The Charles Pankow Foundation (CPF) in partnership with the University of Washington's College of Built Environments, American Institute of Architects, and the Integrated Project Delivery Alliance, has unveiled a new tool, the Building Owner Assessment Tool (BOAT).
The free online tool helps building owners and project teams understand the challenges and alignments between their decision-making profile and different types of project delivery methods. Profiles are generated from rigorously researched questions and the analysis is presented in a simple spreadsheet format.
Using BOAT, building owners can reflect on their decision-making structures, cultures, and project management strategies and work with their project teams to mitigate roadblocks and pain points during project delivery.
Discussion of BOAT results fosters productive collaborative conversations identifying organizational challenges, setting expectations around the work, and designing specific processes to address challenges.
This research was conducted at the University of Washington and led by Principal Investigator Carrie Sturts Dossick, Ph.D, P.E.; Co-investigators Renée Cheng, FAIA; and Laura Osburn, Ph.D. Other team members included Lingzi Wu, Ph.D., Daniel Dimitrov, and Xianxiang Sean Zhao. Industry Champions were Markku Allison, Greg Gidez, Louise Pannetor, and Laura Stagner. Support was provided by Chandos Construction and P1 Consulting.
Related Stories
| Jan 4, 2011
California buildings: now even more efficient
New buildings in California must now be more sustainable under the state’s Green Building Standards Code, which took effect with the new year. CALGreen, the first statewide green building code in the country, requires new buildings to be more energy efficient, use less water, and emit fewer pollutants, among many other requirements. And they have the potential to affect LEED ratings.
| Jan 4, 2011
New Years resolutions for architects, urban planners, and real estate developers
Roger K. Lewis, an architect and a professor emeritus of architecture at the University of Maryland, writes in the Washington Post about New Years resolutions he proposes for anyone involved in influencing buildings and cities. Among his proposals: recycle and reuse aging or obsolete buildings instead of demolishing them; amend or eliminate out-of-date, obstructive, and overly complex zoning ordinances; and make all city and suburban streets safe for cyclists and pedestrians.
| Jan 4, 2011
An official bargain, White House loses $79 million in property value
One of the most famous office buildings in the world—and the official the residence of the President of the United States—is now worth only $251.6 million. At the top of the housing boom, the 132-room complex was valued at $331.5 million (still sounds like a bargain), according to Zillow, the online real estate marketplace. That reflects a decline in property value of about 24%.
| Jan 4, 2011
Luxury hotel planned for Palace of Versailles
Want to spend the night at the Palace of Versailles? The Hotel du Grand Controle, a 1680s mansion built on palace grounds for the king's treasurer and vacant since the French Revolution, will soon be turned into a luxury hotel. Versailles is partnering with Belgian hotel company Ivy International to restore the dilapidated estate into a 23-room luxury hotel. Guests can live like a king or queen for a while—and keep their heads.
| Jan 4, 2011
Grubb & Ellis predicts commercial real estate recovery
Grubb & Ellis Company, a leading real estate services and investment firm, released its 2011 Real Estate Forecast, which foresees the start of a slow recovery in the leasing market for all property types in the coming year.
| Jan 4, 2011
Furniture Sustainability Standard - Approved by ANSI and Released for Distribution
BIFMA International recently announced formal American National Standards Institute (ANSI) approval and release of the ANSI/BIFMA e3-2010 Furniture Sustainability Standard. The e3 standard represents a structured methodology to evaluate the "sustainable" attributes of furniture products and constitutes the technical criteria of the level product certification program.
| Dec 28, 2010
Project of the Week: Community college for next-gen Homeland Security personnel
The College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, Ill., began work on the Homeland Security Education Center, which will prepare future emergency personnel to tackle terrorist attacks and disasters. The $25 million, 61,100-sf building’s centerpiece will be an immersive interior street lab for urban response simulations.
| Dec 20, 2010
Architect Adrian D. Smith on zero-energy cities, new technologies, and high density.
Adrian D. Smith, FAIA, RIBA, is co-founder (with Gordon Gill) of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, Chicago. Previously, he was a design partner in the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (1980-2003) and a consulting design partner from 2004 to 2006. His landmark structures include the Jin Mao Tower (Shanghai), Rowes Wharf (Boston), and Burj Khalifa (Dubai, U.A.E.), the world’s tallest structure. He recently collaborated with Gordon Gill to design the world’s first net-zero-energy skyscraper, Pearl River Tower, now nearing completion in Guangzhou, China. This account is based on his recent remarks at the Illinois Institute of Technology.
| Dec 17, 2010
BIM Tools Enhance Project Value
The Building Team for a renovation project at Georgia Tech uses BIM and 3D design tools to solve a complex millwork problem.
