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Facilities Measurement, Benchmarking & Analysis Case Study

Background

A large New England University was facing system-wide budget cuts. For facilities management, the cuts were so severe it was feared the only way to comply would be layoffs and service reductions. The University was concerned with sustaining daily service levels, improving and maintaining customer satisfaction, and being effective stewards of the research-intensive campus.

FMB&A + Strategy

As a FMB&A member since 2001, facilities leadership was able to use Sightlines’ measurement and benchmarking to shape a solution that would meet the mandated budget reduction without drastically lowering services to the campus. Through peer comparisons, the University recognized that their profile of maintenance staff was higher than their peers. Additionally, their worker-to-supervisor ratio was not balanced, and the material budgets were so low that productivity was affected. The University developed a strategic plan that increased square foot coverage ratios, realigned the worker-to-supervisor ratio, and increased material spending on a full-time equivalent basis.

Results

Layoffs were avoided through the implementation of an early retirement and focused attrition plan to lower the workforce size. Material budgets and supervisory ratios were then rebalanced. Today, the University’s productivity has more than doubled. A greater level of planned maintenance is completed by a smaller workforce. Customer feedback has illustrated far greater satisfaction with facilities services. A smaller workforce, with proper leadership and appropriate tools, is creating greater value.

“Sightlines conducted a facility operations assessment for Rutgers University based on the Return on Physical Assets (ROPASM) process completed earlier this year.  Because Sightlines' familiarity with Rutgers, they were able to quickly identify areas that worked well or needed improvement. As a result, we reorganized and redeployed staff, and increased planned and preventive maintenance. The response has been positive to this proactive approach to facility management resulting in a campus with a sounder state of good repair.”

“Sightlines assisted us in crafting a compelling asset reinvestment message to our board, alumni, and campus constituencies.”

Go Green Case Study

Background

A large New England university signed the President’s Climate Commitment (PCC) and faced their deadline for a greenhouse gas inventory. Aside from meeting these reporting requirements, the Director of Sustainability was looking for a way to credibly document the environmental performance of the institution, show if infrastructure investments and campus outreach had paid off, and begin to plan for their Climate Action Plan to be completed within the next year.

Go-Green MB&A

Because the University was already a Sightlines member, the Go-Green Measurement and Analysis was able to be completed quickly so the university could meet its PCC deadline. Data collection focused on components not collected as part of the ROPA Process. Sightlines was also able to assist in an estimate of student and faculty commuting by using a ZIP code database to construct commuting patterns.

Results

The greenhouse gas inventory showed that the energy management program of the past several years had led to significant decreases in greenhouse gas emissions. Of particular interest was the impact of renewable fuels used by the selected utility providers. With the Go-Green M&A, the Office of Sustainability was able to demonstrate that they had the lowest emission per student and per square foot when compared with peer institutions. The inventory enabled the institution to satisfy the reporting requirements of the PCC and communicate ongoing success to campus constituents. The Go-Green M&A allowed sustainability leaders to focus their time on policy and progress rather than data collection and report generation.

“I consider Sightlines membership to be very valuable in meetings with the Board of Trustees and with the senior members of the university’s budgeting review team… Ongoing investment in this benchmarking process is an extremely good investment.”

“Through the benefits of Sightlines membership, we were able to galvanize the support we needed from the board, alumni, and campus constituencies.”

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Facilities Case Study

Go Green Case Study

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