Two organizations focused on leadership in the built environment are now working in unison to explore ways public-private partnerships (P3) can be used to achieve high-performance buildings. The National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) are bringing together international experts on the utilization of P3 to address current government challenges and advance the achievement of a high-performance building stock.
Building owners and policy makers are becoming increasingly interested in the performance of buildings. Whether driven by sustainability, resilience concerns or the desire to protect the investments of taxpayer dollars, government agencies are under increasing pressure to achieve performance-based requirements. These pressures are coming at a time when budgets for new facilities, major capital improvements and long-term maintenance are contracting. Utilizing P3s may help governments overcome challenges related to project financing while driving achievement of performance requirements.
Despite their potential benefits, P3s have not been widely used for building projects in the United States. However, many governments, including Canada, Australia and members of the European Union, have found success in utilizing the approach for facilities such as schools, hospitals and prisons.
“Public-private partnerships can be a great tool for government agencies to improve energy efficiency, resilience and other high-performance building attributes, while reducing the cost of implementation,” said NIBS President Henry L. Green, Hon. AIA. "With the Institute's focus on achieving high-performance buildings and expertise in whole building design, and RICS's expertise in project finance and access to international best practices, we hope to lead the way towards greater use of P3s."
Despite their potential benefits, P3s have not been widely used for building projects in the United States. However, many governments, including Canada, Australia and members of the European Union, have found success in utilizing the approach for facilities such as schools, hospitals and prisons. And some P3 experts and organizations in the field think it’s about time to expand application of the concept to buildings in the U.S.
“The idea of applying the P3 concept more to buildings, and especially building performance, is a potentially promising new avenue in the U.S. for this powerful and creative partnership model,” said Americas Managing Director for RICS Neil Shah. “We are enthusiastic about collaborating on this initiative with NIBS, and combining our extensive resources to see how private industry can help public agencies to maximize energy efficiency and save taxpayer dollars. And we look forward to having more to say on this important subject at next year’s RICS Summit of the Americas.”
Shifting to a greater focus on building performance across the facility life-cycle is a more cost-effective and efficient way to achieve high-performance buildings. At the beginning of the P3 process, the government agency occupying the building identifies the required performance and terms of the project. With the performance requirements defined early, the private partner can then work across the design, construction and operations phases of the project to identify the most cost-effective strategy to assure such requirements are met.
International authority on housing, real estate and infrastructure Sandy Apgar, FRICS, CRE, FIoD, FRSA explained, “P3s enable public authorities and private firms to solve complex building problems that neither could accomplish by working alone. The larger and more complex the project, the more likely it is that a P3 vehicle can leverage government and business resources, and save time and cost over conventional single sector structures.”
Such an approach also encourages the use of emerging best practices (including integrative design processes), adequate training of operations personnel and the sharing of building information.
“Government laboratories have unique research equipment and skills that few businesses can match. And military housing P3s have pioneered award-winning, energy-efficient, environmentally responsible buildings and neighborhoods, through novel site layouts, ‘green’ construction materials, and numerous other technical and operational innovations,” Apgar continued. “On the other hand, businesses have organizational know-how, management systems, and pro-active cultures that are challenging for public agencies to adopt, and could help government agencies integrate and make the most of these private-sector innovations.”
NIBS and RICS are set to begin work on the P3 project this summer and are looking for input from industry experts. The two organizations plan to issue a report on the topic in April 2016 at the RICS Summit of the Americas in Washington, D.C.
Experts interested in participating in this effort can contact Ryan Colker at NIBS [rcolker@nibs.org] or Thomas Pienaar at RICS [tpienaar@rics.org] to learn how get involved.
Related Stories
| Apr 10, 2013
Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute accredited by ANSI as standards developer
The Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute (CRSI) was recently accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) as an ANSI Accredited Standards Developer (ASD).
| Apr 10, 2013
DOD should continue LEED-Silver or equivalent rating standard, says NRC
The Department of Defense should continue to require that its new buildings or major renovations to facilities be designed to achieve a LEED-Silver or equivalent rating, says a new report from the National Research Council.
| Apr 10, 2013
EPA proposes emissions rules affecting light construction vehicles
The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed air-pollution standards that it says will reduce the amount of sulfur in U.S. gasoline by two-thirds and impose fleet-wide pollution limits on new vehicles.
| Apr 10, 2013
New skyscraper designs raising the bar on green standards
Though most new skyscraper designs have a traditional look, they are including a wider array of sustainable elements to use energy and water more efficiently and improve human health.
| Apr 5, 2013
Lack of national standards on design of bioterror labs creates higher risk for accidents, panel says
U.S. labs that conduct research on bioterror germs such as anthrax are at risk for accidents because they do not have uniform design and operation standards, according to a Congressional investigative group.
| Apr 5, 2013
Builders Hardware Manuf. Assn. revises three standards for hinges, locks, and latches
The Builders Hardware Manufacturers Association (BHMA) released three new revisions to the ANSI/BHMA standardsfor hinges, interconnected locks, and sliding and folding hardware.
| Apr 5, 2013
New items to ASHRAE/IES energy standard open for public comment
The 2013 version of the ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2010, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, is scheduled for publication later this year, and 26 proposed addenda are open for public comment.
| Apr 5, 2013
No evidence that mandatory building energy labeling improves efficiency, study says
The Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International and the Greater Boston Real Estate Board (GBREB) released a report, “An Economic Perspective on Building Labeling Policies,” that questions the efficacy of mandatory building energy labeling.
| Mar 27, 2013
Practical application of Legionella prevention standards the focus of ASHRAE project
An American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers committee drafting tough new standards to prevent the waterborne bacteria Legionella is focused on how to apply the standards in the real world.
| Mar 27, 2013
Open discussion of regulations on tap at AGC’s 2013 Federal Contractors Conference
The AGC Federal Contractors Conference provides a venue for contractors and federal agency personnel to meet in a collaborative forum to review federal construction contracting issues from around the United States.
