{"id":2498,"date":"2023-10-10T11:42:15","date_gmt":"2023-10-10T15:42:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eptura.wpengine.com\/?p=2498"},"modified":"2024-09-10T00:33:35","modified_gmt":"2024-09-10T04:33:35","slug":"state-of-government-buildings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eptura.com\/discover-more\/blog\/state-of-government-buildings\/","title":{"rendered":"Real estate spotlight: Improving federal building operations"},"content":{"rendered":"

The age of hybrid work is as much a part of the Federal employee experience as it is in other corporate workplace environments. From lease expirations to remote work, Federal real estate portfolios and buildings are being underutilized while crucial maintenance is underfunded, according to research data published and testimony by the U.S. government.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany agencies realize that they can adapt their workplaces to more effectively and cost-efficiently carry out their missions,\u201d said<\/a> Nina Albert, the commissioner of the General Service Administration\u2019s (GSA) Public Buildings Service, to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in September 2023. \u201cPost-pandemic, agencies are gaining additional insights about the needs of their workforce, different and better approaches to achieving their mission, as well as approaches to the workplace.\u201d<\/p>\n

At a time when long-term sustainability and building energy use are becoming a more front and center topic, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has made it clear that there are missed savings\u2019 opportunities \u2013 in the hundreds of millions of dollars. A lack of funds to repair government buildings is making it much harder to sell underutilized real estate.<\/p>\n

Despite having a maintenance budget, the funds the GSA takes in from Federal agency leases are also used to fund other expenditures across the Federal government. Leaders from the GAO and GSA are pressing Congress for more funding to be allocated toward these maintenance needs.<\/p>\n

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4 ways to improve Federal Building Operations<\/h2>\n

Underutilized Federal office space impacts environmental and financial costs, according to the GAO\u2019s 2023 report<\/a> \u201cFederal Real Property: Preliminary Results Show that Increased Telework and Longstanding Challenges Led to Underutilized Federal Buildings.\u201d<\/p>\n

The accountability office studied 24 total agencies and looked closely at the percentage of space utilization \u2013 17 of the 24 had an average occupancy rate of 25%. Each year, Federal agencies allocate roughly $2 billion for building operations and maintenance expenses, regardless of actual usage. Plus, an additional $5 billion is spent annually on leasing office buildings. By consolidating office space, costs could be minimized.<\/p>\n

\"Fed<\/p>\n

1. A need for utilization benchmarks<\/h3>\n

Given that the GAO data shows building utilization ranges of 9% to 36%, underutilization isn\u2019t an easy problem to solve the way things operate today. The GAO finds there aren\u2019t benchmarks for how federal agencies should measure utilization to guide agency efforts.<\/p>\n

David Marroni, acting director of GAO\u2019s physical infrastructure team, told a Senate committee\u00a0 that agencies have uncertainty about return to office plans and benchmarks are not in place to track all the change since the beginning of the pandemic \u2013 with all the remote telework.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be clear, figuring out how much office space agencies really need and shedding any they don\u2019t, won\u2019t be easy, quick, or cost-free,\u201d Marroni said.<\/p>\n

Plus, Federal employees have become more comfortable with working remotely, reducing commuting time and expenses, or working in an outdated office environment where their home setup may have more updated office and desk equipment.<\/p>\n

2. A need for funding maintenance, repairs, redesigns, and renovations<\/h3>\n

The U.S. government owns 511 million square feet of office space. And it costs billions of dollars a year to maintain. Since 2011, nearly $1 billion is taken each year from the Federal Buildings Fund to cover other agencies\u2019 budgets from Congress. Not having these funds has made consolidating office space difficult and hard to catch up on the backlog of deferred maintenance requests.<\/p>\n

And minor repairs can often turn into much bigger maintenance projects, officials explain to Congress. Delayed repairs have occasionally forced GSA to temporarily relocate an agency\u2019s employees to new space until repairs are completed. To move ahead with consolidation, the GSA needs additional funding.<\/p>\n

3. The need for adaptability<\/h3>\n

Per the GAO, heads of agencies can be reluctant to share \u201cheadquarters space among agency components or with other agencies\u201d making it difficult to adapt or reconfigure space.<\/p>\n

But benchmarks and funding aren\u2019t the only challenges. There is also resistance to give up space because of uncertainty about future building office needs \u2013 especially since remote and hybrid policies may fluctuate. \u201cConcerns about the future of in-office attendance policies and habits have caused a reluctance to reduce headquarters space,\u201d concludes the GAO.<\/p>\n

Marroni told Congress that the administration should not lose sight of the \u201cunique opportunity agencies now have to creatively and fundamentally reconsider their office space needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAgencies need to ask themselves, \u2018Are there ways to reduce our footprint and save money, while still ending up with more modern space that helps us better accomplish our mission?\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

4. The need for sustainability<\/h3>\n

Sustainability<\/a> is a lot more than environmental compliance. The shift to the hybrid work model has the potential to reduce their total energy usage. Why? With fewer people in the office daily \u2013 a reduced office footprint \u2013 less energy is required in the workplace. Sustainability is about using only what you need over the long haul \u2013 and limiting waste. And it\u2019s about better planning and cross-agency cooperation, adapting to shared and dynamic space models, and using technology to operationalize the entire built environment to better control:<\/p>\n