Facility Planning: Aligning short, mid-, and long-term business plans
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For facility managers, long-term planning may be as long as 20 years in the institutional world or as far-sighted as 10 years in the commercial field depending on the next fiscal downturn, acquisition or merger. Regardless of the cycle, aligning the facility plan with the company business plan is critical to meet the demands of human resources, sales and marketing, research, manufacturing, and of course, finance. With the additional factors of aging equipment, finishes and envelope, a master plan can provide the roadmap for implementing replacement, modifications and upgrades to support the corporate mission, all while these facilities remain online.
SSM recently completed a Mission Critical Facility Master Plan Update outlining the steps and costs to bring a 300,000 sf office and level 3/3+ data center hotel from its present condition based on circa 2005 watt densities to newly established goals. Having performed the existing conditions assessment, the team evaluated and recommended approaches to achieve the company’s goals maintaining operation of the site and service to its tenants. The effort considered use of floor space, central utility capacities, infrastructure, equipment End of Life (EoL) replacement, and changes in requirements and guidelines for critical data centers. The deliverable provided a phased approach for upgrading the facility’s power distribution, emergency standby power, UPS power distribution, and expansion and upgrading of the central chilled water plant and distribution system. A timeline was established inter-relating the EoL replacement of equipment, increase in power source capacity and distribution, and central cooling capacity and distribution so that growth and modifications were undertaken in steps that were coordinated and manageable. A timeline was established inter-relating the EoL replacement of equipment, increase in power source capacity and distribution, and central cooling capacity and distribution so that growth and modifications were undertaken in steps that were coordinated and manageable.
Goals were established that reflected immediate (plans on the books), short term (full fitout at probable densities) and long term (densities thought reasonably achievable within 20 years). The conditions assessment information was used to define the modifications that would be necessary to support those projects to be constructed in the immediate future and develop the timeline and phasing to support the increased watt density and increasing occupancy of the facility established with the client. A long range plan was also developed outlining the steps necessary to support the 20 year vision.
Making significant modifications to any facility is challenging. Making modifications to a facility that must remain on line with redundant capabilities and providing for growth at the same time extremely challenging. Further adding to the complexity of the development of the plan was the client’s commitment to EoL replacement of aging equipment to assure up time. The plan was developed overlaying the timelines for EoL replacement of equipment with the timeline for growth and timeline for system/infrastructure expansion to produce one master timeline to achieve the desired goals.