipmentandincreasedHVACcapacityduetoincreasedheatproductionfromtheextra
equipment.
Withallofthesedecisionsbeingmade,thequestionquicklybecomesoneofhowdoyou
identifywhichdecisionsareimportant?Forthepurposesofthisresearch,decisionsthataffect
Figure1.4:RelationshipComplexityinaConstructionProject(Pearceetal.2008)
9
theTCOofaprojectarethemostimportantdecisions.Decisionsthataffectenvironmentaland
socialattributesofaprojectareadditionalareasforfurtherresearch.Withtheneedforatool
thatiscapableofcapturingnon‐rationalactions,theestablishmentofTCOasthemetricfor
evaluatingdecisions,andtheidentificationofdecisionsthataremadeduringthelifecycleofa
project,thelastquestionbecomeshowdoesoneidentifythoseactorswhomakethedecisions
thataffecttheTCOofaproject?Statedsimply,howdoesoneidentifydecisionmakersthat
havethegreatestimpactonTCO?Thisisthefocusofthisresearch.
1.5 Research Overview
Theaimofthisresearchistotakethefirststeptowarddevelopingatoolthatcanaccountfor
bothrationalandnon‐rationalactionsamonginstitutionalownerfacilitystakeholders:
identifyingwhoisakeystakeholder.Thisresearchwillestablishwhatmakesastakeholder
“key”andalsodevelopsaframeworkforidentifyingthese“key”stakeholders.SinceTCOisthe
metricusedbytheGSAtoachievegreendesign,keystakeholderswillbeonesthathavethe
greatestimpactonaproject’sTCO.
Thefollowingchaptersofthisthesisdescribetheresearchundertakentoachievethisaim.
Chapter2presentsanoverviewandanalysisofseminalworkinthefieldofstakeholdertheory
toestablishthebackgroundandpointofdepartureofthework.Chapter3developsthe
methodologyandinstrumentsusedinthisresearchforidentifyingkeydecisionmakers.Chapter
4reportsthedataandfindingsfromapplyingtheinstrumentsdevelopedintheprevious
chapter.Thethesisconcludeswithadiscussionofthevalidationtechniques,theconclusions,
thelimitations,andtheareasoffutureresearchforthisresearch.
10
Chapter 2: Background
Identifyingimportantactorsorkeydecisionmakersinanorganizationisthesubjectof
stakeholdertheory.Thischapterprovidesabasicintroductiontostakeholdertheory.The
historyofstakeholdertheorywillbediscussedandarecentexampleofitsapplicationwillbe
discussedinthischapter.
2.1 History of Stakeholder Theory
2.1.1 Definition of a Stakeholder
Stakeholdertheoryhasbeenpresentinbusinessandacademiaformorethanfortyyears
(Grossi2003).Oneofthekeyquestionsthatstakeholdertheorytriestosolveis“Whoare
stakeholders?”aka,“Howdoyouidentifythem(Grossi2003)?”Inordertoanswerthis
question,whatastakeholderisneedstobedefined.
Conceptually,stakeholdersaresimilartostockholders.Justasastockholderfinanciallyand
economicallysupportsanorganization,astakeholderalsosupportsanorganization.The
stakeholdersupportsanorganizationnotonlyfinanciallyoreconomicallybutalsosupportsthe
verylifeorcontinuityofanenterprise(Grossi2003).Sincetheconceptofastakeholderisso
broad,itisdifficulttodefine.Manyscholarshavedefineditintermsoftheirparticularfieldof
study.Mitchell,Agle,andWood(1997)presentedachronologyofthesetypesofdefinitions.
Table2.1isasummaryoftheirchronology.
Date Author(s) Definition
1963 StanfordMemothosegroupswithoutwhosesupporttheorganizationwouldceasetoexist(citedinFreeman&Reed,1983,andFreeman,1984)
1974 Rhenmanaredependingonthefirminordertoachievetheirpersonalgoalsandonwhomthefirmisdependingforitsexistence(citedinNasi,1995)
Table2.1:ChronologyoftheDefinitionof“Stakeholder”(AdaptedfromMitcheletal.1997)
11
1971Ahlstedt&Jahnukainen
drivenbytheirowninterestsandgoalsareparticipantsinafirm,andthusdependingonitandwhomforitssakethefirmisdepending(citedinNasi,1995)
1983 Freeman&Reed
Wide:"canaffecttheachievementofanorganization'sobjectivesorwhoisaffectedbytheachievementofanorganization'sobjectives";Narrow:"onwhichtheorganizationisdependentforitscontinuedsurvival"
1984 Freemancanaffectorisaffectedbytheachievementoftheorganization'sobjectives
1987 Freeman&Gilbert canaffectorisaffectedbyabusiness1987 Cornell&Shapiro "claimants"whohave"contracts"1988 Evan&Freeman haveastakeinorclaimonthefirm
1988 Evan&Freemanbenefitfromorareharmedby,andwhoserightsareviolatedorrespectedby,corporateactions
1988 Bowie withoutwhosesupporttheorganizationwouldceasetoexist
1989 Alkhafaji groupstowhomthecorporationisresponsible
1989 Carroll"assertstohaveoneormoreofthesekindsofstakes"‐"rangingfromaninteresttoaright(legalormoral)toownershiporlegaltitletothecompany'sassetsorproperty"
1990 Freeman&Evan contractholders1991 Thompsonetal. in"relationshipwithanorganization"
1991 Savageetal.haveaninterestintheactionsofanorganizationand...theabilitytoinfluenceit
1992 Hill&Jones
constituentswhohavealegitimateclaimonthefirm...establishedthroughtheexistenceofanexchangerelationshipwhosupply"thefirmwithcriticalresources(contributions)andinexchangeeachexpectsitsintereststobesatisfied(byinducements)"
1993 Brennerhavingsomelegitimate,non‐trivialrelationshipwithanorganization[suchas]exchangetransactions,actionimpacts,andmoralresponsibilities
1993 Carroll"assertstohaveoneormoreofthekindsofstakesinbusiness"‐maybeaffectedoraffect…
1994 Freeman participantsin"thehumanprocessofjointvaluecreation"
1994 Wicksetal.interactwithandgivemeaninganddefinitiontothecorporation
1994 Langtrythefirmissignificantlyresponsiblefortheirwell‐being,ortheyholdamoralorlegalclaimonthefirm
12
1994 Starik"canandaremakingtheiractualstakesknown"‐"areormightbeinfluencedby,orareorpotentiallyareinfluencersof,someorganization"
1994 Clarkson"bearsomeformofriskasaresultofhavinginvestedsomeformofcapital,humanorfinancial,somethingofvalue,inafirm"or"areplacedatriskasaresultofafirm'sactivities"
1995 Clarksonhave,orclaim,ownership,rights,orinterestsinacorporationanditsactivities
1995 Nasi interactwiththefirmandthusmakeitsoperationpossible
1995 Brennerareorwhichcouldimpactorbeimpactedbythefirm/organization
1995Donaldson&Preston
personsorgroupswithlegitimateinterestsinproceduraland/orsubstantiveaspectsofcorporateactivity
ProbablythemostwidelyaccepteddefinitionforstakeholderwaspresentedbyR.Edward
Freeman(1984)inhissentinelwork,Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach.Hedefines
itas,“anygrouporindividualwhocanaffectorisaffectedbytheachievementofthefirm’s
objectives.”Inthecontextofthisresearch,the“firm”isapublicsectorinstitutionalowner,and
theobjectiveoftheownerisminimizingtheTCOfortheirfacility.The“affectorisaffectedby”
portionofthedefinitionrequiressomeinterpretation.Theword“affect”hereindicatesthat
therearedifferentlevelsofimpactthatagrouporindividualexperiences.Forexample,a
studentwillhaverelativelylowimpactonthedesignofafaculty’soffice,butthefaculty
memberwillhaveamuchhigherimpactorwillbeimpactedmuchmorethanthestudent.Now
thatthegeneraldefinitionandconceptofwhoastakeholderishasbeenestablished,thenext
questionishowdoesstakeholdertheoryidentifythem?
2.1.2 Identification of Stakeholders
Thedefinitiondiscussedabovemakestheidentificationofstakeholdersratherchallenging
becauseofthebreadthofthedefinition’sscope.Virtuallyanyentitycouldclaimtobeaffected
bytheachievementofafirm’sorinstitutionalowner’sgoalsandthereforeclaimtobea
stakeholder.Thisissueisfurtherexacerbatedbythecomplexnatureofinstitutionalownersdue
tothenumberofinternalandexternalrelationshipsthattheyhave.Toaddressthisproblem,
somescholarshavedevelopedframeworksforidentifyingandclassifyingstakeholders.
13
Onemanifestationoftheseframeworksismappingtechniques.Commonlyusedmapping
techniquesmapstakeholderinterestvs.powerorstakeholderinterestvs.attitude(Murry‐
WebsterandSimon2006).Figure2.1illustratesmapssuchasthese.
Highorlowinterestisanindicationofthelikelihoodforaparticularstakeholdertobeor
becomeinvolvedintheoperationbeingundertakenbytheinstitutionalowner.Powerisan
indicatorofthelevelofinfluenceaparticularstakeholderhas.Theinfluencecouldhavemany
differentformssuchaslegalright,positionalpower,orcontrolofresourceallocation.Attitude
isanindicatorofthedispositionofthestakeholder,eitherfororagainst(Murry‐Websterand
Simon2006).Therearealsothreedimensionalversionsofstakeholdermapsthatcombinethe
twoillustratedabove(Murry‐WebsterandSimon2006).
Mitchell,Agle,andWood(1997)proposeadifferentframeworkforstakeholderidentification.
Theirframeworkalsoutilizesthreedifferentattributestoidentifystakeholders.Thethree
attributesthattheyidentifiedarepower,legitimacy,andurgency.Poweristheabilityofa
stakeholdertoimposeitswill.Forexample,aCEOhaspowerduetotheirposition.Legitimacyis
definedas,“ageneralizedperceptionorassumptionthattheactionsofanentityaredesirable,
proper,orappropriatewithinsomesociallyconstructedsystemofnorms,values,beliefs,and
definitions”(Mitchelletal.1997).Forexample,astakeholderwithalegitimateclaimwouldbeone
whoproposedtheuseofgreenproductsoverconventionalonesbecauseusinggreenproductsis
Figure2.1:ExamplesofStakeholderMaps
14
generallyconsidereddesirable.Urgencyispresentwhentwoconditionsaremet.Thefirstis,
“…whenarelationshiporclaimisofatime‐sensitivenature”,andthesecondis,“…whenthat
relationshiporclaimisimportantorcriticaltothestakeholderoperationsand/orstrategies”
(Mitchelletal.1997).Forexample,aHVACsubcontractormayrunintoaconflictwiththesteel
frameofabuilding.Thesubcontractorneedstogetthisconflictresolvedquicklybecausetheother
tradescannotcompletetheirworkuntilhehas.Inthiscase,theHVACsubcontractorhasatime
criticalneed,anditsresolutioniscriticaltothecompletionoftheproject.
Theattributesofpower,legitimacy,andurgencyareindependentofoneanother.Astakeholder
canhaveanycombinationofthesedifferentattributesatanygiventime.Theyformadynamic
systemofattributesthatwillchangeasthegoalsofthefirmorinstitutionalownerchangeorare
achieved.
2.2 Application of Stakeholder Theory
Grossi(2003)appliedMitchell,Agle,andWood’sframeworkforstakeholderidentificationtoa
firmnamedPayloadSystemsIncorporated.ItisasmallaerospacecompanyinCambridge,MA,
thatspecializesinprovidingengineeringsupportformannedspaceflight.PayloadSystems’
typicalclientisaresearcherwhohasdevelopedanewtechnologyforspaceuse.Theywould
thenhelptheresearcherfindfundingtotestitandfabricatethedesign.
GrossibeginsidentifyingstakeholdersbydefiningasystemlevelvalueforPayloadSystems.A
systemlevelvalueistheobjectiveoftheorganization.Whendefiningasystemlevelvalue,
Grossisuggeststhegrammaticalconstruction“To[statementofoverallintent]by[statementof
processorbehavior].”Forexample,asystemlevelvaluefortheUnitedStatesPostalService
couldbe“tomaximizecustomersatisfactionbyefficientlyprocessingthemail”.Asystemlevel
valuesuchasthiscanthenbeusedtoidentifystakeholdersinmeetingthissystemvalue.Italso
providessystemboundariesfortheresearchbeingconducted.
ThenextstepthatGrossitookwastoidentifyafocalorganization.Thefocalorganizationis
someentityintheenterprisethatisthestartingpointforidentifyingstakeholders.Itisthe
centralentityfortheanalysisbeingconducted.InasmallcompanysuchasPayloadSystems,
thewholecompanyisthefocalorganization;however,inlargerorganizationssuchastheUS
15
AirForce,thefocalorganizationwouldbeasub‐unitofthewholeorganization.Forexample,
themedicalsquadronwouldnotnecessarilybeastakeholderinthedevelopmentofanew
aircraft.
Withthesystemlevelvalueandfocalorganizationidentified,Grossibeganidentifyingpotential
stakeholders.Hismethodforidentifyingstakeholderswassurveys,interviews,observations,
andreviewingarchivalrecords.HeidentifiedthesetechniquesbasedonabookbyWasserman
andFaust(1994)thatsummarizeddifferentsocialnetworkanalysismethods.Hestartedhis
workwithPayloadSystemsbyconductingaseriesofinterviewswiththeCEOofthefocal
organization.Theinterviewsweredesignedtoanalyzetheorganizationindepthtouncoveras
manytacitorhiddenstakeholdersaspossible.Otherrelatedexternalstakeholderswere
identifiedthroughreviewingthewebsitesoforganizationsassociatedwithNASAandNASA’s
websiteitself.Grossithenwentontoassigneachofthestakeholdersalevelofsaliencebased
onacombinationofratingsgiventoeachstakeholder’slevelofpower,legitimacy,andurgency.
ThebasicstepsthatGrossiusedinhisworkareasfollows:
1) Identifythesystemlevelvalue
2) Identifythefocalorganization
3) Identifythestakeholdersusingsurveys,interviews,observation,andarchivalrecord
analysis
Grossiprovidesagoodexampleofapplyingstakeholdertheorytoamanufacturingtype
organizationandidentifiesthestakeholdersinthatcontext;however,anexampleofapplying
stakeholdertheoryinthecontextoftheconstructionindustryislacking.
16
Chapter 3: Research Design and Methodology
TheresearchwilluseGrossi’sworkasastartingpointandapplyittoaconstructionproject.
ThischapterwillfirstfollowGrossi’sbasicstepstodefinethecontextinwhichthisresearchis
beingcarriedout,andthenuseitasadeparturepointforthespecificquestionaddressedby
thisresearch.Subsequently,thedevelopmentofthespecificmethodologyandtoolsusedto
answertheresearchquestionwillbedeveloped.
3.1 Applying Stakeholder Theory
FollowingGrossi’sexample,threestepsneedtobetakentoapplystakeholdertheorytoa
constructionproject.Identifyingthesystemlevelvalue,thefocalorganization,andthe
stakeholdersarethethreesteps.Thesystemlevelvalueforthisresearchwillbetominimize
thetotalcostofownershipforaconstructionprojectbyidentifyingdecisionmakersasafirst
steptowardscreatingatoolthatoptimizesTCO.Thefocalorganizationforthisresearchisgoing
tobetheFacilitiesDepartmentatVirginiaTechsincetheyareresponsibleforallconstruction
projectsatVirginiaTech.VirginiaTechwasselectedastheoverallorganizationofstudybecause
itmeetsthequalificationsofaninstitutionalownerstatedinthepreviouschapters.Itsfacility
assetsarenotreadilytraded.Ithasstandardsforprocurementwhichwillbediscussedlaterin
thechapter.Ithasanin‐houseconstructiondepartmentthatoverseasmultipleprojectsat
differentstagesofdevelopment,andits’facilitieshaveadesignlifeof75to100years.This
leavestheidentificationofstakeholdersasthelaststeptobeaddressed.Itisthisstepthatis
thesubjectofthequestionthisresearchseekstoaddress.
3.2 Thesis Question
Whoarethekeydecisionmakers(stakeholders)thatimpactaconstructionproject’sTCO,and
whatframeworkshouldbeusedtoidentifythem?
3.3 Question Development
3.3.1 Decision Focus
Inordertopursuethisresearchquestion,thedecisionsofakeydecisionmakerneedtobe
defined.Aspreviouslystated,keydecisionsforthisresearchareonesthataffectTCOduringthe
17
programmingphaseofaproject.Further,BoussabaineandKirkham(2004)summarizethekey
decisionsthataremadeduringtheconceptualdevelopmentorprogrammingphaseas
decisionsthatmayinvolvethefollowing:
• Substructure
• Structuralframework
• Upperfloors
• Environmentalservices
• Lifeexpectancyofthemajorcomponents
• Frequencyofreplacementandmaintenancethroughtheeconomiclifeofthefacility
• Internalfinishes/partitions/doors/stairs/fittings
• Externalshell/walls/windows/doors
• Roofingsystems
• Externalworks
• Environmentalimpacts
• Operational
• Production
• Disposal
TheresearcherwasnotabletofindastudythatconsideredallofthesedecisionsfromaTCO
perspective.However,Table3.1summarizesasampleofstudiesthatlookedatasinglesystem
orbuildingmaterial.Allofthesestudiesconsideredtheirrespectivetopicfromalifecycle
perspective(Ehlen1997;GurungandMahendran2002;Johansson2009;KosareoandRies
2007).Unfortunately,thesestudiesdidnothaveenoughcommongroundtobuildatable
comparingtherelativeTCOimpacts.
18
Author StudyTopic
Ehlen1997Fiber‐reinforcedpolymerbridgedecks
GurungandMahendran2002 SteelportalframebuildingsystemsJohansson2009 HVACsystemsKosareoandRies2007 Greenroofsvs.conventionalroofs
However,astudydonebytheUSDepartmentofCommerce(DOC)(1999)oftheUniFormatII
systemestimatedthetotalinstalledcostofaneightstoryofficebuildingusingthebuilding
systemapproachinherenttotheUniFormatsystem.UniFormatIIdecomposesabuildinginto
itsindividualsystemsasseeninTable3.2.Thestudyalsoincludedanestimationofthe
contractor’sprofitmargininthetotalinstalledcostcalculations.Thisstudyalsodoesnot
considerthebuildingsystemsfromalifecycleperspective,butitdoescalculatethecost
differencesbetweenthedifferentbuildingsystemsandcapturesmostofthekeydecisionsthat
BoussabaineandKirkham(2004)identified.Sincethisstudydoesthesetwothings,ithas
sufficientinformationtoprovideaproofofconcept.Futureresearchwillneedtoexpandthis
studytoaTCOperspective.
Table3.1:SampleStudiesandTopic
19
Table3.2:UniFormatIISample(DOC1999)
20
Anotherlimitationofthisstudyisthatitonlylooksatasinglebuildingandbuildingtype.
However,itisstillsufficienttoprovideproofofconceptforthisresearchsinceasignificant
amountofinstitutionalownerfacilitiescouldbeconsideredofficetypefacilities.Forexample,
ofthenewconstructionthefederalgovernmentbuiltin2008,aboutonequarterofitwas
officespacealone(CensusBureau2008).Anareaoffutureresearchistoexpandthenumberof
buildingsandbuildingtypesandseeifthereisachangeinthesystemranking.Figure3.1isthe
HighSystemCostChart(HSCC)thatsummarizestheUniFormatstudy’sfindings.
Figure3.1:HighSystemCostChart(DerivedfromDOC1999)
21
TheDepartmentofCommercestudyprovidedthefocusforthedecisionsbeingconsidered.
Specifically,thisresearchconsideredUniFormatIIbuildingsystemselectiondecisions.Thenext
stepistodevelopadefinitionforwhata“keydecisionmaker”is.
3.3.2 Key Decision Maker
Adecisionmakerissomeonewhomakesadecisionordecisions,andaccordingtotheMerriam‐
Websterdictionary,theword“key”onlyhasonedefinitionwhenusedasanadjective.Itmeans
important,fundamental,chief,orpivotal(Merriam‐Webster2009).Therefore,thedefinitionfor
“keydecisionmaker”forthisresearchisapersonorgroupwhoactasasingleentitywhose
decisionsareconsideredthemostimportantwhenconsideringtheselectionandcharacteristics
ofUniFormatIIbuildingsystems.
Whyisitimportanttofindkeydecisionmakers?Whynotfindeverydecisionmaker?For
largeorganizationsorprojects,itwouldnotberealistictofindeverydecisionmaker,and
institutionalownersbytheirverynaturearelargeorganizations.Thereforebyidentifyingkey
decisionmakers,areasonableapproximationoftheorganizationcanbeattained.Future
researchshouldexplorethemosteffectivebalancebetweenmodelingeffortinvolvedin
representingmoreindividualdecisionmakersvs.improvementinfidelityofmodeloutcomes.
Afterconductingaliteraturereview,theresearcherfoundthatdecisionmakersare
typicallyidentifiedviamethodssuchas“brainstorming”(MacalandNorth2005,Macaland
North2006).Brainstorminghasseveraldisadvantagesthatneedtobeaddressed.Theresults
fromabrainstormingsessionareverydifficulttoreplicateevenwiththesamepeople.Thereis
oftenafearofdepartingfromthegeneralconsensusofthegroup,andparticipantsdonot
alwayssharethesamelevelcommitmenttothegoalsofthebrainstormingsession(Isaksen
andGaulin2005).However,WassermanandFaust(1994)summarizedsomealternative
methodsthatGrossi(2003)thenacteduponinhisresearch.Heuseddocumentanalysis,
questionnaires,interviews,andobservationtoidentifystakeholders.Someotherpotential
researchmethodologiesarelistedinAppendixA,butthisresearchwillusethemethodologies
patternedbyGrossianddevelopaframeworkfromthem.Thedevelopmentofsucha
22
frameworktoidentifykeydecisionmakersforcapitalprojectsofinstitutionalownersisthe
contributionofthisresearch.
3.4 Framework Development
Thenexttaskwastodeterminetheordertoemployeachmethodologytherebydevelopingthe
frameworkforidentifyingkeydecisionmakers.Sincedocumentanalysisdoesnotrequire
stakeholderinteractionorInstitutionalReviewBoard(IRB)review,thebestplacetostartthe
frameworkiswithdocumentanalysis;andthenbasedondatacollectedfromthedocument
analysis,proceedfromtheretothenextmethod.Theanticipateddocumentstheresearcher
hopestocollectareorganizationalcharts,turnoverdocumentation,projectdocumentation,
andotherrelateddocumentsthatwillindicatewhoisresponsiblefordifferentsystems.
Afterdocumentreview,thequestioniswhichmethodtousenext?Thesubsequentmethods
fortheframeworkneedtocontinuecollectingtheinitialdataandalsoprovideawaytovalidate
thedata.Aninitialdatacollectionmethodwillneedtohaveamoderatetohighlevelof
flexibilityduetothelackofknowledgeoforganizationalpracticesonthepartoftheresearcher.
Avalidationmethodwillneedtoestablishconvergenceofdatafromdifferentsources.Along
withtheaboverequirements,anoverallobjectiveinselectingmethodologiesforthe
frameworkistominimizeresearchereffort.
Validationofdatacanbeaccomplishedindifferentways.Plucker(1990)identifiesthefollowing
methods:
1) Memberchecks–havingstudyparticipantsreviewconclusions
2) Saturation–developingnewunderstandingsfromtheinquiryprocess
3) Triangulation–findingatleastthreesourcestocorroborateaviewpoint
Membercheckswouldnotvalidatethedatacollectedinthisresearchbecausethedataisofa
discretenature.Forinstance,itwouldnotbeverymeaningfulforastudyparticipanttoverify
thefactthattheyidentifiedtheprojectmanagerasakeydecisionmaker.Thisformof
validationissuitedbetterforresearchsuchasinvestigatingconsumeropiniononproduct
selection.Saturationisalsonotsuitedforvalidatingthisresearchbecauseitleavesituptothe
23
researcher’sdiscretiontodeterminewhen“saturation”or“nomorenewinformationis
available”hasoccurred(Morse1995).Thisisacauseforconcernwhenonlyoneresearcheris
conductingthework.Triangulationisestablishedwhenthreeormoreuniquesourcesof
informationarriveatthesameresult.Forexample,ifthreeormorepeoplewhohadnot
communicatedtooneanotherallsaythatamutualfriendhasaparticularcharacterflaw,itis
verylikelythatthisfrienddoesindeedhaveacharacterflaw.Therefore,thisresearchwilluse
triangulationasitsvalidationmethod.
Questionnaires,interviews,andobservationaretheremainingmethodsusedbyGrossi.Of
these,questionnaireswerediscardedbecauseforasingleprojecttherearenotenough
potentialdecisionmakerstobeabletoaffordthelowresponseratetypicalofsurveys.
Therefore,interviewswillbeusedasthesecondstepintheframeworksincetheycanbeused
aseitherprimarydatacollectionorvalidation.Asemi‐structuredinterviewhastheflexibilityto
allowtheresearchertoguidethecourseoftheinterviewtowhereitneedstoortoexplorea
relatedareathatpresenteditselfduringtheinterview.Interviewsalsopresentapotential
validationopportunityifconvergenceisestablishedbetweentheresponsesofdifferentpeople
beinginterviewed.Ifconvergenceisnotestablishedthroughtheinterviewprocess,thenan
observationmethodwillneedtobeused.
Observationasaninitialdatacollectionmethodwouldbecumbersomesinceitwouldtakea
significantamountoftimetoobserveenoughinteractionstocometoaconclusion.Therefore,
itdoesnotmeettheobjectiveforminimizingresearchereffort.Italsodoesnothavemuch
flexibilitysincetheresearchercannotspecificallyaskforaparticularinteractiontohappen.The
researcherhastowaitandseeifadatacollectionworthyactionoccurs.However,ifthe
observationisguidedbyinformationobtainedfrominterviews,itbecomesanotherviable
methodtoestablishconvergenceandthereforevalidatethedatacollected.Therefore,the
overallframeworkbeginswithdocumentanalysis,proceedstointerviews,andfinallyendswith
observationifnecessary.Figure3.2illustratestheframework.Withtheoverallframework
developed,aprotocolforeachmethodologyisneededtoprovideastandardizedprocessfor
24
applyingeachmethodology.Thisisimportanttoallowtheframeworktobeusedbyother
researchersinthefuture.
25
Figure3.2:FrameworkforIdentifyingKeyDecisionMakers(DMs)
26
3.5 Protocol Development
Eachprotocolfollowsthesamebasicstructure.Theybeginwithaheadingsectionthatlistsany
inputsfromtheotherprotocols,thepotentialoutputsoftheprotocolbeinglookedat,andany
itemsneededtoexecutetheprotocolsuchasInstitutionalReviewBoard(IRB)approval.This
wasdonetomakeiteasierforotherresearchersusingtheframeworktobeabletoquickly
identifywhatthemajorcomponentsoftheprotocolwereaswellasmakingiteasierto
understandhowthedataflowsbetweenprotocols.Thenextsectionisanintroductionthat
givestheoverviewoftheobjectivesoftheprotocol,anditsgeneralpurposesoother
researcherscanunderstandwhattheprotocolshouldaccomplish.Fromthere,eachprotocol
goesdownthelistofpotentialoutputsthatareidentifiedintheheadingsectionandfully
developshowtopursueobtainingeachpotentialoutput.Finally,theendofeachprotocolmay
haveappendicesthatincludecharts,definitions,orsomeotherpiecetohelpfacilitateobtaining
theoutputsoftheprotocol.Figure3.3isanexampleofthegeneralprotocolstructure.
27
Withthebasicstructureoftheprotocolslaidout,eachprotocolcanbedescribedingreater
detailinthefollowingsections.
3.5.1 Document Review Protocol
Thedocumentreviewprotocolbeginstheframeworkandisprimarilyresponsibleforproviding
astartingpointorpointofcontactfortheinterviewprotocol.Ifanownerhasandgivesa
researcheraccesstoallofitsprogramming,construction,andturnoverdocumentation,itis
possibleforthedocumentreviewprotocoltoidentifykeydecisionmakersbutnotnecessarily
Figure3.3:ProtocolExample
28
validatethem.Asmentionedearlier,somethedocumentsthatthisprotocolseekstofindare
organizationalcharts,turnoverdocumentation,projectdocumentation,andsimilardocuments
thatindicatesomeonemakingadecisionorhavingmadeadecisionaboutabuildingsystem.
Thesedocumentscouldbeclassifiedintotwobroadcategories.Thefirstisnormative
documentsthatdescribehowtheprocessshouldwork,andthesecondisdescriptive
documentsthatrecordwhatactuallyoccurred.Unfortunatelyduetothepossiblevariabilityin
documentationthatownersretainandthepotentialvariabilityofthequalityofthose
documents,thedocumentreviewprotocolhadtobeveryflexible.Whilethisisnotnecessarily
aproblem,itdidresultinlessspecificityintheprotocolitself.Ageneraldirectionwasprovided
butnotalotofspecificinstructions.Thedocumentreviewprotocolhasnoinformationalinputs
buthasseveralpotentialoutputs.Theoutputsincludealistofpotentialdecisionmakers,alist
ofcandidateprojects,andalistofpossibleconstructionmeetingswithsomecontact
informationforthosemeetings(SeeAppendixB).
Toaidinsearchingfordocumentstoidentifypotentialdecisionmakers,theprotocolincluded
examplesofphrasesorlanguagethatmightprovidecluestowhoweretheimportantactorsin
agivenproject.Forinstance,thephrase,“…personxissolelyresponsibleforapprovingsystem
y…”,iffoundinadocument,wouldclearlyindicatetheroleofkeydecisionmakerrelativeto
thatsystem1.Anotherpotentialcluewouldbeanapprovalstamporan“approvedby”boxwith
asignature.Sincerelationshipsbetweenpeoplearedifficulttocapturefromdocuments,the
verbiagehastobeveryspecifictosaywithsomelevelofcertaintythatsomeoneisakey
decisionmaker.Inthecaseoflessspecificlanguagebeingused,theresearchercanuseitasa
cluetolookelsewhereorasaspecificpointofinquiryforaninterview.Sinceoneofthe
characteristicsofaninstitutionalownerisastandardizedprocurementprocedure,the
documentsmayonlylistaroleorpositioninsteadofanactualperson.Forexample,insteadof
givingthenameofthepersonresponsibleforpaintcolordecisions,adocumentmaysaythe
interiordesignerisresponsibleforpaintcolordecisions.Forthisresearch,thedifference
betweenaroleandanindividualdoesnotaffecttheoutcomebecausebothinstancesrefertoa
1Itisworthnotingthatthesephrasesareexamplesandjudgmentwillneedtobeexercisedbyfutureresearchers
29
singleentity.
Sinceoneoftheobjectivesofthedocumentreviewprotocolistofeedtheinterviewprotocol
withnecessaryinformation,alistofcandidateprojectsisnecessarytogivetheinterviewa
projecttofocuson.Toobtainalistofcandidateprojects,aresearcherneedstogotothe
organization’swebsiteandsearchforkeywordsfoundintheprotocol.Iftheownerdoesnot
haveawebsite,theresearcherwillhavetorelyondocumentsthatcanbeobtainedfromthe
ownerdirectly.AccordingtothecharacteristicsofInstitutionalowners,theytypicallyhave
severalprojectsatdifferentstagesofaproject’slifecycleandwithdifferentgeneralbuilding
characteristics.Therefore,tohelptheresearcherselectwhichprojectstofocusonduringthe
interviewprocess,theresearchershouldcreateachartofthedifferentprojectswithsomeof
theirbasiccharacteristics.Thischartwillhelptheresearcherbygraphicallyrepresentingthe
distributionofcharacteristicsamongtheprojects.Itisimportanttohaveasampleofbuildings
withsimilarcharacteristicstoreducethenumberofpotentialsourcesforerror.Figure3.4isan
exampleofwhatachartcouldlooklike.Thecharacteristicsconsideredintheexamplearethe
projectdeliverymethod,stageintheconstructionprocess,thegrosssquarefootage(GSF),and
anindicationofifthebuildingisalaboratorybuildingornot.SinceVirginiaTechisthesubject
ofthisresearch,thesecharacteristicswerechosentogetafeelforthegeneralsizeofthe
projectandtodistinguishbetweenbuildingswithverydifferentdesignrequirements.For
example,aclassroomorofficebuildinghasverydifferentdesignrequirementsthanachemistry
labbuilding.Thedifferencesindesignrequirementcouldresultinsignificantimpactsonwho
makesdecisionsaboutthebuildingcharacteristics.Thebuildingcharacteristicsinquestions
couldbechangedtofitwhateverfutureresearchersfeelisimportant.Thegeneral
characteristicsoftheorganizationthataresearcherisinvestigatingwillhelpdeterminethe
importantcharacteristicstocaptureforthischart.
30
Alistofasmanyprojectparticipantsastheresearchercanfindforeachprojectshould
accompanythischartsotheresearcherwillseveraloptionstochoosefromtostartconducting
interviews.Oftheprojectparticipants,theprojectmanager(PM)isthepreferredpointof
contactsincethePMisexposedtothegreatestnumberofpotentialkeydecisionmakersbythe
verynatureoftheposition.
Sincesubsequentprotocolsmayrequiretheresearchertoattendprojectmeetings,the
researchershouldalsolookfordocumentsthatlistthemeetingrequirementsofthe
institutionalowner.Searchingfortermssuchas“constructionprojectmeetings”or“project
meetings”shouldyieldtherequireddocumentsandpotentiallyyieldthemeetingadministrator
contactinformation.Itisimportanttodeterminewhothemeetingadministratorisinorderto
Figure3.4:CandidateProjectMap
31
obtainpermissiontocometothemeeting.Thelistofmeetingsmaynotbecompleteandmay
notspecifymeetingsforasingleprojectsinceeachprojectisunique,butthereshouldbeat
leastonedocumentdescribingthemeetingsatypicalprojectshouldhavesincebythe
definitionofinstitutionalowner,thereshouldbesomedocumentationforstandardized
procurement.Fromthere,thedetailsforwhichmeetingstoattendcanbedeterminedduring
theinterviewprocess.
3.5.2 Semi Structured Interview Protocol
Thesemistructuredinterviewsarethemainvehiclefordatacollection.Thedocumentreview
providesthebackgroundinformationandstartingpointsnecessaryfortheinterviewprotocol
tobeeffective.Theprimaryobjectivesoftheinterviewprotocolaretovalidatethefindingsof
thedocumentreviewprotocoliftheprotocolfoundkeydecisionmakers,ortodeterminewho
thekeydecisionmakersmightbeifnonewerefoundinthedocumentreview.Asecondary
objectiveistodetermineconstructionmeetingstoattendandtheassociatedmeeting
administrator’scontactinformation(SeeAppendixC).
Themainreasonforusingasemistructuredinterviewwastoallowtheresearchertheflexibility
tochangetacticsorquestionsastheinterviewprogressed.Astructuredapproachwouldhave
madethedataeasiertomanipulateduetothestandardizationofthequestions,butthiswould
havenotallowedtheresearchertoexploretheresponsesoftheinterviewee.Italsowouldhave
preventedtheresearcherfrombeingabletoqualifythequestionsbeingaskedifthe
intervieweewasconfusedaboutthem.Withouttheabilitytoguidetheinterviewandqualify
thequestionsasnecessary,theresearcherwouldhavehadtorelyontheinterpretationofthe
interviewee.Thiscouldhaveledseveralresponsestobeuselesstotheresearcher.The
flexibilityofthesemistructuredapproachturnedouttobeveryusefulfortheresearcherand
willbediscussedfurtherinsubsequentchapters.Thisflexibilitydoesputuniquedemandson
theresearcher.Theresearcherwillneedtothoroughlyunderstandthecultureandhave
masteryoflanguageofthepeoplebeinginterviewed.Ifthesequalitiesarenotpresentinthe
researcher,itwillpotentiallycausetheresearchertomissimportantinformationconcerning
whothekeydecisionmakersare.Forexample,someonewhodoesn’thavemasteryofthe
32
languagemaynotpickuponacommentmade“underthebreath”oftheinterviewee.
Therefore,onlyresearcherwithathoroughunderstandingofthecultureandmasteryofthe
languageshouldusethisprotocol.
Theinterviewstartswithadescriptionoftheprojectandtheestablishmentofkey
concepts/definitions.Theyareasfollows:
1) Keydecisionmaker–Thepersonorgroupwhohasthemostinfluenceonthe
system.Ifitisagroup,thegroupmustactlikeasingleentity.
2) Rubberstampdecisionmaker–Asuperiorwhosimplysignsoffonanyrequestofhis
subordinateswithoutdetailedrevieworcontributingtotheanalysis.
ThenextstepoftheinterviewwastoshowtheintervieweetheHighSystemCostChart(HSCC)
andaskthemiftheyfeltthatthesystemsontheHSCCwere,intheiropinion,accuratefroma
lifecyclecostperspective.ThiswasanimportantstepbecausetheUSDepartmentofCommerce
studythattheHSCCisbasedononlyconsideredsystemcostsuptototalinstalledcost.Itdid
nottrytoextrapolatealifecyclecost.Whileitwouldstillbeimportanttodeterminewhothe
decisionmakersareforsystemswiththehighesttotalinstalledcost,itismoreadvantageousto
considersystemsfromalifecycleperspective.Thisallowssustainabletechnologiestobegiven
fairconsiderationsincetheytypicallyhaveslightlyhigherinitialcostsbutsaveoverthelifecycle.
WiththefoundationfortheinterviewlaidthroughthekeydefinitionsandtheHSCC,the
interviewcouldmoveforwardandbeginprobingforkeydecisionmakers.
Theinterviewprotocolprobedforkeydecisionmakersthroughanidentificationand
eliminationprocess.Theintervieweewasaskedtolistallthedecisionmakerstheyfeltwere
“key”accordingtotheestablisheddefinitionforeachbuildingsystemintheHSCC.Withthelist
ofdecisionmakerscompleted,theintervieweethenhadtochoosethetoponeortwomost
influentialdecisionmakersfromthelistforeachsystem.Thesedecisionmakerswerethen
consideredtobethe“key”decisionmakersfortheproject,subjecttovalidationasdiscussed
previously.Thisstepcouldprovidebothinitialidentificationandvalidationatthesametimeif
threeofmoreoftheinterviewee’sidentifythesamekeydecisionmaker.
33
Thelaststepfortheinterviewprotocolwastoaskiftheintervieweeknewofanyupcoming
projectmeetingsthattheresearchercouldattend,andaskforthecontactinformationforthe
meetingadministrator.Thislaststepmayormaynotbenecessarydependingonhow
convergenttheinterviewresponsesare.
3.5.3 Indirect Observation Protocol
Theindirectobservationprotocolisonlyusedforvalidatingthefindingsoftheprevioustwo
protocolsbyprovideenoughinformationtotriangulatethedata(SeeAppendixD).Theprotocol
startsbyobtainingpermissionfortheresearchertoattendthemeetingsinceitwouldbevery
inappropriateforaresearchertoshowupatameetingunannounced.Onceatthemeeting,the
researcher’sfirststepistoidentifyallthepeoplewhowillbepresentatthemeeting.Ideally,
thiswillbedonebeforethemeetingbeginssotheresearchercanthefocusonthecontentof
themeetingitself.Iftherearepeopleatthemeetingthatwerenotidentifiedbeforethe
meeting,theresearchercaneitherapproachthemdirectlyoraskthemeetingadministratorto
identifythemafterthemeeting.Whilethemeetingisinprogress,theresearchermustlistenfor
phrasessuchas“Iwillberesponsiblefor_____”,“Youtaketheleadwithitem_____”,orsimilar
phraseswheresomeoneisindicatedtomakedecisionsconcerningoneofthebuildingsystems
ofinterest.Iftheverbiagesimilartothisisused,thispersonshouldbeidentifiedasapotential
keydecisionmaker.Bycombiningthisdatawithdatacollectedpreviously,thefindingsshould
bevalidated.Iftheyarenot,theresearcherwillneedtogobackandconductmoreinterviews
andpotentiallyattendmoremeetingstocollectenoughdatatovalidatethefindings.
34
Chapter 4: Data Collection and Analysis
Thischapterreportsthefindingsandexperiencesoftheresearcherfromtestingthe
framework,anditsapplicableprotocols.Theorganizationtowhichtheresearcherappliedthis
frameworktowasVirginiaPolytechnicInstituteandStateUniversityorsimplyVirginiaTech
(VT).VirginiaTechmeetsallofthecharacteristicsforaninstitutionalowner.Itsassetsarenot
readilytraded,ithasfacilityprocurementstandards,hasanin‐houseconstructiondepartment,
hasseveralconcurrentcapitalprojects,hasprojectsatdifferentstagesofdevelopment,and
assetshaveadesignlifegreaterthan50years.
4.1 Document Review Findings
TheresearcherbeganthedocumentreviewprotocolbylookingonVirginiaTech’swebsitefora
linktotheirconstructionorfacilitydepartment’swebsite.ConstructionatVirginiaTechis
administeredbytheVirginiaTechFacilitiesDepartment.TheFacilitiesDepartmentdidhavea
websitewhichiswheretheresearcherconductedmostofthedocumentreview.Inadditionto
lookingonthewebsite,theresearchertriedtolookatactualprojectfiles.Unfortunatelyafter
seekingaccesstotheprojectfilesthroughacooperativememberoftheFacilitiesDepartment,
theresearcherwasessentiallytoldthataccesstotheprojectfileswouldnotbegiven.However,
theresearcherwasabletofindenoughinformationtosuccessfullyseedthesemi‐structured
interviewprotocol.
4.1.1 Decision Maker Investigation
Thedocumentreviewprotocollistsseveraldifferentdocumentstospecificallylookforwhile
lookingforactualdecisionmakers.Theresearcherbeganattemptingtofindthedocumentson
thatlist.Thedocumentstostartwithareasfollows:
1) Organizationchartsorsimilarrolesandresponsibilitycharts
2) Standardoperatingprocedures,especiallyconstructionrelatedprocedures
3) Annualreports
4) Historicalprojectfiles
35
Theresearcherwasabletofindtheorganizationalchartforthefacilitiesdepartmentaswellas
fortheOfficeoftheUniversityArchitect(OUA).Figure4.1isthefacilitydepartment’s
organizationchart;however,itonlygoesdowntothedirectorlevel.Bylookingatthepersonnel
listonthefacilitieswebsite,theresearchermadethedeterminationthattheorganizational
chartdidnothaveenoughgranularitytoidentifydecisionmakersbecausetherewereseveral
morepeoplelistedonthewebsitebutnotontheorganizationalchart.TheOUAorganizational
chartdidhavemoregranularity;therefore,theresearcherdidconsiderthepeopleonittobe
potentialdecisionmakers.However,thepositiondescriptionswerenotspecificenoughto
determineifanyofthemwerekeydecisionmakersforthisresearch.
Thenextsetofdocumentstheresearchertriedtofindwerestandardoperatingprocedures.
Someofthedocumentstheresearcherwasabletofindwereasfollows:
1) DesignandConstructionStandards
2) DesignStandardsforLearningEnvironments
Figure4.1:FacilitiesOrganizationChart(VirginiaTech2008)
36
3) Construction&ProfessionalServicesManual(CPSM)
TheDesignandConstructionStandardsdidnotidentifyanydecisionmakersbecauseitfocused
ongeneralguidelinessuchasnumberingstyles,doorsizesandfinishes,orsimilarguidelines.It
didnotspecifyeitherpeopleorofficesresponsibleformeetingtheseguidelines.Thesamewas
truefortheDesignStandardsforLearningEnvironments.TheCPSMhasalotofinformation
concerningstandardsforroofconstruction,othermaterialstandards,andtheoverallflowofa
project,butitalsodidnotyieldanydecisionmaters.TheproblemwiththeCPSMisthatitisfor
theentirestateofVirginia,notjustVT.Asaresult,itwasnotspecificenoughtoidentify
decisionmakers.
Withthatavenueexplored,theresearcherwentontolookatannualreports.Theresearcher
wasabletofindannualreportsfor2004,2005,and2006.Uponreviewingthesedocuments,
theresearcherdeterminedthatdecisionmakerswouldnotbeidentifiedthroughthemeither
becausetheyareverygeneralinnature.Theannualreportssimplyhitthehighlightsofthat
particularyearbyconveyinginformationliketheamountofmoneyspentthatyear,any
buildingsthathadbeencompleted,orthestatusofanyreallargeprojects.Thislefthistorical
projectfilesasthelastsetofdocumentationtolookinto.
TheresearcherwenttotheFacilitiesDepartmenttotryandlookathistoricprojectfiles;
however,thedocumentreviewprotocoldidnotincludeinstructionsforhowtolookforhistoric
documents.Fortunately,whilelookingforconstructionstandards,theresearcherhadfounda
documentlistingthetypesofdocumentsthatarekeptbyFacilities;therefore,theresearcher
hadastartingpoint.Thedocumentreviewprotocolwasthenmodifiedtoincludesome
guidanceforfindinghistoricaldocuments.ThedocumentrequirementsforFacilitiesarein
Table4.1.Unfortunately,whentheresearchertriedtoobtainthesedocuments,theFacilities
Departmentcouldnotallowaccesstothem.Theresearcheraskedoneoftheprojectmanagers
foraccess,buttheprojectmanagerwasnotabletogranttheaccessbecausealloftheproject
filesarestoredinanelectronicdatabase.VirginiaTechdoesnotkeeppaperfilesonhand.Once
aprojectisfinished,VTsendsanypaperfilestolongtermstorage.Withthedecisionmaker
sectioncompleted,theresearcherwentontofindcandidateprojectstoinvestigatefurther.
37
4.1.2 Candidate Project Identification and Selection
Inordertoseedthesemi‐structuredinterviews,theresearcherneededtofindoutwhat
projectswerecurrentlybeingpursuedatVirginiaTech.Bythedefinitionforinstitutionalowner
putforthbytheresearcher,aninstitutionalownershouldhaveseveralcapitalprojectsongoing.
VirginiaTechcertainlymetthisrequirementofthedefinitionbecausetheFacilitiesDepartment
hadalinktoanewconstructionwikiandtoaconstructionreport.Thenewconstructionwiki
onlyhadprojectscurrentlybeingconstructedonit,buttheconstructionreporthadalistofall
projectsinplanning,design,andconstruction.Theconstructionreportlisted36different
projectsatdifferentstagesofdevelopment.Inordertoattempttotriangulateresults,atleast3
projectsneededtobeselectedtobeinvestigatedfurther.Picking3projectsfromalistof36is
difficultsinceeachprojecthasdifferentcharacteristics.Asaresult,theresearchercreateda
chartofallthedifferentprojectstoaidintheselectionofthesampletoinvestigateusingthe
interviewprotocol.
Anypotentialresearcherwhowillusethisframeworkwillhaveauniquesetofcircumstances
thataredrivingtheresearch.Therefore,itisdifficulttosetahardandfastmethodforcreating
Table4.1:RequiredDocuments(VirginiaTech2009)
38
aprojectchart.Eachresearcherwillneedtodeterminewhichbuildingattributesarethemost
significantfortheresearchandclassifythebuildingsaccordingtothem.FortheresearchatVT,
theprojectdeliverymethod,thesizeofthebuilding,thestageofdevelopment,andthe
buildingtypewerethemostimportantbuildingcharacteristicsforreasonsmentioned
previously.Figure3.4showsanexampleoftheprojectmaptheresearchercreated.AppendixG
containstheactualprojectmapwithallthebuildingsonit.TheInstituteforCriticalTechnology
andAppliedScience(ICTAS)buildingsIandIIandtheEngineeringSignatureBuildingwere
selectedforfurtherinvestigation.Thesewereselectedforthefollowingreasons:
1) Oneofthemfellineachprojectdevelopmentphase
2) TheICTASbuildingswerebothmixedlaboratoryandofficespacetypebuildings
3) TheEngineeringSignatureBuildingwasthelargestfacilityintheconstructionreport
4) Allofthemweredifferentsizes.
Oncetheseprojectswereselected,theresearcherlookeduptheprojectsontheconstruction
wikitofindtheprojectmanagers.Theresearcherwasonlyabletofindtheprojectmanagerfor
ICTASI.Theothertwoprojectswerestillinplanningordesignandhadnotmadeitfarenough
intheprocesstobeputonthewikiyet.Theresearcherdecidedhewouldstartwith
interviewingtheICTASIprojectmanagerandfindoutwhotheotherprojectmanagerswere
duringtheinterview.Withthecandidateprojectsfoundandtheprojectsforfurther
investigationidentified,theresearcherwentontotryandfindpossiblemeetingstoattendfor
theseprojects.
4.1.3 Possible Meetings Identification
Theresearcherneededtofindpotentialmeetingstoattendincasetheywerenecessaryto
validatethefindingsoftheresearch.TheresearchersearchedtheFacilitiesandVirginiaTech
websitesforthekeytermslistedinthedocumentreviewprotocol,butmeetingsforeachofthe
identifiedprojectswerenottobefound.Theresearcherwasabletofindalistofmeetingsthat
anyprojectatVirginiaTechwassupposedtohave.Theresearcherexercisedjudgmentand
determinedthatthiswassufficientsinceactualmeetingstoattendcouldbeidentifiedduring
theinterviewprocess.Sincethemeetingsfoundweregenericinnature,itwasimpossiblefor
39
theresearchertodeterminewhothemeetingadministratorwas.Asaresult,thispartofthe
documentprotocolwasnotpursued.
Attheendofthedocumentreviewprotocol,theresearcherhadnotfoundanydecision
makers,butseveralprojectswereidentifiedforfurtherinvestigation.Inaddition,atleastone
projectparticipantwasidentified,andalistofstandardmeetingswasdiscovered.Next,semi‐
structuredinterviewsweretobeconducted.
4.2 SemiStructured Interview Findings
ThefirstinterviewtoconductwastheprojectmanagerforICTASI.Hewastheonlyproject
managertheresearcherwasabletoidentifysincetheotherbuildingstobeinvestigatedwere
notfarenoughalonginthedevelopmentprocesstobelistedontheVirginiaTechorFacilities
website.TheresearcheremailedtheprojectmanagerfortheICTASIprojectandsetupan
interviewappointment.
4.2.1 First Interview
TheresearcherbegantheinterviewwiththeICTASIprojectmanagerbythankinghimforhis
timeandhavinghimsignthereleaseformsneededbytheInstitutionalReviewBoard(IRB).
Fromthere,theresearcherstartedbysummarizingtheoverallobjectivesoftheresearchand
paintinga“bigpicture”viewoftheresearch.Withtheoveralldescriptioncompleted,the
researcherpulledoutacopyoftheHighSystemCostChart(HSCC)andshowedittotheproject
manager.AstheresearcherwasexplaininghowtheHSCCwascreated,hesawanopportunity
toimprovetheinterviewprotocolbyaskingtheprojectmanagerifheagreedwiththesystems
ontheHSCCfromanoperationsandmaintenance(O&M)standpoint.Thiswasimportant
becausethestudytheHSCCwasbasedononlyconsideredtotalinstalledcost.Whilethisfactis
notnecessarilyaproblemforeveryoneelsewhomightusethisframework,theresearcherwas
interestedinidentifyingdecisionmakerswhohadthegreatestimpactonTCO.Therefore,inan
efforttovalidatetheHSCCfromaTCOperspective,theresearcheraddedaquestionaskingthe
projectmanagertogivetheiropiniononifthesystemsontheHSCCwererepresentativeofthe
mostexpensivesystemsfromaTCOperspective.Forthisinterview,theprojectmanagerfelt
thatthesuperstructuresystemwouldnotbeanissuefromaTCOstandpoint,butthatplumbing
40
androofmaintenancewouldbe.Theresearcherthenwentontodefiningsomekeytermsand
conceptssuchaswhatakeydecisionmakerwasandthedifferencebetweenadecisionmaker
andarubberstampdecisionmaker.Withfoundationlaidfortheinterview,theresearcher
proceededtoidentifydecisionmakers.
Theresearcheraskedtheprojectmanagertolistallthekeydecisionmakersthathecouldthink
offoreachofthesystemsontheHSCC.Itwasduringthisprocessthatanotherchangetothe
interviewprotocolwasidentified.Theprojectmanagerdidnotknowifthedifferentbuilding
codesandVirginiaTech’sowninternalcodewasagivenornot.Ifnot,whowrotethemwould
beaverysignificantdecisionmaker.Sincebuildingcodesareessentiallylaw,theresearcher
toldtheprojectmanagertoconsideranycodesorsimilarrequirementsasaconstantforthe
research.Withthatissueclearedup,theprojectmanagerwasabletolistwhohefeltthekey
decisionmakerswere.Bythetimetheprojectmanagerfinished,theinterviewhadtakenlonger
thantheresearcherhadanticipated.Inanefforttostreamlinetheinterview,insteadofhaving
theprojectmanagerrateeachdecisionmakerheidentifiedaccordingtohowimportantthey
were,theresearchersimplyhadtheprojectmanagercircletheoneortwomostimportant
decisionmakersforeachsystem.Thesepeopleorgroupswereconsideredthetruekeydecision
makersfortheproject.TheresultsoftheinterviewscanbefoundinTable4.2.Tobringthe
interviewtoaclose,theresearcheraskedforthenamesoftheprojectmanagersfortheother
twoprojectsunderconsideration.TheICTASIprojectmanageractuallytooktheresearcherto
theofficesoftheothertwoprojectmanagersandintroducedhim.Theresearcherthen
scheduledinterviewswithbothofthem.
41
Table4.2:InterviewResults
42
Withthefirstinterviewcompleted,theresearcherrealizedthatitwouldbebesttorecord
futureinterviewsiftheintervieweeagreedtobeingrecorded.Theresearcherhadfoundit
difficulttotakenotesontheinterviewwhilealsoguidingtheinterviewandanswering
questions.Recordingtheinterviewsalsoallowedtheresearchertogobackafterthefactand
performmoreanalysisifnecessary.Theresearcherthensetaboutmakingthechangestothe
interviewprotocolandwentbackacoupledayslatertotheFacilitiesDepartmenttoconduct
theinterviewsoftheothertwoprojectmanagers.
4.2.2 Second and Third Interviews
Thesecondandthirdinterviewsbothfollowedthesamestructureasthefirstone,but
incorporatedthepreviouslystatedchanges.Thesecondintervieweedidnotagreetobeing
recorded,butthethirdintervieweedid.Atranscriptoftheinterviewwiththethirdinterviewee
isinAppendixF.WhentheresearcheraskedabouttheiropinionsontheHSCCfromaTCO
perspective,thesecondintervieweeindicatedthathewasnotinvolvedinO&M,butthatit
lookedfinetohim.ThethirdintervieweeagreedwiththeHSCC,andalsosaidthattheelectrical
systemwasthemostexpensive.Bothofthemhadnoproblemunderstandingthedefinitionsor
thedistinctionbetweenanormaldecisionmakerandarubberstamptype.Thelistingofthe
decisionmakersforeachsystemalsowentmuchsmootherthanithadduringthefirst
interview.Therefore,theresearcherdidnotfeeltheneedtofurthermodifytheinterview
protocol.TheresultsoftheseinterviewsarealsofoundinTable4.2.
Thethreepeopleinterviewedtosofarwereallprojectmanagers,buttofurthervalidatethe
findings,itwasnecessarytointerviewatleastonepersonoutsideoftheFacilitiesDepartment.
Therefore,theresearcheraskedtheprojectmanageroftheICTASIbuildingforthecontact
informationforthebuildingmanagerofICTASI.Thebuildingmanagerwasinvolvedinthe
developmentandconstructionofthebuildingbecauseitisthebuildingmanager’s
responsibilitytorepresenttheneedsandconcernsoftheICTASIstaff.TheICTASIproject
managergavetheresearcherthecontactinformation,andtheresearcherthensetupan
interviewwiththebuildingmanager.
43
4.2.3 Fourth Interview
ThefourthinterviewwasoftheICTASIbuildingmanager.Duringtheinterview,theresearcher
foundoutthatthebuildingmanagerforICTASIwasalsothebuildingmanagerforICTASII.The
researcherhadtheoptiontohavethebuildingmanageridentifykeydecisionmakersforboth
buildingsbutdecidednottobecauseitmightbiastheinterviewresults.
Thebuildingmanageragreedtobeingrecorded,andthetranscriptoftheinterviewisin
AppendixE.Theresearcherwassurprisedathowquicklythebuildingmanagerunderstoodthe
HSCCandthedistinctionsofkeydecisionmakers.Asaresult,theinterviewquicklyprogressed
toidentifyingdecisionmakers.Itwasinterestingthatthebuildingmanagerspentmoretime
andseemedtohaveamoredetailedunderstandingoftheplayersinvolvedintheexterior
claddingandinteriorfinishessystems.Theprojectmanagershadspentmoretimetalkingabout
issuesliketheroofingsystemortheHVACsystem.Thebuildingmanagerprovidedalotmore
detailofhowtheoccupantsofthebuildinginteractedwiththebuilding.Eventhoughthese
sortsofdetailswerenotdirectlyrelatedtotheobjectivesoftheinterviewprotocol,the
researcherrecordedtheinformationtogetabetterunderstandingofhowtheusersfitintothe
developmentofcapitalprojectsofinstitutionalowners.Theresponsesofthebuildingmanager
areshowninTable4.2.
Withtheinterviewscompleted,thenextstepoftheframeworkistheindirectobservation
protocol.
4.3 Indirect Observation Findings
Therewasasufficientamountofconvergenceintheresponsesofthefourintervieweesto
justifynotpursuingtheobservationprotocol.Thesignificanceoftheconvergenceisdiscussed
moreinthenextchapter.
44
Chapter 5: Validation
Thischapterdiscussesthevalidationeffortsforthisresearch.Firstthedocumentreview
protocolvalidationmethodsaretobediscussed,andthenthesemi‐structuredinterview
protocolwillbediscussed.Theindirectobservationprotocolwasnotused;therefore,itwasnot
validated.
5.1 Document Review Protocol Validation
Tovalidatethedocumentreviewprotocol,theresearcheremployedaninter‐raterreliability
methodbyaskingtwootherpeopletogothroughtheprotocolandseeiftheirfindings
matchedthoseoftheresearcher.ThefirstraterwasaPhDstudentandhadnoknowledgeof
thepurposeoftheresearchorwhatkeydecisionmakerswereandwhytheywereimportant.
Thesecondraterwasasophomoreandhadalimitedunderstandingoftheresearchandwhat
decisionmakerswere.
Thefirstraterwasnotabletoidentifyanypotentialdecisionmakers,buttheresearcherhad
notfoundanyeithersotherewasnosignificantdiscrepancythere.Significantdiscrepancywas
onlyevidentfortheremainingportionsofthedocumentprotocol.Theraterdidnotfindanyof
theorganizationalchartsthattheresearcherhad.Therateronlyfoundthreebuildingsthathad
beenbuiltrecentlyascandidateprojects.Theraterdidnotcreateachartoftheprojectseven
thoughtheprotocoldirectedtheratertodocreateone.Therateralsodidnotfindany
potentialmeetingstoattendorthecontactinformationforthemeetingadministrators.Even
thoughtheresearcherhadnotbeenabletofindthatinformationeither,theresearcherhad
founddocumentationofstandardmeetingsforallprojectsthattheraterdidnotfind.
ThesecondraterdidfindtheorganizationalchartfortheFacilitiesDepartmentbutdidnotfind
theorganizationalchartforOUA.Thesecondraterwasalsonotabletofindanycleardecision
makerseither.Thesecondraterwasabletofindthesamelistofprojectsthattheresearcher
hadfoundandalsocreatedachartoftheprojectsaccordingtotheprotocol.Forpossible
meetingsandmeetingadministratorcontactinformation,theraterfoundsomeminutesfor
differentmeetingsandextractedmeetingsandsomecontactinformationfromthem.
45
Thefirstraterseemedtohaveasignificantamountoftroubleexecutingtheprotocol.One
possibleexplanationisthatthiswasduepartlytolackofvestedinterestonthepartoftherater
becauseittooktherateraboutamonthtogettheresultsbacktotheresearcher.The
researcheralsocouldnotdetermineareasonfornotcreatingtheprojectmapsinceitwas
clearlyindicatedintheprotocol.
Thesecondraterseemedtounderstandtheprotocolrelativelywellsincehewasabletogive
theresultstotheresearcherwithinoneworkingday.Whilethesecondraterdidnotfindallthe
organizationalchartsthattheresearcherdid,theresearcherdecidedthatitwasareasonable
differencesincetheraterdidnothaveasmuchbackgroundknowledgeorpersonalinterestin
theproject.Theonlyareaofapparentconfusiononthepartoftheraterwasthedocuments
theraterfoundforidentifyingpotentialmeetingsandcontactinformation.Ofthedocuments
found,onlytwoofthemhadtodowithindividualbuildingprojects.Theremainingthreewere
minutesfromdifferentuniversitycommittees.Theminutesfromthebuildingprojectsdid
identifyonemeetingandthecontactinformationforthemeetingadministrator,butthe
particularmeetingshadalreadyhappenedandfuturemeetingswerenotidentifiedinthe
minutes.Therateralsohadnotfoundthesamedocumentlistingthestandardmeetingsfor
projectsatVirginiaTech.Uponreviewingtheresultsfromthesecondrater,theresearcher
determinedthatthedocumentreviewprotocolneededtobemodifiedtobemorespecific
aboutwhatthequalificationsforpotentialmeetingsshouldbe.
Insummary,thefirstraterdidnotvalidatethefindingsoftheresearcher,butsincethefirst
raterwasabletofindatleastthreeprojectswithcontactsforeachone,theframeworkstill
couldhaveadvancedtotheinterviewphase.Thesecondraterfoundmanyofthesamethings
thattheresearcherhad.Onepossibleexplanationforthedifferencescanreasonablybethe
greaterknowledgeoftheareaandthegreaterinterestintheresultsonthepartofthe
researcher.Animportantlimitationforthisresearchisthatanyfutureresearcherwhowould
usethisframeworkwouldneedasimilarlevelofknowledgeandinteresttoachieveasimilar
correlationinfindings.
46
5.2 SemiStructured Interview Protocol Validation
Tovalidatethefindingsoftheinterviewprotocol,theresearcherutilizedthetriangulation
approachpreviouslymentioned.Theresearcherrecordedtheresponsesofthedifferent
intervieweesandlookedforconvergenceintheirresponses.Therewasanunexpectedlyhigh
convergencerateamongtheinterviewsubjects.OfthesixsystemsontheHSCC,allfour
intervieweesidentifiedthesamekeydecisionmakerforthreeofthem.Threeofthefour
intervieweesidentifiedthesamekeydecisionmakerfortwooftheothersystems,andthe
systemwiththeleastconvergencehadonlytwointervieweesidentifythesamekeydecision
maker.Table4.2summarizesthefindingsoftheinterviews.
Sincethreeormoreoftheinterviewsubjectshadthesameresponseforallbutonesystem,the
interviewresponsessuccessfullyidentifiedkeydecisionmakersforthesystemsontheHSCC.
Alsosincethebuildingmanager’sresponseswereremarkablyconvergentwiththeproject
manager’sresponse,morecredibilitycanbegiventothevalidityofthedata.Duetothe
convergencefoundatthisstageintheframework,itwasnotnecessarytoemploytheindirect
observationprotocol.
47
Chapter 6: Conclusions
Thechaptersummarizestheconclusionsthatweredrawnfromthisresearch.
6.1 Research Conclusions
Thisresearchsetouttoanswerthequestionofwhoarethekeydecisionmakersthatimpacta
facility’sTCO,andwhatframeworkshouldbeusedtoidentifythem?Thefirsthalfofthe
questionwasansweredthroughthedevelopmentoftheHSCC.Thekeydecisionmakersthat
impactafacility’sTCOarethekeydecisionmakersforthesixsystemsfoundontheHSCC.The
secondhalfoftheresearchquestionrequiredmoreanalysis.
6.2 Order of Protocols
ThedevelopmentofaframeworktoidentifykeydecisionwasbasedonworkdonebyGrossi
whoconductedresearchonstakeholderanalysis.Theorderofemployingthemethodologies
wasanimportantaspectoftheframeworkbecauseeachonehasitsownstrengthsand
weaknessesthatshouldbeutilizedtoachievethebestoverallresult.Theprotocolsforeach
methodologyformthebackbonesoftheframework.Itisthetestingandvalidatingofthese
protocolsthatwerecriticaltothesuccessfuldevelopmentoftheframework.
6.3 Validation of Protocols
Validatingthedocumentreviewprotocolwasthemostdifficultbecausegettingsuitablepeople
forinter‐relaterreliabilitytestingprovedtobechallenging.Neitheroftheratershada
comparableknowledgebaseastheresearcherintheobjectivesoftheframeworkorthefieldof
identifyingstakeholders.Anotherchallengewasgettingthesamelevelofeffortfromtheraters
astheresearcher.Thisprovedtobeverydifficultwithoneoftheraters.Evenwiththese
challenges,thedocumentreviewprotocolaccomplisheditspurposebecauseitdidprovide
enoughinformationfortheinterviewprotocoltobegin.
Theinterviewprotocolwasmucheasiertovalidatebecausetriangulationandconvergenceof
responsewastheprimaryvalidationindicator.Theconvergencelevelreallysurprisedthe
researcher.Theresearcherdidnotanticipatethatfourdifferentpeoplewithoutcommunicating
48
wouldhavesuchalevelofconvergence.Fortheonecasethatthisframeworkwasvalidatedas
atoolfor,thefindingssuggestthatthereisahighlevelofstandardizationanddefinitionof
rolesacrosstheinstitution.
Theindirectobservationprotocolwasnottestedbecauseoftheinterviewshadenough
convergencetoachievevalidation.Itisstillanimportantmeasuretoconsiderforfuture
applicationsoftheframeworktogiveresearchersonemoreavenuetovalidatewhothekey
decisionmakersare.Ifafterusingthattheindirectobservationprotocolkeydecisionmakers
arenotidentified,thentheresearchermighthavetoconsiderstartingtheframeworkagainor
revisitingsomeoftheprotocolstomakesurenoinformationwasmissed.
6.4 Research Summary
Insummary,theframeworkwasvalidatedasatoolforidentifyingkeydecisionmakersforthe
institutionstudied.Thefindingsofapplyingtheframeworktothistestcasesuggestthatits
applicationtootherinstitutionalownersmaybeusefulinidentifyingkeydecisionmakersfor
capitalprojectsinothercontexts.
49
Chapter 7: Discussion
Thischapterprovidestheresearcherwithaplatformfornotingseveraloftheintriguing
observationsmadethroughoutthecourseofthiswork.
7.1 Document Types
Throughoutthecourseofthisresearch,theresearcherobservedseveralinterestingactions,
events,andoutcomes.Fromtheinitialdevelopmentoftheframework,theresearchernoticed
thatthetypesofdocumentscouldbesortedintotwobroadcategories.Thefirsttypeis
normativedocumentswherethedocumentprescribeshowaprocessoractionshouldbedone.
Forinstance,procurementstandardsarenormativeinnature.Thesecondisdescriptive
documentsthatdescribehowaprocessoractionwasexecuted.Anexampleofadescriptive
documentisaRequestForInformation(RFI)oraprojectmemo.Fromtheobservationofthese
twocategories,theresearcherconsideredwhetherornotitcouldbepossibletoidentifyand
validatethekeydecisionmakersfromdocumentsalone.Typically,usingasingleresearch
methoddoesnotprovidesufficientlyuniquedataforbothinitialcollectionandvalidationto
occur.However,giventhetwodifferenttypesofdocuments,itmighthavebeenpossibleto
accomplishthisusingtriangulationwithinbothcategories.Forexample,ifatleastthree
differentnormativedocumentsidentifiedaparticulardecisionmakerandthenthree
descriptivedocumentsidentifiedthesamedecisionmaker,onecouldmakethecasethatthe
findingswerevalidated.Thiswouldonlybepossibleiftheresearcherwasgivenaccesstoboth
typesofdocuments.Ultimately,theresearcherchosenottoincludethisinthedevelopmentof
theframeworkinordertogivetheframeworkgreatercredibility.
7.2 People as Data
Anotherobservationthattheresearchermadewasthedifficultyoftreatingpeopleasdata
insteadofhumanbeings.Thiswasprimarilyastrugglewhenreportingtheresultsofthe
interviewprotocol.Itwaseasytoremembertokeepthenamesofthepeopleinterviewed
confidential,butkeepingthenamesofpeoplethattheintervieweesmentionconfidentialwas
surprisinglydifficult.Futureresearchersshouldreplaceanynamesmentionedintheinterview
50
witheitheranumberorsomeothergenericrepresentationassoonastheinterviewis
concluded.
Thedecisiontorecordtheinterviewsbroughtsomeinterestingthoughtsforconsideration.The
decisiontorecordtheinterviewswasmadebecausetheresearcherfoundittoodifficultto
answertheinterviewee’squestions,guidetheinterview,andtakedetailednotes
simultaneously.Inordertorecordtheinterviews,theresearcherhadtorevisetheIRBprotocol
bycreatingspecialpermissionstatementsfortheinterviewsubjectstosigntoobtainIRB
approval.Theresearcherinitiallyfeltthattherewouldbenoobjectionstohavingtheinterview
recorded,butthefirstsubjectthatwasinterviewedrefusedtoberecorded.Thiscausedthe
researchertowonderaboutwhatsortofaffecttherecordingoftheinterviewswashavingon
theresponsesoftheinterviewees.Weretheintervieweesrespondingwithmorenormative
answers,orweretheycomfortableenoughtorespondastheytrulyperceivedtheproject?
Werethey“toeingthepartyline”ornot?Theresearcherdoesnotbelievethatthiswasthe
casewiththisresearchbecausetheresponsesoftheintervieweewhorefusedrecordingwas
thesameasthosewhowererecorded.Also,theintervieweeswhowererecordeddidnot
indicateanyuneasinesswithbeingrecorded.Theresearchertriedtomitigateanyaffectthe
recordingmighthavebyplacingtherecordingdeviceoutofthelineofsightoftheinterviewee
inthehopethattheintervieweewouldforgetthattheywerebeingrecorded.Nonetheless,it
isaninterestingissuethatmightwarrantfurtherconsiderationbyfutureresearchers.
7.3 Stakeholder Theory
Thefinalareaofinterestisthepossiblefurtherapplicationofstakeholdertheorytothefindings
oftheframework.Mitchelletal.(1997)proposedthreecharacteristicsfordefiningthesalience
ofastakeholder.Theyarepower,legitimacy,andurgency.Eachofthesecharacteristicsisat
differentlevelswithineachstakeholder,andallthreeneedtobeatacertainlevelinorderfora
stakeholdertohaveenoughsaliencetoaccomplishanaction.Asthekeydecisionmakerswere
identified,theresearcherfounditinterestingtoconsiderwhichofthecharacteristicswerethe
dominantonesforeachdecisionmaker.Forexample,thekeydecisionmakerforexterior
claddingwastheBoardofVisitors(BOV).Thesourceoftheirsalienceliespredominantlyinthe
51
powerthattheyhave.Theyhavetheabilitytopreventaprojectfromprogressingbyrejecting
theproposedbuildingbasedonflawsfoundintheexteriorappearanceofthebuilding.The
structuralengineeristhekeydecisionmakerforthesuperstructure,andhisprimarysourceof
saliencecomesfromlegitimacy.Ifthestructuralengineersayssomethingcanormore
importantlycannotbedone,thenhisopinionwilloftenoverruleothersbecauseheisthe
expertandhascriticalknowledgeotherstakeholdersdonothave.Examiningtherelationships
betweenstakeholdersandwithinastakeholderinthesetermsisamajorareaoffuture
researchfortheconstructionindustry.
Aswithmostresearchendeavors,morequestionswereraisedthananswered.Thisprojectwas
noexception.Itisthehopeofthisresearcherthatmanywillfindmeaningfulandintriguing
questionstopursuefromthisresearch.
52
Chapter 8: Limitations, Impacts, and Future Research
Aswithanyresearch,therearelimitations,impacts,andareasforfutureresearch.Thischapter
willidentifythoseforthisresearch.
8.1 Limitations
Thereareseverallimitationsthatshouldbenotedinthisresearch.Theyareasfollows:
1) ThestudythattheHSCCisbasedononlygoesthroughtotalinstalledcost.Itdoes
notincludeanyoperationsandmaintenancecostsordemolitioncosts
2) Theselectionofpeopletoperforminter‐raterreliabilityanalysiswasverylimited.
Morepeopleshouldhaveidentifiedandmorestringentqualificationcriteriashould
havebeenestablishedtobeconsideredforselection
3) Theindirectobservationprotocolwasnotvalidatedinthisresearch.Itwasidentified
asamethodtofindkeydecisionmakers,butrequiresvalidation
4) Thisframeworkisoptimallydesignedforresearcherswithavestedinterestin
findingkeydecisionmakersforconstructionprojectsandwithahigherthanaverage
knowledgeoftheconstructionfield.Itisnotdesignedforsomeonewithlittle
knowledgeofthefieldandwithlittlepersonalinterestinfindingkeydecision
makers
8.2 Impacts
Thecontributionofthisresearchistheframeworkforidentifyingkeydecisionmakersfor
institutionalownercapitalprojects.Thiswillgivefutureresearchersaframeworkforidentifying
keydecisionmakerssoatoolsuchasacomputermodelforminimizingafacilities’TCOcanbe
createdforinstitutionalowners.
8.3 Future Research
Therearethreemainareasforfutureresearch.First,theHSCCandthestudyitisbasedoncan
beexpanded.TheDepartmentofCommerceStudyincludesthetotalinstalledcostbutdoesnot
considertheoperationsandmaintenancecosts.InordertomeettheGSA’sdefinitionforgreen
53
design,thecurrentstudywillneedtobeexpanded.Ifthestudywasexpanded,theHSCCmight
changeslightly,buttheresearcherdoesnotexpectthatitwillchangesignificantly.Another
itemisexpandingthenumberofbuildingsinthestudyandthebuildingtypes.TheDOCstudy
onlyconsideredasingle,officetypebuilding.Byexpandingthebuildingsincludedinthestudy,
thegeneralizabilityoftheHSCCwouldbegreatlyenhanced.
Thesecondareaistheframeworkitself.Initscurrentform,theframeworkhasonlybeen
testedonasinglepublicagency.Testingtheframeworkonacoupleofotherpublicagencies
wouldenhancethegeneralizabilityoftheframeworkitself.Alongwithincreasedtesting,
validatingtheindirectobservationprotocolneedstobedone.Theobservationprotocolisan
importantpartoftheframework,butitwasnotvalidatedbecauseitwasnotnecessaryforthe
institutioninvestigated.Makingtheframeworkmorerobustsothatagreatervarietyofpeople
withdifferentlevelsofinterestwillbecapableofachievingreasonableresultswillmakethe
adoptionoftheframeworkeasier.
Thelastareaforfutureresearchaddressessomeoftheissuesidentifiedinchapter7.The
affectsofrecordingtheinterviewsonthedataobtainedanddeterminingthelevelsofsalience
ofeachkeydecisionmakerarenecessarytomaketheframeworkmorepractical.Initspresent
form,theframeworkisratheracademicinnature.Byaddressingthesetwoareas,the
frameworkwillmovefrombeingacademictopractical.
54
References
Beaver,E.(2000)."LCAandTotalCostAssessment."Environmental Progress,19(2),130‐139.
Boussabaine,H.andKirkham,R.(2004).Whole Life‐cycle Costing: Risk and Risk Responses,
BlackwellPublishing,Malden,MA.
Brand,S.(1994).How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built,Viking,NewYork,NY.
Christiansen,J.,andAltaweel,M.(2004)."SimulationofNaturalandSocialProcessInteractions
inBronzeAgeMesopotamianSettlementSystems."Society for American Anthropology
69th Annual Meeting,Montreal,Canada.
CensusBureau.(2008).“AnnualValueofFederalConstructionPutinPlace1993‐2008.”
<http://www.census.gov/const/C30/federal.pdf>(June20,2009).
ConstructionEngineeringResearchLaboratory(CERL).(2009).“MicroPAVERPavement
ManagementSystem.”
<http://www.cecer.army.mil/td/tips/product/details.cfm?ID=721&TOP=1>(June17,
2009).
ConstructionEngineeringResearchLaboratory(CERL).(2009).“Products/Capabilities.”
<http://www.cecer.army.mil/td/tips/browse/products.cfm?TOP=1&TECHNAME=>(June
17,2009).
DepartmentofCommerce(DOC).(1999).Uniformat II Elemental Classification for Building
Specifications, Cost Estimating, and Cost Analysis,USDepartmentofCommerce,
Washington,DC.
DepartmentofDefense(DOD).(2006).Defense Aquisition Guidebook,DefenseAcquisition
University,Washington,DC.,38‐74.
DepartmentofEnergy(DOE).(2007).Annual Energy Review 2007,EnergyInformation
Administration,Washington,DC.
55
DepartmentofEnergy(DOE).(2008).2008 Buildings Energy Data Book,D&RInternational,Ltd.,
SilverSpring,MD.
Ehlen,M.(1997)."Life‐CycleCostsofNewConstructionMaterials."Journal of Infrastructure
Systems,3(4),129‐133.
Ellram,L.,andSiferd,S.(1998)."TotalCostofOwnership:AKeyConceptinStrategicCost
ManagementDecisions."Journal of Business Logistics,19(1),55‐84.
EnvironmentalProtectionAgency(EPA).(1995).An Introduction to Environmental Accounting
as a Business Tool: Key Concepts and Terms,EnvironmentalProtectionAgency,
Washington,DC.
ExecutiveOfficeofthePresidentoftheUnitedStates(EOPUS).(2008)."BudgetoftheUnited
StatesGovernment."ExecutiveOfficeofthePresidentoftheUnitedStates,Washington,
DC.
Freeman,R.(1984).Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach,Pitman,Boston,MA.
Garvin,M.(2003).“RoleofProjectDeliverySystemsinInfrastructureImprovement.”
Proceedings of the 2003 Construction Research Congress,ASCE,Reston,VA.
GeneralServicesAdministration(GSA).(2008).Sustainability Matters,GeneralServices
Administration,Washington,DC.
GovernmentAccountabilityOffice(GAO).(2003).High Risk Series: Federal Real Property,
GovernmentAccountabilityOffice,Washington,DC.
GovernmentAccountabilityOffice(GAO).(2004).Budget Issues: Agency Implementation of
Capital Planning Principles is Mixed,GovernmentAccountabilityOffice,Washington,DC.
GovernmentAccountabilityOffice(GAO).(2005).Federal Real Property: Further Actions Needed
to Address Long‐Standing and Complex Problems,GovernmentAccountabilityOffice,
Washington,DC.
56
GovernmentAccountabilityOffice(GAO).(2007).High Risk Series: An Update,Government
AccountabilityOffice,Washington,DC.
Goodwin,P.,andWright,G.(2004).Decision Analysis for Management Judgment,JohnWiley&
SonsLtd,WestSussex,England.
Grossi,I.(2003).“StakeholderAnalysisintheContextoftheLeanEnterprise.”MSThesis,
MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology,Cambridge,MA.
Gurung,N.,andMahendran,M.(2002)."ComparativeLifeCycleCostsforNewSteelPortal
FrameBuildingSystems."Building Research & Information,30(1),35‐46.
Hendrickson,C.(2000).Project Management for Construction: Fundamental Concepts for
Owners, Engineers, Architects and Builders,CarnegieMellonUniversity,Pittsburgh,PA.
Hsieh,T.,andLiu,H.(1997)."MultistageHeuristicApproachforSolvingInfrastructure
InvestmentDecisionProblems."Journal of Infrastructure Systems,3(4),134‐142.
InternationalFacilitiesManagementAssociation(IFMA).(2008)."Asset Lifecycle Model for
Total Cost of Ownership Management: Framework, Glossary, and Definitions."
InternationalFacilitiesManagementAssociation,NationalAssociationofStateFacilities
Administrators,AssociationofHigherEducationFacilitiesOfficers/APPA,Federal
FacilitiesCouncil,HolderConstructionCompany,andInfrastructureStrategies.
<http://www.ifma.org/tools/research/Asset_Lifecyle_Model.pdf>(Jan.20,2009).
Isaksen,S.,andGaulin,J.(2005)."AReexaminationofBrainstormingResearch:Implicationsfor
ResearchandPractice."Gifted Child Quarterly,49(4),315‐329.
Johansson,D.(2009)."TheLifeCycleCostsofIndoorClimateSystemsinDwellingsandOffices
TakingIntoAccountSystemChoice,AirflowRate,Health,andProductivity."Building and
Environment,44(2),368‐376.
Kane,G.andVelury,U.(2004).“TheRoleofInstitutionalOwnershipintheMarketforAuditing
Services:AnEmpiricalInvestigation.”Journal of Business Research,57(9),976‐983.
57
Keysar,E.andPearce,A.(2007).“DecisionSupportToolsforGreenBuilding:Facilitating
SelectionAmongNewAdoptersonPublicSectorProjects.”Journal of Green Building,
2(3).
Klotz,L.,Horman,M.,andBodenschatz,M.(2007)."ALeanModelingProtocolforEvaluating
GreenProjectDelivery."Lean Construction Journal,3(1),1‐18.
Kosareo,L.,andRies,R.(2007)."ComparativeEnvironmentalLifeCycleAssessmentofGreen
Roofs."Building and Environment,42(7),2606‐2613.
Liu,J.(2009)."ParametricModelforAssessingFactorsthatInfluenceHighwayBridgeService
Life,"DoctoralDissertation,VirginiaTech,Blacksburg,VA.
Ljungqvist,A.,Marston,F.,Starks,L.,Wei,K.,andYan,H.(2007).“ConflictsofInterestinSell‐
SideResearchandtheModeratingRoleofInstitutionalInvestors.”Journal of Financial
Economics,85(2),420‐456.
Macal,C.,andNorth,M.(2005)."TutorialonAgent‐BasedModelingandSimulation."
Proceedings of the 37th Conference on Winter Simulation,WinterSimulation
Conference,Orlando,FL.,2‐15.
Macal,C.,andNorth,M.(2006)."TutorialonAgent‐BasedModelingandSimulationPart2:How
toModelWithAgents."Proceedings of the 38th Conference on Winter Simulation,
WinterSimulationConference,Monterey,CA.,73‐83.
Matvos,G.andOstrosvsky,M.(2008).“Cross‐Ownership,Returns,andVotinginMergers.”
JournalofFinancialEconomics,89(3),391‐403.
Merriam‐Webster.(2009)."Merriam‐WebsterOnlineDictionary."<http://www.merriam‐
webster.com/dictionary/key>(May17,2009).
Mitchell,R.,Agle,B.,andWood,D.(1997).“TowardaTheoryofStakeholderIdentificationand
Salience:DefiningthePrincipleofWhoandWhatReallyCounts.”The Academy of
Management Review,22(4),853‐886.
58
Morse,J.(1995).“TheSignificanceofSaturation.”Qualitative Health Research,5(2),147‐149.
Murry‐Webster,R.andSimonP.(2006).“MakingSenseofStakeholderMapping.”PM World
Today,8(11),1‐5.
NationalResearchCouncil(NRC).(2004).Investments in Federal Facilities: Asset Management
Strategies for the 21st Century,NationalAcademiesPress,Washington,DC.
NationalResearchCouncil(NRC).(2008).Core Competencies for Federal Facilities Asset
Management Through 2020,TheNationalAcademiesPress,Washington,DC.
OfficeofManagementandBudget(OMB).(2006).Capital Programming Guide,Officeof
ManagementandBudget,Washington,DC.
Pearce,A.,Garvin,M.,andSanford‐Bernhardt,K.(2008).“SustainabilityandCapitalProjects:
ModelingtheEmergentPropertyofTotalCostofOwnership.”Proposaltothe
EnvironmentalSustainabilityProgram,EngineeringDirectorate,NationalScience
Foundation,March2.
Plucker,F.(1990).“TheUseandValidationofQualitativeMethodsUsedinProgram
Evaluation.”Annual Research Conference of the California Association of Community
Colleges,CaliforniaAssociationofCommunityColleges,Monterey,CA.
VirginiaTech(VT).(2008).“FacilitiesServices.”<www.facilities.vt.edu/index.asp>(April22,
2009).
VirginiaTech(VT).(2009).“ProjectDocumentTurnoverChecklist.”
<www.facilities.vt.edu/documents/Project_Doc_Requirements.pd>(May14,2009).
Wasserman,S.andFaust,K.(1994).Social Network Analysis: Methods and Applications,
CambridgeUniversityPress,NewYork,NY.
59
Appendix A: Research Methodologies
ResearchMethodology
Strengths Weaknesses
Simpleapproachtostudyofattitudes,values,orbeliefs
Dataisaffectedbyrespondentsmemory,knowledge,experience,etc.
Veryadaptabletocollectinformationfromalmostanyhumanpopulation
Respondentswon'tnecessarilyreporttheirtruebeliefs(e.g.peoplewanttobeseeninagoodlight)
allowsforcomparisonstobedone
capturingthequantifiabledataneeded
Havingtogobacktorespondentsifmoredataisneeded
Surveysingeneral
Highamountsofdatastandardization
Onlygettinganswersforquestionsthatonehasthoughtof
Oftentheeasiestwaytocollectdatafromalargesetofpeople
Lowresponserate
Havethecapacitytobeextremelyefficientforcollectinglargeamountsofdatainarelativelyshortperiodoftimeatrelativelylowcost
Ambiguitiesandmisunderstandingofsurveyquestionsarenotdetected
Postal/self‐administeredsurveys
Allowsanonymitywhichencouragesfrankness
respondentsmaynottakethesurveyseriously
Interviewercanclarifyquestions
Datamaybeaffectedbythepersonalitycharacteristicsoftheinterviewer
Interviews
interviewer'spresencecanencourageparticipationandinvolvement
respondentsmayfeellessopensincethesurveyisnotanonymous
60
canprovidein‐depthqualitativedata
Potentialformiscommunication
allowsthecaptureofnon‐verbalcommunication
canbedifficulttoworkwithageographicallydiversepopulation
Interviewercanchangethedirectionofquestioningbasedonresponses
Verytimeconsuming
veryefficientsincedataiscollectedfromseveralpeopleatonce
thenumberofquestionscoveredislimitedduetotimeconstraints
naturalqualitycontrolsinceparticipantstendtocheckandbalanceeachotherorweedoutextremeviews
facilitatingthefocusgrouptakesalotofexperience
easytoidentifyconsistentandsharedviews
needstobewellmanagedtopreventdominantpersonalitiesfromskewingresults
participantstendtoenjoytheexperience
confidentialitycanbedifficulttomaintain
relativelyinexpensiveandflexible
resultscannotbegeneralizedbecausetheycannotberegardedasrepresentative
FocusGroup
contributionscanbeencouragedfromthosewhonormallyaremorereserved
livenatureoftheinteractioncangiveafalsesenseofvaliditytotheresearcher
Itisverydirect.Theresearcherwatchesthesubjectinitsenvironment
Observercan"taint"findings
Itcomplementsalmosteveryothermethodofdatacollection
Verytimeconsuming
flexibleenoughtoallowtheresearchertoexploretangents
designingtheprotocolforconvertingobservationstodatainacrediblefashionisdifficult
gettingpeopletoactnaturally
DirectObservation
closestwaytoexaminethe"realworld"
protectingconfidentialitycanbeverydifficult
61
goodatcollectingusagedataContextcanbedifficulttoidentifywhichmaypossiblyresultinincorrectfindings
non‐obtrusiveandnon‐reactive.
Apparentlinkbetweencauseandeffectmaybeaffectedbyunknownforces/events
notreliantonpeoplelinkingthepopulationstudiedtowhereitcamefrommaybedifficultorimpossible
capitalizesondatathatisalreadyavailable
shortcomingsinavailabledataarehardtoovercome
allowstheresearchertomaintainneutrality
"Trace"Measures(e.g.Accretion,Erosion,Documentreview)
providesvaluablecross‐validationofothermeasures
unobtrusive limitedavailabilityofdocuments
recordsarepermanentleadingtotheoptionofreplicatingstudies
maybedifficultorimpossibletoaccountforbiasesordistortionssincethedocumentmaynotbewrittenforthesamepurposeastheresearchquestion
ContentAnalysis
lowcostformlongitudinalanalysiswhereaseriesofdocumentsareavailable
difficulttoassesscausalrelationships
62
Appendix B: Document Analysis Protocol
OtherDataInstrumentInputs
1) None
PotentialOutputs
1) Listofpotentialkeydecisionmakers2) Listofcandidateprojects3) Listofpossiblemeetings4) Meetingadministrator’scontactinformation
ItemsNeededtoExecute
1) IRBapproval(ifapplicable)
Introduction:
Eachofthefollowingsectionsprovidessomegeneralguidelinesforfindingoneofthepotential
outputsofthisprotocol.Forallofthesections,theresearcherwillbelookingfordocumentson
theweborpaperrecordsfoundattheorganizationinquestion.Generally,oneshouldtryto
obtaintheinformationforallofthesectionsunlessonlycertainoutputsareneeded.
Theoverallgoalofthisresearchistoidentifykeydecisionmakers.Thisprotocolfeedsseeding
informationtotheotherprotocolsintheframeworkinordertoidentifykeydecisionmakers.
Decision Makers:
Thegoalfortheresearcheristolookthroughtheorganizationalchartsandoperating
procedurestodeterminewhomakesthedecisionsforthesixlargestbuildingsystemsfoundon
theHighSystemCostChart(HSCC)(SeeAppendixA).Specifically,whomakesdecisionsthat
affecteachsystem’scharacteristicsorproperties.Someexamplestatementstolookforare,
63
“______issolelyresponsibleforevaluatingandapproving________”,“groupxshallfollowthe
specificationsprovidedby_______”,or“______signedoffon_____.”Anyphraseologysimilar
totheseexamplesshouldindicatewhomakesdecisionsconcerningeachbuildingsystem.The
researcherthenrecordstheperson/officethatmakesthedecision.Peopledesignatedbyoneof
theabovephrasesorasimilarphrasecanbeconsideredakeydecisionmaker.
Itstillmaybeverydifficulttodetermineifthepersonistheactualdecisionmakerbecause
documentsdon’tindicateifadecisionmakerisa“rubberstamp”typeornot.Anexampleofa
“rubberstamp”decisionmakerisasuperiorwhosimplysignswhateverhissubordinatessend
himwithoutlookingatit.Theresearchershouldnotworryaboutthiseventualitytoomuchbut
focusongeneratingalistofnameswhomightbedecisionmakers.
Somedocumentstospecificallylookforareasfollows:
1) Organizationchartsorsimilarchartsthatdescriberolesandresponsibilities2) Standardoperatingprocedures,particularlyfortheconstructionprocess3) Organizationalwebsites4) Annualreports5) Historicalprojectfiles
Candidate Projects
Institutionalownerswillnormallyhaveareportthatliststhecurrentprojectsandwhereeach
onestandsintermsofcompletion.Searchingthefacilitydepartment’swebsiteusingterms
“currentprojects”or“constructionprojects”shouldyieldsomeofthesedocuments.
Oftenalongwiththecurrentprojects,theprojectmanagerwillbelisted.Itisveryimportantto
capturetheprojectmanageralongwiththeprojectbecausetheywilloftenbethestarting
pointfortheinterviewprotocol.
Thelaststepofthissectionistocreateamapofthecurrentprojects(Figure1).Dependingon
theinstitution,itmayormaynotmakesensetosortlaboratorybuildingsandofficebuildings.
64
Themajorcategoriesthatoneshouldaimtomaparethestageoftheconstructionlifecyclethe
buildingisin,theprojectdeliverymethod,andthegrosssquarefootage.
List of Possible Meetings
Constructionprocessdocumentsorotherdocumentsthathavemeetingslistedonthemcan
normallybefoundbysearching“constructionprojectmeetings”or“projectmeetings”onthe
facilitydepartment’swebsite.Thesearchmaynotyieldalistofcurrentorfutureproject
meetings,butatleastitshouldidentifytypicalprojectmeetingsforanyprojectexecutedbythe
institutionalowner.Thesetypicalmeetingsaresometimesdescribedinthepolicydocumentsof
theorganization.Attheveryleast,theresearcherwillknowthestandardmeetingsthatmaybe
beneficiallateron.
Figure1:ExampleProject
Map
65
Meeting Administrators Contact Info
Someofthesamedocumentsthatlistthemeetingstypicallyhaveatleastthenecessary
attendeeslistedaswell.TheywilltypicallyidentifyofficessuchastheUniversityArchitector
ProjectManager,buttheactualpersonwhofillstheofficecanthenbetrackeddownunderthe
“staff”or“contactus”sectionsofthewebsite.Ifofficesarenotidentifiedorifthereare
multiplepeopleintheoffice,writedownallthepotentialmeetingadministrators.This
informationcanthenbeusedintheinterviewprocess.
66
Appendix C: Semi Structured Interview Protocol
OtherDataInstrumentInputs:
1) Listofrecentprojects2) Listofpotentialkeydecisionmakers
PotentialOutputs:
1) Validatedkeydecisionmakerlist2) Listofpotentialkeydecisionmakers3) Listofpotentialmeetingstoattend
ItemsNeededtoExecute
1) Keydefinitionssheet2) HighSystemCostChart3) CopiesofDecisionMakerListingsheet
Instructions for Interviewer:
Generalinstructionsforconductingtheinterviewwillbeinanormalfontandspecificitemsto
asktheintervieweewillbeitalicized.Tostarttheinterview,readthepurposestatementtothe
interviewee.Belowisanexamplestatement.
This interview is being conducted to collect data for an NSF funded research project at
Virginia Tech. It is the aim of the researchers to develop a tool for optimizing investment
in sustainable facility features. All responses to this survey will be kept strictly
confidential, and if at any point you do not wish to continue participating, you may leave
with no consequence.
Asktheintervieweeifthereareanyquestionsbeforeproceeding.
HandtheintervieweeacopyoftheHighSystemCostChart(HSCC)anddescribetheoverall
researchobjective.Youwillalsoneedtohavethedefinitionssheetwithyou,butdonotgiveit
totheintervieweeyet.Anexamplescriptcanbefoundbelow.
67
In order to optimize investment in sustainability, it is important to know who makes
decisions about building systems with the largest impact on the Total Cost of Ownership
of the facility. The High System Cost Chart is a depiction of the top 6 most expensive
building systems according to a study done by the US Department of Commerce. These
six systems are a focus of this research.
Next,establishastandarddefinitionforsomeofthekeyterms.Seetheexamplescriptbelow.
Before we get to the interview questions, it is important for you to understand some
definitions used in this research. The definitions are as follows:
1. A key decision maker is the person or group who has the most influence on the system selection or system characteristics. If it is a group, the group must act like a single entity. For example, imagine a software company trying to sell its product to an institutional owner. The procurement representative, Lawrence, who interacts with the software company’s sales representative may not have the authority to actually purchase the software. Lawrence can only send a recommendation to his superior, Ashton. If Ashton just rubber stamps what Lawrence recommends, Lawrence is the key decision maker. However, if Ashton takes the recommendation INTO CONSIDERATION BUT makes his own decision, then the he is the key decision maker.
Handtheintervieweeasheetwiththesedefinitionsafterreadingthemaloudandaskifthere
areanyquestionsaboutthedefinitions.
Nowbegintheinterviewwiththefollowingquestionsastheyseemrelevant.Youcanremind
themthatthedefinitionofeachsystemisonthedefinitionssheetiftheyneedit.
Were you involved in any of the following projects: (Handtheintervieweethelistof
recentprojects)?
Of those projects, which one are you most familiar with?
68
Iftheyarenotfamiliarwithany,askthemthefollowingALT.questionsandskiptothename
generationpartoftheinterview:
ALT:“Think about some of the recent projects that you were involved in. Which one
would you consider “typical” of your organization?”
ALT: What are some of the characteristics that made it “typical” in your opinion?
ALT: Would you consider the project successful? Why or why not?
Would you consider <insert project name> to be a relatively typical project for your
institution? If not, why?
NAME GENERATION:
YoumaywanttohandtheintervieweetheDecisionMakerListingsheetandhavethemfillit
outthemselves.Iftheyneedmoresheets,givethemmore.
69
Think about who was involved in making decisions that affect the characteristics of the 6
building systems on the HSCC for the ICTAS II project. For each of the following systems,
please list everyone who was involved in making decisions.
1) For the exterior enclosure?
2) For the HVAC system?
3) For the electrical system?
4) For the superstructure?
5) For interior finishes?
6) For conveyance?
Now, I would like you to examine the lists you created. Cross out anyone who is not part
of the owner organization (architects, outside engineers, etc.).
70
Now, could you please rate the remaining names according to the amount of influence
you perceive them to have on each system, 10 being the greatest amount of influence
and 1 being the least amount of influence.
Do you know of any meetings that the decision makers you identified would attend in
the near future? If not, who would be a good person to ask to find out?
Can you give me the contact information for that person?
This interview is complete. Do you have any final questions?
Thank you very much for your time.
71
DecisionMakerListingSheet
Thinkaboutwhowasinvolvedinmakingdecisionsthataffectthecharacteristicsofthe6buildingsystemsontheHSCCfortheICTASIIproject.Foreachofthefollowingsystems,pleaselisteveryonewhowasinvolvedinmakingdecisions.
1) For the exterior enclosure?
___________________________________ ___________________________________
___________________________________ ___________________________________
___________________________________ ___________________________________
2) For the HVAC system?
___________________________________ ___________________________________
___________________________________ ___________________________________
___________________________________ ___________________________________
3) For the electrical system?
___________________________________ ___________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
___________________________________ ___________________________________
4) For the superstructure?
___________________________________ ___________________________________
___________________________________ ___________________________________
___________________________________ ___________________________________
5) For interior finishes?
___________________________________ ___________________________________
___________________________________ ___________________________________
___________________________________ ___________________________________
6) For conveyance?
___________________________________ ___________________________________
___________________________________ ___________________________________
72
InterviewDefinitions
1. KeyDecisionMaker‐thepersonorgroupwhohasthemostinfluenceonthesystem.Ifitisagroup,thegroupmustactlikeasingleentity
2. ExteriorEnclosure–exteriorwall,windows,anddoors
3. HVAC–energysupply,heatingandcoolinggeneration,distributionsystems,terminal&packageunits,controlsandinstrumentation
4. Electrical–service&distribution,lighting&branchwiring,communication&security
5. Superstructure–floorandroofconstruction
6. InteriorFinishes–wall,floor,andceilingfinishes
7. Conveyance–elevators,lifts,escalators,andmovingwalks
73
Appendix D: Indirect Observation Protocol
OtherDataInstrumentInputs
1) Listofpossiblemeetings2) Listofpotentialkeydecisionmakers3) Contactinfoformeetingadministrator
Output
1) Validatedkeydecisionmakers
ItemsNeededtoExecute
1) ResearchInformationSheet2) Notificationofapprovaltoattendbymeetingadministrator3) Referencebysomeoneelseintheorganization(optional)
Introduction:
Themeetingsthattheresearchershouldattendshouldhavebeenidentifiedbetweenthe
documentreviewandinterviewprocess.Oncethemeetingshavebeenidentified,the
researcherneedstocontactwhoeverisresponsibleforrunningthemeetingtoobtain
permissiontoattendit.Acopyoftheresearchinformationsheetshouldbesentwiththe
requesttosubstantiatethereasonforattending.Ideally,areferencefromsomeoneelseinthe
organizationwillalsohavebeenobtainedandincludedintherequest.Oncetherequesthas
beenapproved,datacollectioncanproceed.
Beforearrivingatthemeeting,besuretodevelopalistofattendeesandtheirroles.Ifthere
aremultiplepeoplewiththesamefirstnameandtheirlastnameisnotclear,arbitrarilyassigna
person#1andperson#2fordatacollectionduringthemeeting.Eitherbeforeorattheendof
themeeting,askeitherthemeetingadministratororoneofthetwopeopleinquestionto
clarifywhoiswho.
74
AT THE MEETING:
Besuretoarriveatleast15minutesearlysoyoucanfindthemeetingroomandstartputting
namesandfacestogether.Ideally,youshouldgoaroundtheroomaspeoplearriveand
exchangebusinesscards.Thiswillhelpputanamewiththefaceandgiveyoucontactinfoif
furtherfollowupisnecessary.Iftimepermits,quicklysketchthemeetingroomwithwhere
eachpersonissitting.Itmaybebeneficialtobringsomeonealongtodothisforyou.
Atthemeeting,theresearchershouldbeginlisteningforphraseslike“Iwillberesponsiblefor
_____”,“Youtaketheleadwithitem_____”,orsimilarphraseswheresomeoneisindicatedto
makedecisionsconcerningoneofthebuildingsystemsofinterest.Anytimesomeoneis
delegatedaresponsibilityforormakesastatementconcerningoneofthesixHSCCsystems,
theresearchershouldrecordthatperson/officebyputtingatickmarkbytheirname.Oncethe
meetingisconcluded,thekeydecisionmakerspreviouslyidentifiedshouldhavethegreatest
numberoftickmarksbytheirname.
75
Appendix E: Interview Transcript A
Interviewer:Allright.So,thisshouldn'ttaketoolong.Ihaveonlygotabout6or7questions.
Bob1:Okay.
Interviewer:Butthereisafairamount‐well,thereispotentiallyafairamountofwritingthat
willneedtobedone.SothefirstthingtostartoffwithisI'mgoingtoshowyouthis,whatwe
callahighsystemclasschart,andthatchartisbasicallyabreakdownofbuildingsystems
accordingtotheUniformatII.AreyoufamiliarwithUniformatatall?
Bob:No.
Interviewer:Wellit'sbasicallyaspecificationorganizationmethod.Normallythereis‐well,a
lotofpeoplehavebeenusingMasterFormatandithasunit,orsection1,2,3,4through16.
Bob:That'stheoneI'mfamiliarwith.
Interviewer:Yeah.SoUniformatislikethat,exceptforit'sorganizedaccordingtowork
packagesalittlebitmore.
Bob:Okay.
Interviewer:Asyoucansee,electricalisinonegroup,soanythingelectricalisinthatgroup.
HVACisinonegroup,andit'sjust,it'seasierfromawork‐packagingstandpoint,andalso,I
think,acost‐estimatingstandpoint,becauseyou'relookingforsimilarthings.
Bob:Right.
Interviewer:So,basically,thisisasummaryofastudythattheDepartmentofCommercedid
whentheylookedatan8‐storeyofficebuildingthatonlyhadafootprintofabout6,000ft2.But
theywentthroughandtheycostitout,eachofthesystems,usingthisUniformatmethod,all
1Nameshavebeensubstitutedtopreservesubjectanonymity
76
thewaythroughtotalinstalledcost.Soithasalltheconstructionmaterials,andtheyeven
includedsomethingforlaborandthecontractormarkup.
Bob:Okay.
Interviewer:Okay?
Bob:Mmhmm.
Interviewer:So,thefirstquestionis,basedoffofyourexperience,arethosesystems‐arethey
representativeofhowexpensiveeachofthoseare?
Bob:Okay,I'mhavingtroublehere,becauseI'mnotsurewiththecolorswhichis‐aretheyin
order?
Interviewer:Theyareinthesameorder.Yeah.
Bob:Okay.
Interviewer:Ididn'thaveacoloredprinter,sorry.
Bob:Whatareyoucalling"conveying"?
Interviewer:Conveyanceislike‐here'sasheetofdefinitions,sorry.
Bob:Okay.
Interviewer:Conveyanceiselevators,lifts,escalators,thatsortofthing.
Bob:Ididn'tknowifthatwasthattypeofconveyingorlikethemanagementcomponent,see.
Interviewer:Okay,no.Theseshouldallbelike,buildingsystems,physicalbuildingsystems.
Bob:Andthesuperstructureistheexterior?
Interviewer:Itiseverythingfromthefoundationup.Sothatwouldbelike,yoursteelbeams,
or,inthisbuilding,Ibelievethey'reconcreteforms.Themainstructuralmember.
77
Bob:Exteriorenclosure.Sothisistheenvelope,here.BecauseIknowthattick,thatmaybea
littlemorebecauseoftheHokiestone.
Interviewer:Mmhmm.
Bob:SoIthinkitwoulddependon,likeattheCorporateResearchCenter,thisisprobablymore
truethanitwouldbeoncampus,becauseIknowHokiestoneaddsapremiumjustbecauseof
thelabor.It'slaborintensive,so…
Interviewer:Okay.Butingeneral,lookingatthose‐
Bob:Thatchartlooksprettybalanced.
Interviewer:Itlooksprettybalancedaccordingtototalinstalledcost.Like,whatyou'veseen.
Bob:FarasIknow.Idon'tworkalotonthebudgetside,butjustfromwhenwe'redoingvalue
engineeringIknowthesearesomeoftheplacesthatwewouldstartcutting,wouldbe‐
Interviewer:Okay.
Bob:Probablyinsomeofthelowercostitems.
Interviewer:That'sawesome.Sothefollowupquestiontothatis,ifyouweretoconsiderthe
samesystemsfromanoperationsandmaintenancestandpoint‐
Bob:Mmhmm.
Interviewer:Aretheystillprettyrepresentative?Orwouldyouchangetheorder,like,which
onescostmoreorless?Wouldyouaddanythingtothem?
Bob:Iguesstheothersystems‐you'relookingatthat‐well,theotherthingyou'regoingtorun
into‐areyoutalkingaboutlabfacilities,orofficefacilities?Becausethiscouldchange
dependingonfunctionoffacility.
Interviewer:We'regoingtojustconsiderICTASI.
78
Bob:Okay,becauseitisalabfacility.So,maintenancecostsarecominginfrommaintaining
program‐specificequipment.Andagain,Idon'tmanagethebudgetforphysicalplants,soI
don'tknowwhattheircostsareasfarascustodialservicesor…ButIknowfrommystandpoint,
ourcostsarecominginwithmaintenanceagreementsforHVAC‐Imean,theairandvacuum
systems‐
Interviewer:Okay.
Bob:Theautoclaves,theprogram‐specificequipmentinthebuilding,thefumehoods,those
typethingsthatyouwouldnothaveinanofficebuilding.Sothat'swhyIwasaskingonthat
front,becauseyouwouldnothavethoseassociatedcostsinWilliam'sHall.
Interviewer:Right,right.SotheHVACcomponentmightbealittlebit‐
Bob:TheHVAC,seeagain,Idon'tknowbecausethat'shandledthroughtheUniversity,anda
personthatyouwouldprobablywanttotalkwiththerewouldbeSam,whoisthedirectorof
facilities,andhewouldknowmoreabouttheactualbuildingcosts,theenvelope,andthe‐
minewouldbemorefromamanagementstandpointoftheinteriorsandthe,again,the
program‐specificequipment.SoIcouldn'tspeaktothose,butIknowtheydohavepreventive
maintenanceontheHVACsystem,soI'massumingthatthatcostisapremiumbecausethat
personisdedicatedinthisbuilding,particularlytotheMEPs.
Interviewer:Okay.Alright.Perfect.
Bob:Andprobably,interiorfinishesgoesdown.SoIwouldthinkyouwouldhavelessofa
maintenancecost.Imean,asfarasbuildingit,thisisprobablyaccurate,butinteriorfinishes
wouldgodownasfarasmaintenance.Ithinkitwouldbealotlessthantheseothers.
Interviewer:Okay.
Bob:Doesthatmakesense?
Interviewer:Yep,makesperfectsense.
79
Bob:Andevenatthat,theelevatorsmaypickupalittlebit,becausethat'swhereIhavealotof
trouble‐withjusttheelevatorsingeneralIthink.Justthemaintenanceonthoseisprobablya
littlemore.
Interviewer:Okay,soelevatorsorconveyancewouldprobablygoup,interiorfinisheswouldgo
down,electricalwouldfluctuateprobably.
Bob:I'dsaythe‐wedon'thavealotofissueswithmaintenanceonelectrical,no.Wedohavea
lotofrenovationwork,butyou'renotlookingatthat.You'relookingatwhatwasintheproject
andwhatitcosttomaintainthat,right?
Interviewer:Or,basically,I'mmorelookinglikethisstudygoesuptototalinstalledcosts.Ikind
ofwanttojustthinkaboutandcaptureyourthoughtsonfrominstalledcosttotheend,tolike,
demolition.
Bob:Wherewerunintoaproblem,ifyou'regoingthere,whichisdifferentthanmaintenance,
isrenovations,becausearchitectstendtomissalotofelectricalneeds.Wehavespenta
tremendousamountofmoneyalready,andwehaveonlybeeninheresinceApril,onadding
electricaloutletsthatweremissedindesignorwheretheprogramneedshavechanged.AndI
thinknomatterhowmuchyouplan,it'sreallyhardtohitthemarkonwhatelectricalneeds
you'regoingtohave.Sowedospendalotofmoneyonelectricalupgrades.
Interviewer:Gettingelectrical‐okay.Good.Perfect.
Bob:Again,wedon'tdoalotwith‐Idon'tdoalotwiththeelevators.TheothersystemsasI
mentionedthatwouldbeourcost,wherewehavequiteabitofcost,butyou'vegotthat
capturedalreadythere.Interiorfinishesother‐againthen,somebodydecidedjustlastweek
theywantedthedownstairswallpaintedredinsteadofwhite,andthat'sjustgoingtocome
withpersonalities,butthat'sstillminimal.Thesuperstructure,Ican't‐iftheroofisinstalled
correctly,Iwouldthinkyouwouldn'thavealotofissueswiththat,totheend.Youknow?It's
goingtobeacostattheendofthewarrantyperiod,foriftheyhavetogoanddorepairsor
replacingit.Butasfarasonacontinuum,Ican'tthinkthattherewouldbealotofcost
80
associatedwiththatpartofit.Floors,andyou'renottalkingcarpetsandthosekindsofthings,
you'retalking‐
Interviewer:Nope,that'syeah,aninteriorfinish‐wouldbe‐
Bob:That'sinaninteriorfinish‐
Interviewer:Yeah,thatwouldbetheinterior‐
Bob:Sonotinthesuperstructure.
Interviewer:No,no.Thesuperstructurefloorwouldbethe‐
Bob:Butstill,withtheinteriorfinishes,again,ifthecarpetsaremaintainedastheyshouldbe,
cleanedatleastonceayear,andthat'sgoingtobeaminimalcostversusreplacingit.SoIthink
yourcostsaregoingtobecorrelatedwithhowwellthebuilding'smanaged.Doesthatmake
sense?
Interviewer:Ohyeah.
Bob:Becauseifyouhavesomeonecleaningyourcarpetsasyou'resupposedtobe,thecarpets
aregoingtolastlonger.IfyouhavesomeonechangingthefiltersintheHVACsystem,asit
shouldbe,thecostisgoingbelower‐eventhoughtheup‐frontcostforthefiltersismore,in
thelongrunit'sgoingtopayoffbecausetheequipmentisgoingtorunlonger.
Interviewer:Right.
Bob:SoIthinkthebuildingcostsdirectlycorrelatewithhowwellthebuilding'smanaged.
Interviewer:Okay.Ifweassumethat,youknow,standardoperatingormaintenance
proceduresaredone,andsomeonedoesn'tlike,slackoff,then‐
Bob:Right,likeIsaid,Ithinktheinteriorcostswouldgodown.Ithinktheelectricalcostscould
goupjustbecauseoftheadditionalwork,ifyou'reincludingthat.It'snotsomuch
maintenance,butit'sjustadding.SuperstructureIthinkwouldprobablystaythesame,orit
couldevengodown.Interiorfinishes,again,saiditwouldgodown.ElevatorsIthinkcould
81
possiblygoupinpercentagewiththeothersystems.Theexteriorenclosure,andthereagain,if
it'sinstalledproperly‐wedidhaveissueswiththeeffervescence‐so,ifthatwasdoneproperly,
that,Ithink,wouldbeminimal.
Interviewer:Okay.
Bob:Justbecausethat'swhytheyusedtheHokiestone.It'sveryminimalmaintenanceifit's
doneproperly.AndsoIthinkthatwouldbealess.It'sgoingtobemoreupfrontbecauseofthe
typeofstructureitis,butbecauseofthetypeofstructure,itwillbelessinthelongrun.SoI
thinkthecostwillpayforitselfinmaintenanceeveryyear.But,ifit'snotinstalledproperly,
thenthereisahugecostassociated.
Interviewer:Okay,okay.
Bob:Assumingit'sinstalledproperly.
Interviewer:Right.
Bob:It'sgood.Iwouldthinkitwouldbealotless,percentage‐wise.
Interviewer:Okay,excellent.Nowwearegoingtogettothe,Iguess,secondpart,wherethat
waskindoflike‐justtogetanideaofthesystemsandthegeneralgistofwhatI'mdoingfor
theresearch.Thisnextpart,I'mspecificallylooking‐I'mtryingtoidentifykeydecisionmakers
forourconstructionproject,andhowthisplaysintothatisI'mtryingtofindkeydecision
makers,orpeoplewhomakedecisionsaboutthesesystemshere.
Bob:Okay.
Interviewer:Because‐becausetheycomprisebasicallythemajorityofthecostofasystem,I'm
tryingto‐I'mjustgoingtolookforthosepeoplefornow.
Bob:Okay.
Interviewer:So,somethingstokeepinmind,we'regoingtoassumethatalltheguidelinesand
codes,requirements,areallmet.
82
Bob:Okay.
Interviewer:IknowthatVirginiaTechhasawhole‐
Bob:Thingthateverybodyelsedoes‐
Interviewer:Thingthateveryonehastomeet‐thesearethespecifications,guidelinesfor
VirginiaTech,youknow.So,ifwetakeallthatsortofstuffasagiven,we'retryingtolookfor
peoplewhomakedecisions‐becausethere'sstillwiggleroom,youknow.
Bob:Oh,there'slots,andthere'slotsofpeople.
Interviewer:There'slotsofwiggleroomforeachofthesesystems,buttherearetwoother
things.
Bob:AndareyoulookingspecificallyforVirginiaTech?Becausethat'swhereI'mcomingback
to,soyou'relookingatVirginiaTechfacilities.
Interviewer:Yeah,I'mlookingatVirginiaTechfacilities,andI'mspecificallylookingatthis
building,okay?Sothisbuilding,ICTASI,usingthe‐allthecodesandguidelinesasagiven,and
thentherearetwootherconceptsthatIneedtoquicklycommunicatetoyou.Thefirstoneis
there's‐I'mnotlookingforarubberstampdecision‐maker.
Bob:Right,IunderstandbecauseI'minthatprocess,soIunderstandwhereyou'recoming
from.
Interviewer:Okay,yeah.I'mnotlike‐ifthere'sasubordinatewho,youknow,makesa
recommendation,andthebossiskindoflike,"Whateverhesays,"thenitwouldbethe
subordinatewhomakesthedecision,asopposedtothebossmakingthedecision,so‐to‐speak.
Bob:Right.AndI'mpullingsomethingoutjustsoyoucangetanidea.From‐I'mtheenduser,
andthat'smyrolebecauseI'mtheenduserrep,andIdogotoalltheconstructionmeetings.
WegottohelptakethisCM@Risk,soweallhavevoiceinthat.Iwastryingtofindthe‐it'snot
inhere,it'snotfiledwhereit'ssupposedtobe.Butwejustrecentlywentthroughthisprocess
ofdetermining‐ah,herewego.Sothesearethereviewcomments.Soyoucansee,wewent
83
throughwiththeA&Eteam,andaconstructionmanagementteam,andwebeingICTAS
Administration,arepresentativefromCapitalDesignandPlanningand‐areyoufamiliarwith
CapitalDesignandPlanningatVirginiaTech?
Interviewer:The‐
Bob:TheCDC,PlanningDesignandConstruction.
Interviewer:Thedepartmentoverinfacilities?
Bob:It'sSterrett.
Interviewer:Yeah.
Bob:Right.
Interviewer:Yeah.
Bob:Okay,sotheyhaveaprojectmanagerandanassistantprojectmanager,andthat'sthe
University'svoicefortheconstructionsideofthings.Andyou'relookingonlyat
constructability?Orareyoulookingatfinance?Or…?
Interviewer:Akeydecisionmakerisdefinedasanyonewhomakes‐
Bob:Hasadecision‐
Interviewer:Who‐whosignificantlyimpactsthecharacteristicsofthis,notnecessarilythecost
‐
Bob:Right.
Interviewer:Butwhoeverdeterminesthecharacteristicsofthesesteps.
Bob:Okay,becausethat'sjustwhatIwantedtoclarify,becausethere'sdifferent‐becausewe
canmakearecommendationbutthebudgetmaydictatethatit'snot…
Interviewer:Right.
84
Bob:SoyoucanseethesearejustsomenotesthatIhadpulledout.ThisisfromChristine,and
letmeseewhathis‐whoChristineis.Heapparentlyworkedwithreviewingthemechanical
systems.SoChristineisapparentlysomeonethat'sinthemaintenancesideofphysicalplant.So
hehadavoicein‐he'sgotdown‐he'scommentingontheaircompressorsandthesensor
controller,soheapparentlyworkswiththeSiemenspieceofthemechanicalsystems.
Interviewer:Okay.
Bob:AndthiswasPhil,whowastheAIArepresentative,andhe'sresponsibleforADA.So‐
Interviewer:Okay.
Bob:Sohehadacomponentinthedecisionmaking,sohereviewedtheproject.Theseareall
fromourdesignreviews.Weallreviewedtheplans.WesubmittedonefromICTAS
Administration.Andsowhattheydoistheytakethese,andthisisLizzy,andheiswiththe‐I'm
thinkinghe'sworkingwiththecommissioningcomponentandthesustainableenergy
component.Sotheirofficehadsomesay.Sowhatthesedo,theseevengooutto‐there'sa
wholelistandthat'swhyIwasasking‐PlanningDesignandConstructioncouldtellyouwhothe
listgoesoutto,andtheywouldbeagoodresource‐butitgoesouttothepeoplewhomaintain
thesystem'sinvisibleplant,soitwouldbethesupervisorsofthosecrews.Sotherewillbean
electricianrepresentativethere,andthat'susuallyDan.Therewouldbeamechanicalperson
there,andthat'susuallySam.
Interviewer:That'smechanical?
Bob:Yeah.That'sSam.Donworkswithcommissioning.HewouldbereviewingBill.Andthisis
onethingIthinkisreallygood,he'sthecustodialsupervisor,andhegetstoreviewthefinishes
becauseof,youknow,knowingthatthisisgoingtobeamaintenanceproblem,orifthereisa
lotofglassinthebuilding,andheknowsthatit'samisfitbecausetheydon'tcleanglass.Hehas
somesayinthat.Like,recently,fromICTASItoICTASIIwehavedoneawaywithstainlesssteel
toiletdividersbecauseBillsaysitcoststoomuchtomaintainthem.
Interviewer:Oh,okay.
85
Bob:We'regoingwiththemoreplastic‐typedividerinICTASII.Sohehasavoice.
Interviewer:Whatwashisnameagain?
Bob:Bill.AndthenJohnisthearchitectforinteriorfinishes.Sheworkscloselywithme.Sheand
Iwillpickoutthefurnitureandthefinishes.Wehavealreadydonethat.Infact,betweenthe
architectsandICTASandtheinteriordesigner,wepickedallthecolorsandallthefinishes.
Interviewer:Okay.
Bob:Letmethink,whoelseisthere?Whatothersystemsdoyouhave?Thereisa
representativefrom–Zoeusedtobe,andI'mnotsurewhoitis‐Juilie,let'sjustputJuilieand
thatwillcoverit.JuilieoverseestheHokiestoneinstallationprocess.SohewouldreviewHokie
stone,anythingdealingwithHokiestone.
Interviewer:Juilie,whatwashislast‐
Bob:BishopisfromtheHokiepassportoffice,soshereviewsthesecuritysystemdrawing.She
andIworkcloselytogetherwiththat,whichmaynotsoundlikeabigdealbutitwasabigdeal
inthisbuilding,becauseyouneedsomeonethatknowstheuserinterfacetohelpwiththe
designofthesecuritysystem,andthat'sBishop.Andlet'ssee,andthenthere'sarepresentative
fromOtis,andIdon'tknowhisname.
Interviewer:What'sOtis?
Bob:Theelevators.
Interviewer:Oh.
Bob:BecauseOtishasthecontractforallelevatorsoncampus.
Interviewer:Okay.
Bob:SoitwillbeanOtis‐supportedelevatoroncampus.
86
Interviewer:Who‐ImeanobviouslyVirginiaTechhastohavesomeonewhoreviewsthe
elevators,ormakessurethat‐
Bob:WhofromVirginiaTech?Theyhave‐that'stheirOtisrepresentative.Thereisaperson
assignedtoVirginiaTech,andIdon'tknowtheirname.
Interviewer:ButVirginiaTechdoesn'thavelike,theirownpersonwhojustkindofmakessure‐
Bob:It'scontractedout,samewithSiemens.
Interviewer:Oh,okay.
Bob:Yeah,sotheHVACcontrolsare‐so,well,Dan,IguesstheelevatorsfallbacktoDan.
Interviewer:BacktoDan?
Bob:Yeah.
Interviewer:Okay.
Bob:Shedoesthose,too.
Interviewer:Okay.Whowouldmakedecisionsaboutthesuperstructure?
Bob:Thestructure…Whoisthestructureperson?Andhereagain,thatprobablyfallsbackto
theprojectmanager,andwhattheydoisthey‐thatispartoftheAEteam.There'snotreally
anybodyatVirginiaTechthatIknowof,excepttheycoordinatewiththeprojectmanagerfrom
PlanningDesignandConstruction.Andtheyhireaconsultant,usuallyeitherfromtheAEfirmor
anindependentconsultant.
Interviewer:Okay.
Bob:Andthenthere'salsothecommissioningpersonthatoverseessomeofthat.Mostofthe
timethough,thecommissioncomponentsareonlytheMEPs.
Interviewer:Okay.
87
Bob:Yeahbuttomyknowledge,thereisnotanyone‐thestructuralengineerwiththeAEteam
iswhooverseesthesubstructure.
Interviewer:Okay.
Bob:Andthesuperstructure.
Interviewer:ThereisnoonefromICTASnecessarilywhosaysanythingaboutstructure?Okay.
Cool.
Bob:Well,yes,no.Wewillgivethemourvibrationrequirements,yes.Sothat'sus,that'sfrom
ourside.SoEllie,he'sourlabmanager,hewillreviewthe‐willworkcloselywiththe‐they
havealabdesigneronICTASII,theydidn'tonthisone.Iwishtheyhad.Buttheywillaskusfor
thespecsheets,andwewillreviewthespecsheets,checkforanyelectricalrequirements,
specialelectrical,specialexhaust,andthat's‐EllieandIdothat,andwecheckforvibration
requirements.
Interviewer:Andthatnormallygoesinwithliketheprogramrequirements,orsomethinglike
that.
Bob:Well,itdoesn'tgoinwiththeprogram.Itgoesbackwhenweactuallyweredoingthe
designofthelabs.Itwasduringlike,theworkingdrawings.
Interviewer:Oh,okay.Soafterschematicdrawingshappenyourealize,"Okay,thisbuildingis
actuallygoingtohappen."
Bob:Right.Butit'snottheconstructiondrawings.
Interviewer:Butit'snottheCD‐okay,okay.Alright.Excellent.
Bob:Andthetrickypartthere,isyoudon'talwaysknowwhoisgoingtobeassignedtothe
building.
Interviewer:Right.Soyouhavethe‐
88
Bob:I'mjustgoingtoturnthisoffbecauseit'sdistractingme,so.Ineedtoresetthatthing.It's
gotthatslideshowthingthatkeepsswitching,soit's‐
Interviewer:Oh,yeah.Yeah.I'mthesameway,whenever‐anytimeIgo‐Idon'twatchTV‐so
anytimeIgooutwithmyfriendsorsomething,I'mlike,"Wow!"
Bob:That'swhat'sgoingoninthere!
Interviewer:Yeah,exactly.It'slike,"Wow,sothisisthecommercialeveryone'sbeentalking
about."Yeah,Ifeelkindoflike,Idon'tknow,Ifeellikealittle5‐year‐old,like"Huh?What?"
Yeah.
Bob:[laughing]
Interviewer:It'sprettybad,tryingtohaveconversationsisalmostimpossiblesometimes.Ihave
tochoosetofaceawayfromit.
Bob:[laughing]
Interviewer:Arethereanyothergroupsorofficesthathaveasignificantimpactontheexterior
enclosure?
Bob:Yes.Theboardofvisitors.
Interviewer:Okay.
Bob:Alldesignsgothroughtheboardofvisitors.Wedon'tgoanyfurther.Theyhavetoreview
everything,andthereisapercentage,anditmaybe20%ofallbuildings,thefacehastobe
Hokiestone.That'sintheUniversityguidelines.
Interviewer:Okay.
Bob:Buttheboardofvisitorshastoapproveeveryexteriorfinish.
Interviewer:Sotheywoulddefinitelygetlike,yayornay‐
Bob:Yes.
89
Interviewer:Okay.
Bob:Andwewentthroughseveraldifferentdrawingsbeforewegotonethattheboardof
visitorsactuallyliked.Sothisiskindofthepackagethattheypresentedandwentthrough
whereitwasgoingtobelocated.Soallofthiswaspresentedtous,andwemadeour
comments,andthenitwenttotheboardofdirectors.
Interviewer:Okay.
Bob:I'mtryingtofind‐theygotintothedrawingsinthisone.Thisgoeswayback.Butthenthe
building‐evenwhenthebuilding‐wehadtotakeitfrom73,000ft2backdownto‐yeah,this
wasveryearly‐butevenatthisstage,theboardofvisitorshadasay.Wehadtokindofsay,
thisiskindofwherewewantittobe,andtheyhadtoapprove,"Yeah,that'swhere‐that'sfine.
Youcanputitthere."Sothisisourbuildinghere.
Interviewer:Okay.
Bob:So‐butwehadalotofsayinthat,andICTASdesignedthemedallions.Seehowitworks?
Itgoesonit‐
Interviewer:ICTAS‐
Bob:ICTASdesignedthose.Wepickedwhatwewantedtoberepresentedandthenitwent
backtotheAEteam'sartisttogodothefinal‐butwegottopickwhatwewantedonthe
exterior.
Interviewer:Okay.Sowehavetheboardofvisitors,Juilie,ICTAS,andtheAEallweresignificant
‐sotheyhad‐theyweredecisionmakerswhosignificantlyaffectedtheexteriorenclosure.
Bob:Theexteriorenclosure‐right.
Interviewer:Okay,isthereanyoneelse?
Bob:NotthatIcanthinkofrightoff.
Interviewer:Okay.Isthereanyoneelse‐
90
Bob:Ohlike,theUniversityarchitect'soffice.It'sjustaUAofficeiswhattheycallit.The
Universityarchitect'soffice.Theyallsayyouhavetoweighin.
Interviewer:Okay.IsthereanyoneelsefromtheHVACsideofthings?
Bob:AndagainIdon'tknowalltheplayers,IknowSamisthepersonthatIworkwith.And
again,weprovidefeedbackonwhatourneedsare,andthenthey‐asfarastheyreviewthe
drawingsafterwegetthempassedthatpoint.
Interviewer:Youknowtheseguysareinphysicalplant,right?Christine‐
Bob:Idon'treallyknowwhoChristineis.Let'slookhimup.I'mjustsayingthathewasoneof
theones‐I'massuminghe'stheSieman'srepresentative.So‐
Interviewer:Ohokay.
Bob:[typing]HemaynotbewiththeUniversity.
Interviewer:That'sfine.ButSam's‐
Bob:Yeah,Idon'tknow.Samis‐Sam,right.
Interviewer:He'sfromphysicalplant?Okay.
Bob:Yeah,Ithinktheycallitfacilityservicesnow,butyeah.
Interviewer:Okay.Electricalsystem,superstructure,interiorfinishes.
Bob:AndwouldyouincludeADAwithinteriorfinishes?Ordoesthat‐
Interviewer:No,that'salittle,alittletoospecificatthispoint.
Bob:Operationalissue‐okay,okay.
Interviewer:AtsomepointIwouldliketoincludeallthewaydowntothatlevelofdetail,but
sincethisislikethefirststabatthisI'mtrying‐I'mkeepingthingsalittlehigh‐level.
Bob:Okay,that'sfine.
91
Interviewer:Yeah.Becausewhat'sgoingtohappenis‐whatI'multimatelygoingtodo,whenI
gettomyPhD,whichhopefullywillbetheendofthissummer,I'llstartthat‐isI'mtryingto
actuallycreateacomputermodelthatoptimizesinvestmentinsustainability.Butwewantto
includethesocialaspectofthings,becausethathasahugeimpacton‐like,whatissustainable
inalargeparthastodowithusersandlike,thewholeprocess.
Bob:Becausewhenyougetintosustainability,there'sanothercomponent,andthatisanother
personalongwithBill,whoisareally,custodial‐wouldbeSamwhoreviewsalltheareasfor
recycling,makessurethere'sarecyclingspaceavailable,andhealsolooksattrafficforwaste
cominginandout,makingsureit'sagoodpathwayandthattypeofthing.
Interviewer:Okay.Good,good.Verygood.Yeah,sothat'sjusthowthistiesintowhatI'm
doingnext.Alright,soyoudon'thaveanyoneelsethatyoureallywantedtoaddtothislist
necessarily?
Bob:Again,fortheelevators,andthattypething,lifts,thatwouldalsobetheADAoffice,but
foryourpurposes,ifyou'relookingatsustainabilityprimarily,Danwouldbe‐
Interviewer:OhI'mjustlookingatdecisionmakers.
Bob:Yeah,right.
Interviewer:So..theykindofviewADAasjustlike,that'sacodethathastobecompliedwith.
Bob:Right,right.
Interviewer:Theydon'treally‐theyjustmakesurethattheADArequirementsaremet.So‐
Bob:Right,andsomebodyelsecanmakethedecisiononhowthey'remet.Isee,right,okay.
Interviewer:Yeah,yeah.
Bob:That'sallIcanthinkofrightoff.
Interviewer:That's‐that'sfine.That'sperfect.
92
Bob:Theremightbeothers,butIcan't‐
Interviewer:JustsothatIcankindofgetanideaofscale,foreachofthesethathavemore
thanoneperson,whowouldbelike,themostinfluential.Ifyouhadapick,whohadlike,the
mostinfluenceoryes/no‐
Bob:Thiswouldbetheboardofvisitors.
Interviewer:Okay.
Bob:Imean,theydon'tmake‐wesetdown,weliterally‐thearchitectsgaveusabasicdrawing
andthenICTASsaidyes,no,yes,no.Thenwhenwegotittothatpoint,theUniversityarchitects
office,theyprobablyhadthesamelevelaswedid,withyes,no,yes,no.
Interviewer:Okay.
Bob:Butultimately,itwastheboardofvisitorsthatsaid,"Yes."
Interviewer:Alright‐
Bob:Andyou'renotlookingatfunding,soyou'renotgoingallthewayuptoBCOMlevel.Are
youfamiliarwithBCOM?
Interviewer:Yeah…
Bob:Okay.BCOM'smoreworriedaboutthecodeandthebudget.They'renotsoworriedabout
design.
Interviewer:Yeah.
Bob:Itdoeshaveto‐BCOM'sonlyroleisgoingtomakesureit's69%efficient.Allstate
buildingshavetomeettheefficiencyrateof69%aspastthat,they'renotreallyworriedabout
thedesign,aslongasyou'vegotthemoneytopayforit.
Interviewer:Okay,yeah.
Bob:Idon'tthinkthat'sthelevelyou'relookingfor.
93
Interviewer:I'mnot‐Idon'tthinksoatthispoint,because,Imean,really‐
Bob:BCOM'sastateagency,andmoreandmore,assoonaswegetStephentrainedon
buildingcodes,we'reprobablynotgoingtobeusingBCOMalotanymoreanyway,because
we'reacharternow.
Interviewer:Oh,okay.
Bob:So,we'reseparatingsomefromRichmondonourcapitalprojects.They'llstillhavefinal
sayinthebudgetsbecauseit'sallstillstatefunds.Asfarasthedesign,they'llgetlessandless
involved.
Interviewer:Okay.Goodtoknow.Goodtoknow.Alright.For‐well,letssee‐fora
superstructureit'sprettymuchgoingtobe‐
Bob:That'stheengineerfromtheAEteam.
Interviewer:Theengineer,okay.Andtheninteriorfinishes,whowouldyousayhasthemost
influence?
Bob:I'dsayICTASactually.
Interviewer:ICTAS?
Bob:Again,we‐Johnmakessuggestions,theA&Emakessuggestions,butultimatelytheydefer
toourdecisions.
Interviewer:Okay,okay.
Bob:Andjustfortherecord,Iwasnotherewhenthesecolorswerepicked.Soifyoulikethem‐
Interviewer:[laughing]
Bob:Ican'ttakecredit.Ifyouhatethem,I'mnotgoingtotakecredit.So,somepeoplelove
them,somepeoplehatethem.
Interviewer:Iunderstand.
94
Bob:I'mjust‐becausethiscarpet[laughing],itwouldnothavebeenmychoice.Butthat‐
ultimately,whatyouhavetodealwithiswhoevermakesthatdecisionwithinICTAS,somebody
elseisgoingtolikeitornotlikeit,andsoyoutrynottoadvertisewhomadethefinaldecision.
[laughing]
Interviewer:Exactly.Yeah.Noone'sgoingtoknowwho's‐
Bob:Oh,ImeanIdon'tcare,youknow,Idon'tcare.Ijustalwaysgivethatdisclaimerbecause
whenpeoplemovedinthelabstherearebrightyellowwalls,andthey'relike,"Whopicked
thesecolors?"AndI'mlike,"Don'tlookatme!IloveyellowandIlovered,butIwouldn'thave
putthemintheplacestheyputthem.It'shysterical."
Interviewer:Yeah,yeah.You'renevergoingtokeepeveryonehappy.
Bob:Oh,no,no.
Interviewer:Itdoesn'tmatterwhatyoudo.
Bob:Wehadsomepeoplethatlovedthisfurniture,andwe‐ohmygosh,onthisbuilding,on
ICTASI,I'llsayontheinteriorfinishes,liketheactualfinishes‐butthenthefurnishings,they
hiredaninteriordesignerthatwasapartoftheA&Efirm,andtheywouldnotlistentous,so
wedidn'treallygetwhatwewanted.
Interviewer:Uh,oh!
Bob:Butshewasjustheadstrong,soevenJohnbuttedheadswithherattimes.But,so‐we,we
pickedthecolors,sowegottopickthecolors,buttheactualdesignwasn'texactlywhatwe
picked.Butwehadthisbook‐
Interviewer:Ohmygoodness.
Bob:Sotheseareourfinishes,sothisisabigprocess.Sowegetthisbookandwesatdownand
wehadtorevieweverything,allthecolorsandthemock‐updesigns.Soitwasreallyhardtotell
fromthislittlebittypicturewhatwewereactuallygetting.Imean,thatreally‐I'mnotfamiliar
95
withthislinebefore.SomeofitIam.Iknowalotoffurniturelines.ThisisaTec‐Neonproduct,
andthiswastheotherthingthat‐there'samisfitbetweencapitalprojectsandmaintenance.
Interviewer:Okay.
Bob:AndIthinkbythe‐theUniversitymadeagoodmovebymovingallthatunder‐there
usedtobe‐therewasamaintenancedivision,therewasarenovationsdivision,andtherewas
acapitolprojectsdivision.Andthat'swheresomeofthemisfitscamein,andthisisonething‐
I'malsothecofounderandco‐chairofthecampus‐widefacilitiesmanagersnetwork,andwe
havebeentakingthingsbacktoadministrationsaying,"Look,whenyou'redesigningthese
buildings,youneedtolookatthis.Universitydoesn'tcleanglass.Thisbuildingisfullofglass,so
thatcomesbacktometopayforandmanage."So,they'veheardus.They'renowgoingtostart
cleaningglassIthinktwiceayear.Sotheotherthingis,I'verecommended,andthey'relooking
intothis,whereourgroupasawholewenttothemandsaid,"Youneedtoconsidereventhe…"
‐whathappens,thecontractor,wespecwhatthe‐theUniversityhasaguidelineofwhatthe
specificationsare,fortheirhandling,andthat's‐butthenit'suptothecontractortointerpret,
andtheinterpretationisn'talwaysthesame.Thereisahugecostassociatedwiththemultiple
HVACunitsthey'vepicked,becauseallofthemusedifferentfilters.
Interviewer:Ahh.
Bob:Sowe'retryingtogetthemtostandardizethat.Justfromataxpayer'sconcern.Well,they
don'treallyhaveanythingtodowiththat.That'sthepreventivemaintenancepersonhere.
We'retryingtogetthemtostandardizethatalittlebettertotrytocutsomeoftheUniversity
costs.Becausetheycan't‐there'snowheretostorethem.
Interviewer:Oh.
Bob:So,youhavetohavethem,andthere'smultipledifferentkinds‐wheredoyoustore
them?Soyourunupacostassociatedwithstoringthem.Sowe'retryingtogettogetherfrom
themaintenancemanagementperspectiveandhavemoreinfluenceonthedesign,butwe
havenotquitegottenthere.Becauseit'suptothe‐youhavetobesospecific,withthe
specifications.
96
Interviewer:Yeah.
Bob:Soanyway,whentheypickedoutallthesecolors,thisisthebookweget‐andyoucansee
here,tinylittlesketches.We'renotreallysurewhatthisstuffisandwhatitlookslikeuntilit
actuallygetshere.
Interviewer:Right.
Bob:Butthisiswhat‐wehadtoreviewthis,andsayyes,no,fromtheAEfirm'sinterior
designer.Wearenothiringaninteriordesignerforthenextproject.
Interviewer:Okay.
Bob:Wevetoedthat.
Interviewer:[laughing]Kindofhelpstohaveasecondbuilding,differentfromthefirst.
Bob:Butthisissomethingthat'sawonderful,wonderfultool.WehavetheO&Mmanuals.Iget
thosetomanagethebuilding,thepreventivemaintenanceguygetsthem,butwealsogetthis
bookthatsays‐soifwewanttogobackandbuythisdeskagain,Iknowwhereitcamefrom.I
knowwhatthefinishis.Andthishasbeen‐Ididnothavethisonmyotherprojects.Ihave
donefiveprojectsatTech.
Interviewer:Okay.
Bob:Andsothishasbeenthebestthingfromfacilitiesmanagementstandpoint,tohavean
actualcopyoftheinteriorfinishes.
Interviewer:Goodtoknow.Goodtoknow.Awesome.Alright,that'sbasicallyit.Idon'thave
anythingelseforyou.Thankyouforyourtime.
Bob:Okay,wellifyouthinkofanything.OrifIthinkofanyoneelsethatImayhavemissed‐but
againIdon'tknowwhoallyou'reinterviewing.
97
Interviewer:Ialreadyinterviewed,justsoyouknow,Ialreadyinterviewedseveralpeoplein
facilities.Ijustdidn'twanttosaythat,becauseIdidn'twantyouto‐Ididn'twantyoutostart
assuming.
Bob:Ihopeitwasconsistent.[laughing]
Interviewer:Wellthat'sexactly‐that'sexactlywhatIwaslookingfor,toseeiftherewas
consistency,ortoseeiftherewasadifferentperspective.
Bob:Right,right.
Interviewer:And,forthemostpart,you're‐you'reprettymuch100%consistentwithwhat
theysaid.
Bob:AndlikeIsaid,someoftheplayersImayjustnotknow.
Interviewer:Yeah,yeah.Whichis‐butthefactthatyou‐forexample,theboardofvisitors.
Theyallsaidboardofvisitors,andwewereall‐weallwerethinkingitwouldbesomething
else.
Bob:Right.
Interviewer:Youknow,so,thishasjustbeenapretty‐aprettyinterestingprocessforus,
becausewethoughtthattheremightbesomeonelike,fromICTAS,wholike,makesawhole
bunchofthesedecisions,butitturnsoutthatit'snot.It'sreallytheseotherpeoplegroups.
Bob:Andwemakeprettymuchalldecisionswhenitcomestolabdesign.
Interviewer:Right.
Bob:So,thelabdesign,actuallytheup‐fitsforthelab,that'sallus,andthentheengineers
worktoourdesignspecifications,whichisalargepartofmineandDavid'sjobisdesigningthe
labs,andthenwedon'tgetsoconcernedwiththecodes.Weexpectthemtofitourneedsinto
whatevertheyneedto‐like,inthisbuildingweendedupwithmorefumehoods.Weneeded
morefumehoodsthanthebuildingcouldhandle.Sowehadtogobackandalterourplansa
98
littlebit.Unlessthere'ssomethingfunctionallylikethat,thentheydon'talterourlayoutofthe
labs.
Interviewer:Right.
Bob:That'sallICTAS.Butwhenitgetstothefaçade,that's‐
Interviewer:Yeah,that'skindoflike‐
Bob:AlittlebitICTASand‐
Interviewer:Yeah,yeah.Thespecificlabmakeupiskindof‐becauseitwillchangeovertime.
Bob:Right,right.
Interviewer:Youknow,onceadifferentlabgroupcomesin,orifonelabgroupmoves,then‐
Bob:Itcanandcan't.LikeIsaid,ifit'safumehood,thenthat'sprettymuchthere.
Interviewer:Right.
Bob:Wedon'thave‐thisbuilding'smaxedout.Therearenomorefumehoods.Nowwecould
takeoneandmoveit,likeyousaid,fromthislabtothislab,ifthezoneallowsit.Wehave
verticalzonesinthisbuilding,soifitallowsit,thenyeah,youcandothat.Butyes,butthemore
permanent‐typethingswouldgobacktotheA&E,ortheboard‐theBOV.Andeventhoughwe
designedthemedallions,theBOVhadtoapprovethosetoo.
Interviewer:Right,right.Whichiswhythey'reakeydecisionmaker,they'rethegatekeeper.
Bob:Right.
99
Appendix F: Interview Transcript B
Interviewer:I'mnotsureifthisisgoingtowork[therecordingdevice],sowe'regoingtosee
howitgoesandyouknow,hopefullyitwillgowell.Alright,okay‐sotostartoff,I'mgoingto
handyouthissheetandbasically,itisa‐thesynopsisofastudythatwasdonebythe
DepartmentofCommerce.AreyoufamiliarwiththeUniformatsystem?
Nancy:Yep.
Interviewer:Okay,sowhattheDepartmentofCommercedidistheywentthroughandtooka
standardbuilding‐itwasan8‐storey,office‐typebuilding;ithadafootprintofabout8,000ft2‐
andtheyestimatedthecostforthisbuildingusingtheUniformat,andso,whentheyfinished
calculatingit,theywentallthewaytototalinstalledcost.Sotheyincludedtheirestimationof
laborcostandanestimationofthecontractor'smarkup,andthentheytallieduphowmuch
eachsystemcost,andthesearethesixsystemsthatcameup.Thissystemcorrespondswiththe
bottomone,andthentheyjustcorrespondontheirwayup.Idon'thaveitincolor,otherwiseit
wouldbealittlebit‐
Nancy:Yeah.Iunderstand.
Interviewer:Clearer.
Nancy:Okay.
Interviewer:Butbasicallywhatitis,isthissystemcomprisedapproximately17%or18%ofthe
totalinstalledcostforthatbuilding.Alright?AndthenHVACwas,Ithink,16.3%ofthatone
building.Andthose‐what'sincludedinthosesystemsisdefinedhere.Oneimportantthingto
noteisexteriorenclosure,thatdoesnotincludetheroofcoveringitself,okay?It'stheroof
coveringlike,theactuallike,shinglesifyouweredoingaslopedrooformalroofingor
whatever.It'saseparatecategoryanditcomprisesabout0.5%ofthecostofthebuilding
accordingtothisstudy.
100
Nancy:Soit'sbasicallytheskinitself.
Interviewer:Yeah,it'sbasicallythe‐theoutsideskin.
Nancy:Okay.
Interviewer:Superstructurestartsfromthefoundationandgoesupfromthere,doesn'tinclude
anysiteworkoranythinglikethat.Okay,sothefirstquestionis,inyouropinion,dothese
systemsalsocomprise‐like,Imentionedthattheycomprisedthelargestsectionaccordingto
totalinstalledcost‐fromyourexperience,doyouthinkthattheyarealsorepresentativeofthe
largestsystemsfromanO&Mperspective?
Nancy:Yeah,IguessyouwantmetoanswerfrommyVirginiaTechexperience,whichisabout,
youknow,almost2yearsnow,or‐
Interviewer:No,your‐
Nancy:30yearsof‐
Interviewer:30plusyears.
Nancy:ofprivateaswell‐
Interviewer:Yeah,everything…inthisquestion.
Nancy:Yeah,Imean,okaysoit'skindofa‐arethese‐Iguessyourquestionis,arethesethe
elementsthattypicallymakeupthebulkofthe‐
Interviewer:Yeah.
Nancy:ofthecost?Iwouldsayyes.Ithinkthepercentagevariesdependingonyouknow,the
typeofconstruction,youknow,andcertainlyhereatVirginiaTechwithourHokiestoneand
youknow,metals,whicharetendingtobeexpensivenow,andourmovetowardsusingspecial
glassyouknow,thatareenergyreflectiveorabsorptionforLEEDcertification,allthosethings
kindofcontributetothedrivingthepercentageofexteriorcoststhatwe‐wepayhere,seems
tobehigherthanwhatIhaveseeninindustry,but,it'sbecauseofthelookwe'retryingto
101
achieveandthestandardsthatwehaveoncampushere,so.I'mtryingtothink‐Imean,the
otheronethatbecomessignificant,dependingonwhereyouarebuilding,isyoursite
preparationcosts.
Interviewer:Okay.
Nancy:Youknow,ifyou'rebuildinginabigcityforinstance,andyouknow,you'rerestrictedas
faraswhat‐thelaydownspacethatyouhave,andhowyouhavetostagedeliveriesandthings
likethat,sothosefactorsdocontributetohighercostsifyou'reinanurbansettingforinstance,
asopposedtoagreenfieldsitewhereyou'vegotlotsofroom,so.
Interviewer:Right.
Nancy:But,noIthinkyoucapturedthemainonesthatIalwayssee,ofcourse,istheexterior
andthentheMEP,wecallit,whichisthemechanical‐electricalsystems‐arethebiggestcost
typically,so.
Interviewer:Ifyou're‐ifyouweretotryandbreakuptheelectricalsystemfromtheplumbing
systemfromthemechanicalsystem,arethey‐allthreeofthoseexpensivefromanO&M
standpoint,orisonekindoflessexpensivethantheotherones?
Nancy:Well,whenyousayO&M,you'retalkingabouttheactualoperatingcostsonceit's
installed.
Interviewer:Yeah,onceit'sinstalledtheoperatingandmaintenancecostsandthenlike,
replacementcost,becauseatleastinVirginiaTech'sinstance,andIhypothesizeinmost
institutionalowners‐theydesignbuildingsforaverylonglifespan,like60to100years.
Nancy:That'strue.
Interviewer:So,obviouslytheHVACsystemisgoingtohavetobe‐something'sgoingto
happentoitin60to100years.
Nancy:Youhavetoreplaceitatsomepoint,yeah.
102
Interviewer:Yeah.
Nancy:Andthat'susuallyinthe20years,25‐yearhorizonyouknow,mostequipmentwillhave
tobeeitherrebuiltcompletelyorreplaced,so.
Interviewer:Whereasifyouweretocomparethattolike,theexteriorenclosure,like,youdon't
rebuildthewallsobviously.
Nancy:Completelylowmaintenancethere.[laughing]
Interviewer:ImeanwithHokiestoneyoumighthavemoremaintenance,becauseIthinkthey
havetodolimetreatmentsorsomethinglikethatforsomeoftheolderbuildings,I'mnotsure.
Nancy:Yeah,butideallyyouwouldn't,you'reright,youwouldn'thavealotofexpenseonthe
exterior.Yeah,alotdependson‐thesealllooklikeconventionalsystemstome,too,now.I
guessI'mthinkingfrommyexperienceinthechemicalindustryandthesemi‐conductor
industry;generally,reliabilitywasaconcerntous.
Interviewer:Okay.
Nancy:Sowewouldbuildin,youknow,extramotorsandredundantcontrolsystemsandthings
likethat,andbackuppowerandallthat,sothatwedidn'thaveinstanceswheresystemswould
godown.
Interviewer:Okay.
Nancy:Andthat'sbecausethecostofthoselosses,youknow,theproductyouweremaking
washuge,andyouknow,itwouldbemillionsofdollarsadaythatyouwouldloseifyoulost,
youknow,controlofyourtemperatureinthebuilding,orelectricityforsomereason,so.So,
we,youknow,frommy‐mypersonalexperience,Ihaveseenalothigheroperatingcostsfor
somesystems,mainlyelectricalactually‐
Interviewer:Okay.
103
Nancy:Becauseoftheneedtohaveeitherredundantchillersystemsorbackuppowersystems
andyouknow,UPSsandallthatkindofstuff,whichareveryexpensivesystemstotrytoinstall,
especiallyifit'sforthewholebuilding,so.[laughing]
Interviewer:Right.
Nancy:Andthenthemaintenanceofthosewashugeaswell,so.Forconventionalbuildings,
likeanofficebuilding,Ithinkyouknow,yourexamplehere‐
Interviewer:OrareyouthinkinglikeatypicalVirginiaTechbuildingthatshould‐
Nancy:Yeah.Youknow,alotofthosearedonewithservicecontractsandyouknow,
competitivesituationswhereyougenerallygetaprettygoodpricingforit,so.Ihaven'treally‐
personallyIhaven'tmanagedalotofoperationsandmaintenancesortofactivities.But,my
focusonthedesignsidehasbeentotrytocomeupwithwaystomakethesystemsmore
reliablesoyoudon'thavethosecosts.
Interviewer:Okay.
Nancy:SoI'mnotsureI'mreallyansweringyourquestion,Ican't,youknow,intermsof
quantifyingwherethedollarsareinO&Myouknow,certainlytheelectricalsystemsare
probablywheremostoftheexpenseis,justbecausethingsseemtowearoutmoreorneedto
betunedmoreoftenthan,youknow,mechanicalsystems.Andmechanicalstuff,you'reyou
know,replacingasealorrealigningapumporamotororsomethinglikethat.Thoseare
relativelyinexpensiveoperationscomparedtothecostoftheequipment,so.
Interviewer:Ifyouweretolookat‐sobasically,ifyouweretolookateachofthosefroma,like
awholesystem,thosewouldconstitutethemajorityofthe‐
Nancy:Theongoingcosts.
Interviewer:Theongoingcostsandmaintenancecostsforasinglebuilding?
104
Nancy:Yeah,Iwouldsayso,certainly,youknow,plumbingfixturesarerelativelycheapto
replace,andotherthingsthatareinsidethebuildings,so.Mostofyourexpenseisgoingtobe
inanyrotatingequipment.
Interviewer:Okay,alright.Excellent.
Nancy:Iguesstheotherpieceofthatwouldbeyour‐ifyouhaveachill‐watersystemor
somethinglikethat,whereyou'vegotcoolingtowersandwhatnot,itwouldbeinthecostof
themaintenanceofthechemicaltreatmentaswell,youknow.Alotofbuildings‐Iwasinvolved
withhigh‐puritywatersystemsandveryspecializedgasorchemicaltreatmentsystemsand
thingslikethatso,butthosewouldbemaybetheexceptiontoatypicalofficebuilding,so.
Interviewer:Okay.That'sfine.Alright.Okay,beforewegoon,I'mgoingto‐likeIsaidwhenI
started,andshowedyouthisresearchinformationsheetandtalkedtoyoubrieflyonFriday‐
myresearchisconcerningidentifyingkeydecisionmakersforconstructionprojects,sothat
eventuallyIcancreateacomputermodelthatincludesdecisionmakersandhowtheymake
decisions.BecauseI'mtryingto‐I'mtryingtomakethismodeloptimizinginvestmentin
sustainability,andinordertodothatyouhavetokindoftakeintoaccount‐ifyou'regoingto
makearealisticsystem,youneedtotakeintoaccounttheparticulardecisionmaking‐
Nancy:You'llwanttoknowwhatreallyhappens‐
Interviewer:Yeah‐thedecisionmakingtendenciesofthekeydecisionmakers.So,akey
decisionmakerI'vedefinedrighthere,andit'sapersonoragroupwhohasthemostinfluence
onthesystemscharacteristics,likethesizeorthecolor,youknow,dependingonwhatsystem
you'retalkingabout‐andifit'sagroupthatmakesthedecision,thegrouphastobasically
operateasasingleentity,solike,Iwouldconsidermostbuildingcommitteesasingleentity,
becausetheyhavetocomeupwithadecision‐
Nancy:Theyhavetoreachaconsensus,right.
Interviewer:Theyhaveto‐theyhavetoreachaconsensus.
Nancy:Tomoveforward.
105
Interviewer:Tomoveforward.Okay,soIwouldconsiderthemasingleentity.
Nancy:Okay.
Interviewer:Okay,soifyouweretothinkabouttheICTASIIproject,becausewe'reonlylooking
atasingleproject‐
Nancy:Okay.
Interviewer:Alright?Ifyoucouldtellme,orwritedown,thepeoplewhoyouthinkmake
decisionsthataffecteachofthesystemslistedherethatwewentoveronthishigh‐systemclass
chart.
Nancy:Okay.WellIwouldsayfor‐forexteriorenclosure,maindecisionmakersasfarasIwas
concernedwouldbethearchitect'sofficehere.
Interviewer:Okay.
Nancy:OfficeofUniversityArchitect,OUA,andthatwouldbeTyler,youknow,asthearchitect,
buthereliesoninputfromhisstaffaswell,youknow,itcomesfromthemasaconsensus
usually.
Interviewer:Okay.
Nancy:Andthenalsoprobablyour‐notmyimmediateboss,buthisboss,Amanda,isalso
directlyinvolvedwithlookingatelevationsandyouknow,sortofthecharacterofthebuilding,
we'llsay,andthefeaturesthatareevidentintheelevationsandtheexterior.SoImean,those
arethe‐thosearethekeyfolks,Imeanthereareothersthatareinvolvedinhelpingwithsome
ofthosedecision,maybetryingtoyouknow,swaythemonewayortheother,andthat's
mainlythefolksthatwillbeinthebuilding,so.IntheICTAS'scase,itwouldbeICTASstaff,and
therewas,youknow,severalofthosefolksthatwerealways,youknow,wewouldtalktothem
aboutitandseewhattheylikedanddidn'tlike,butthedecisionmakerswereeitherTyleror,
andAmandatogether,so.
106
Interviewer:Okay,onethingIforgottomention,sowehavekeydecisionmakersandthen
therearealsowhatwewouldcalllikearubber‐stampdecisionmaker,likeifyouhad‐ifyou‐
theexampleI'mgoingtouseis,letssayyouhaveanHVACsystem,okay?Andwe'llassumefor
thepurposeofthisinterviewthatallthecodesandguidelinesthatVirginiaTechhasisjusta
given,okay?Solike,we'restartingfromthatplane,alright?Withintheboundsofthecodesand
guidelines,there'sacertainamountofwiggleroomandyou'llhaveanHVACconsultant,lets
say,whosays,"Okay,I'veunderstoodyourguidelinesand,"youknow,theguidelines‐
Nancy:Thewholeproposals‐
Interviewer:Yeah,who'llcomeupwithacoupledifferent‐
Nancy:What'sgood,andusuallythere'safewcompromises,youknow,thateachonecontains,
right?
Interviewer:Right,sowho‐theywouldbe‐iftheyjustmadethe‐iftheysaid,"Wethinkyou
shouldgowiththis,"andthenitcametoVirginiaTechandwhoeverwassupposedtomakethe
decision,orwhoeverhadtheauthoritytomakethedecision,justkindofgoes,"Okay,you
know,justwhatever,"andjustlike,rubberstampsit?Thentherealdecisionmakerwouldbe
themechanicaldesigner,ortheHVACconsultant,okay?Butiftheconsultantorarchitect‐
Nancy:No,noIunderstandwhatyou'resaying,so.Ithinkyeah,certainlyitdoesn'ttakeone
answerontheexteriorsanyway.BetweenTylerandAmanda,theywilldefinewhatthat
building'sgoingtolooklike.
Interviewer:Okay.
Nancy:AndtheygetalotoftheinputfromtheAE,differentoptionstolookat,butthey
ultimatelymaketheselection.
Interviewer:Okay.Alright.
Nancy:Andthenyouknow,theusersgetashotatit,butgenerallytheyhaveverylittle,Idon't
wanttosayusefulinput,butyouknow,[laughing]
107
Interviewer:[laughing]
Nancy:Justuh,theykindofreviewitandsaywhattheylikeanddon'tlikeaboutit,someofthe
features,butImeantheycan'treally‐theoverallcharacterofthebuildingreallyhastobe
somethingthatTylerandAmandawillapprove,so.
Interviewer:Okay,excellent.
Nancy:OnHVAC,hmm,that'sagoodquestion.Typicallywe‐wehaveamechanicalutilities
department,whichisusuallyrepresentedbyStan.Stanisoneofthe‐Ithinkhe'sassistant
directororsomethingofthe,ofthatgroup,butifthere'saquestionaboutanairhandlerorit's
featuresoryouknow,somethingsthatwecanorcannotdowiththosesystems,typicallyStan
willmakethatdecision.Youknow,andhe's‐hewilltypicallylooktothearchitecttomakea
recommendation,butthenhe'sgoingtoyayornayitso,andifhedoesn'tagreewithithe's
goingtotelluswhattododifferent.SoyeahIwouldsayhe'sthemaindecisionmakerthere.
Interviewer:Okay.
Nancy:There'sanotherfellow,Sam,whosupportshim.Sam'sinadifferentgroup,butSam's
ourleadseniormechanicalengineer,andyouknow,Ilooktohim‐tohimandStantokindof
workthingsout,youknow,andiftheydisagreetheywilleitherfigureoutbetweenthemselves
youknow,whattherightansweris,andletusknow,so.IwouldsayStanisprobablythe
primaryguy,butSam'sinvolvedinalotofthemaybe,supportingdecisionsthatgoalongwith
that,so.
Interviewer:Okay.
Nancy:Electrical…Electricalcomesintwoparts,really.You'vegotthemainelectricalserviceto
thebuilding,whichIwouldcallpowerdistributionbasically,andthatwouldbeJoseph.Joseph
isoverintheelectricservice.He'stheengineeringmanager.Andhe'sdirectlyresponsible‐in
fact,theysupplythatservice,sothelinescomingtoabuilding,thetransformer,therearesome
CTsandmaybeameterandthatkindofstuff,allthefrontendstuff,gettingtothebuilding,is
actuallydesignedandsuppliedbyelectricservice.So,youknowtheengineerwilltypicallysize
108
thatequipmentforthem,andgettheirconcurrence,butthey‐theydecidethatpieceofit.
Onceyougetinsidethebuildingthen,Danistheseniorelectricalengineer.Sheactuallysits
overanelectricservice,Idon'tthinkshereportsdirectlythroughthem,but‐somethinglike
that,youcanfindherinthesystem.
Interviewer:Yeah,I'llfindher.
Nancy:Yeah,andshemakesthedecisionasfaraselectricalgearinsidethebuilding,so
questionsaboutpanels,elevators,emergencygenerators,younameit,electricaluses,lighting
systems,dimmingsystems,allthatkindofstuffshe'sgot‐
Interviewer:Alright.
Nancy:Thereviewonthose.
Interviewer:Perfect.
Nancy:Superstructure,that'stypicallytheAE,whoevertheengineerdesigneris.Imean,wewill
takealookatthat,butaslongastheyarespecifyingyouknow,eitherconcreteorsteel,Idon't
thinkanybodyreallycaresonewayortheother[laughing].So,interiorfinishes,youknowthat's
actuallysomethingthattheuser‐whichinICTASscasewouldbetheICTASstaff‐aredirectly
involvedwith.AndtheyareheldtothatdecisiontypicallybyJohn.Johnisourinteriordesigner.
Sosheworksinthat,andAmanda,sheactuallylikestoreview.Amanda.
Interviewer:Okay.
Nancy:Youknow,whatwehavecomeupwith,butshetypicallywillletJohnandtheclients
sortofworkitout,youknow,colorschemesandfinish,youknow,qualityandthatsortofstuff.
ButAmandadoeslookatittosee,makesurewedidn'tdoanythingtooweird.[laughing]So
that'skindofacollaborativeeffortbetweentheoccupantsofthebuildingandJohn,primarily,
buttheywillworkwiththeAE‐AEwilltypicallycomeupwith2or3alternativesandwe'llkind
ofpickandchooseamongstthose.
Interviewer:Alright.Sononeongreenwallsoranythinglikethat.
109
Nancy:Yeah,anythingtoocrazy.
Interviewer:Bummer.
Nancy:Conveyance,whatareyoutalkingaboutthere?That's‐
Interviewer:Ithinkthat's‐shouldbeelevators,escalators,lifts‐
Nancy:ThatwouldbeDan.
Interviewer:Okay.
Nancy:Danaswell.Thosearekindofthekey‐keyreviewersanddecisionmakers.
Interviewer:Okay.Cool.Forinteriorfinishes,youwouldsay‐sobasicallyICTASstaffandJohn
are‐wouldbethetwomost‐
Nancy:Yeah,butourprocessthereistheAEwilltakeashotatit,andthey'llcreatesome
boards,youknow,theymighthave,Idon'tknow,I'mnotanarchitect‐sotheyhave,youknow,
thecoolcolors,andtheyhavethewarmcolors,anddifferentcombinationsofthingsandthey
kindofcomeupwitha‐sortofacharacter,youknow,ofthebuilding.
Interviewer:Okay.
Nancy:Andthenwewillsayahwell,welikethat,orwedon'tlike‐youknow,there'susually
about2or3meetingstogothoughandyouknow,kindofpickandchoose,andthengobackto
workonitsomemore,comebackwithsomemoreideas,and,youknow,eventuallyweendup
withwhattheycallapalateofalltheinteriorfinishesfromcarpettocountertopstocolorsand
youknow,thatkindofstuff,so.
Interviewer:Okay.
Nancy:That'llbepresentedonsomekindofaboard,toshowlittlesamplesofeachthingand
howtheyworktogether.
Interviewer:Okay.
110
Nancy:But,yeah.
Interviewer:Alright,arethereanyother‐asyouweretalking,didanyotherdecisionmakersor
groupsthatinfluencethedecisionmakingprocess‐
Nancy:Youknowsomeprojectmanagersand[laughing]but,yeah,youknow,wemakethemif
nobodyelsedoes,butfortheseitemsanywaythere'susuallyfolkswhoareinplaceoryou
know,whofeelthatit'stheirdecision,so.Weletthemdothat,andthen,anythingelsethat's
notcoveredI'lljustdecidemyselforyouknow,talktotheusersaboutit,so.
Interviewer:Okay,alright.
Nancy:Butthat'saprettygoodstart.
Interviewer:Cool.Well,I'mprettysurethatthatisallthatIhaveforyou.
Nancy:Wellthatwasprettyeasy.
Interviewer:Yeah.
Nancy:Soyou'regoingtotrytomodelwhattheseguysarethinkingasfarastheirdecision
processIguess.
Interviewer:Yeah,eventuallywhatwillhopefullyhappenis,we'llgetthisallfiguredoutand
thenI'llhaveaframeworkormethodologythatdescribeshowthis‐orwho‐howtofindthe
keydecisionmakers.Thenoncethey'vebeenfound,thenIwillgobackandmeetwiththem
andcomeupwithsomesortoflike,okayhowdoyoumakedecisionbetweenthesedifferent
systemsyouknow,whataretypicallythemost‐whatarethedrivingfactorsforyou‐Idon't
knowwhatthat'sgoingtolooklikeyet.That'sgoingtobesomethingthatI'mgoingtohaveto
thinkaboutnextyear.Andthere'sgoingtobe,I'msure,allsortsofstuffthatgoesintothat.
Nancy:Yeah,soundslikeitwillbeinteresting.
Interviewer:Yeah,no,IpromiseyouIwillbeback.Iwillbebuggingyou[laughing]yes,again.
Nancy:Yeah,that'sfine.
111
Interviewer:Ireallyappreciateyourtime.
Nancy:Okay.
Interviewer:Doyouhave‐arethereanyotherfinalquestionsthatyouhave?
Nancy:No,um,no.Givemeacallifyouhaveanythingyouwanttotalkabout,oranyideas‐I'm
always‐adviceisalwaysfree,so.
Interviewer:[laughing]
Nancy:I'mhappytoworkwithyou.
Interviewer:Excellent,wellthankyouverymuchforyourtime.
Nancy:Okay,goodlucktoyou.
Interviewer:Thanks.
112
Appendix G: Document Review Project Map