Workshop
When oil and gas production began in the 19th century in North America, standards and regulations for the drilling and plugging of wells had not yet been developed. Over time, many of these and other wells were abandoned - unplugged, or not plugged to modern standards, and have sat idle for an extended, possibly unknown, period of time. These wells might not have been originally operated and maintained in accordance with existing statutes and regulations and, due to degradation over time and potential improper prior operations, they can emit methane, contaminate groundwater, and impact ecosystems, creating risks for both the environment and the public.
To explore and share the variety of existing procedures and standards for plugging orphaned and abandoned wells, including current best practices for well-plugging technologies, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a workshop on July 18-19, 2024. Sponsored by the Department of the Interior's Orphaned Wells Program Office, the workshop included members of the federal government, state leaders, tribal representatives, industry experts, and other affected parties. This proceedings summarizes the presentation and discussion of the workshop.
100 pages
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7 x 10
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paperback
ISBN Paperback: 0-309-72914-9
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-72915-7
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/28035
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Practices and Standards for Plugging Orphaned and Abandoned Hydrocarbon Wells: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Consensus
Building and operating cutting-edge, custom-designed research facilities presents unique challenges, where prior designs and experience may not be a reliable guide and unprecedented modes of failure can never be fully anticipated. In 2020, the National Science Foundation's telescope at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico collapsed, impacting the work of the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center. Failure Analysis of the Arecibo Observatory 305-Meter Telescope Collapse analyzes the causes of the collapse through extensive review of prior forensic investigations, information gathering from employees at Arecibo Observatory, study of relevant research, consultations with other experts, and examination of structural analyses, engineering plans, inspection reports, photographs, and repair proposals. This report presents lessons learned and makes recommendations to help ensure the safe operation of other unique, critical science facilities.
112 pages
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8.5 x 11
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paperback
ISBN Paperback: 0-309-70222-4
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-70223-2
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/26982
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Failure Analysis of the Arecibo Observatory 305-Meter Telescope Collapse. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Workshop
The National Academies Board on Mathematical Sciences and Analytics and Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment convened a 3-day public workshop on July 13, 20, and 27, 2022, to explore state-of-the-art analytical tools that could advance urban sustainability through improved prioritization of public works projects. Invited speakers included people working in urban sustainability, city planning, local public and private infrastructure, asset management, and infrastructure investment; city officials and utility officials; and statisticians, data scientists, mathematicians, economists, computer scientists, and artificial intelligence/machine learning experts. Presentations and workshop discussions provided insights into new research areas that have the potential to advance urban sustainability in public works planning, as well as the barriers to their adoption. This publication summarizes the presentation and discussion of the workshop.
140 pages
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6 x 9
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paperback
ISBN Paperback: 0-309-70071-X
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-70072-8
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/26905
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Enhancing Urban Sustainability Infrastructure: Mathematical Approaches for Optimizing Investments: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Cybersecurity for Level 0 and Level 1 devices - which include sensors, the Industrial Internet of Things, and operate on a time scales ranging from milliseconds to seconds - is underdeveloped. This Federal Facilities Council white paper addresses changes to improve cybersecurity, productivity, process safety, predictive maintenance, and resilience, while also breaking down cultural and organizational barriers.
This is not a publication of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The views expressed in this publication are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
72 pages
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8.5 x 11
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ISBN Ebook: 0-309-29552-1
National Research Council. 2023. Challenges in Federal Facility Control System Cyber Security, Including Level 0 and 1 Devices. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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The United States real property portfolio is critical infrastructure that provides places and means for the federal government to operate and generate the products, services, security, and assurances that contribute to national prosperity and values. This report identifies broad-based, practical, and compelling strategies for securing continuing investment in the renewal of federal real properties and portfolios. Strategies to Renew Federal Facilities focuses on the how- not the what - for adapting, repurposing, restoring, recapitalizing, and replacing real property assets.
244 pages
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6 x 9
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paperback
ISBN Paperback: 0-309-69686-0
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-69687-9
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/26806
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Strategies to Renew Federal Facilities. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) provides critical impact to the nation through standards development and cutting-edge research, with a mission to promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards, and technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve quality of life. NIST supports innovative manufacturing that impacts the U.S. economy and national security. The NIST mission is accomplished primarily at its campuses in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and Boulder, Colorado.
At the request of NIST, Technical Assessment of the Capital Facility Needs of the National Institute of Standards and Technology assesses the comprehensive capital needs of the NIST campuses. This report evaluates current strategies and tools for capital facilities assessment, and methods for determining annual funding levels for sustainment, restoration, and modernization. The report makes recommendations for facility management strategies that will provide the functionality needed by world-class scientists on vital assignments of national consequence.
178 pages
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8.5 x 11
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paperback
ISBN Paperback: 0-309-69260-1
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-69261-X
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/26684
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Technical Assessment of the Capital Facility Needs of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM) was established by Congress in 1989 to remediate waste and environmental contamination that have resulted from nuclear weapons production and related activities. It has expended almost $200 billion on cleanup and related activities since its establishment and completed cleanup at all but 15 of the more than 100 sites.
At the request of Congress, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine formed a committee to provide advice on enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of DOE-EM cleanup activities, particularly with respect to project management, contracting, and oversight practices. These recommendations were provided in two reports. The first report, Review of Effectiveness and Efficiency of Defense Environmental Cleanup Activities of DOE's Office of Environmental Management: Report 1, considered overall project management practices, project management metrics and outcomes, and contract structures and performance measures. This second report focuses on specific DOE-EM sites to assess how effective the management of the numerous projects at the sites is contributing to the wider programmatic objectives of DOE-EM.
96 pages
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6 x 9
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paperback
ISBN Paperback: 0-309-69002-1
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-69003-X
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/26610
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Effectiveness and Efficiency of Defense Environmental Cleanup Activities of the Department of Energy's Office of Environmental Management: Report 2. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Workshop_in_brief
The expanding connectivity of operational technologies (OT) increases the vulnerability of facilities to cyber attacks. Many of these technologies were not designed for a "smart" environment and are thus unsecure. Furthermore, these devices often continue to be overlooked when considering overall building security, which can lead to significant losses. On August 10, 2021, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's Federal Facilities Council convened a virtual workshop to discuss OT security within facilities. Workshop panelists and participants explored existing vulnerabilities, new legislation and guidance, the convergence of cyber and physical security, and strategies to mitigate risk. This publication summarizes the presentation and discussion of the workshop.
10 pages
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8.5 x 11
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ISBN Ebook: 0-309-27037-5
National Research Council. 2021. The Gates Are Open: Control System Cyber-Physical Security for Facilities: Proceedings of a Federal Facilities Council Workshop—in Brief. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issues standards regulations for energy conservation pursuant to the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975, as amended, and other authorities. These standards regulations apply to certain consumer products and commercial and industrial equipment. These can include air conditioning and heating systems, washing machines, and commercial refrigeration, among numerous other examples. DOE issues standards regulations by rulemaking and includes quantitative maximum water and energy use or minimum energy conservation standards. There are currently standards regulations for more than 70 product classes (i.e., a specific type of consumer product or commercial or industrial equipment). This report reviews the assumptions, models, and methodologies that DOE uses in setting the quantitative portion of the standards regulations following the Office of Management and Budget's guidance on the use of scientific information. Review of Methods Used by the U.S. Department of Energy in Setting Appliance and Equipment Standards makes findings and recommendations on how DOE can improve its analyses and align its regulatory analyses with best practices for cost-benefit analysis.
142 pages
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8.5 x 11
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paperback
ISBN Paperback: 0-309-68545-1
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-68546-X
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/25992
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. Review of Methods Used by the U.S. Department of Energy in Setting Appliance and Equipment Standards. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Workshop_in_brief
On June 21-22, 2021, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a virtual workshop on behalf of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). This was the final in a series of workshops undertaken as part of a consensus study to prepare a resource planning and staffing methodology for VHA Facility Management (Engineering) Programs. In its consensus study report, the committee determined that the implementation of a staffing methodology is necessary for the VHA - both in response to congressional mandates for workforce projections and for the purpose of making better, data-informed staffing decisions; thus, the VHA began to develop an engineering staffing tool. The purpose of this workshop was to provide an update on the current status of and future opportunities for the VHA staffing tool, examine benchmarking for facilities, and discuss implementation. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussion of the workshop.
9 pages
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8.5 x 11
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ISBN Ebook: 0-309-09335-X
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/26300
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. Testing and Validating the Staffing Methodology for the Veterans Health Administration: Proceedings of a Workshop—in Brief. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and its predecessor agencies have conducted activities to develop atomic energy for civilian and defense purposes since the initiation of the World War II Manhattan Project in 1942. These activities took place at large federal land reservations of hundreds of square miles involving industrial-scale operations, but also at many smaller federal and non-federal sites such as uranium mines, materials processing and manufacturing facilities. The nuclear weapons and energy production activities at these facilities produced large quantities of radioactive and hazardous wastes and resulted in widespread groundwater and soil contamination at these sites. DOE initiated a concerted effort to clean up these sites beginning in the 1980s. Many of these sites have been remediated and are in long-term caretaker status, closed or repurposed for other uses.
Review of the Effectiveness and Efficiency of Defense Environmental Cleanup Activities of the Department of Energy's Office of Environmental Management: First Report provides background information on the sites currently assigned to the DOE's Office of Environmental Management that are undergoing cleanup; discusses current practices for management and oversight of the cleanups; offers findings and recommendations on such practices and how progress is measured against them; and considers the contracts under which the cleanups proceed and how these have been and can be structured to include incentives for improved cost and schedule performance.
158 pages
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6 x 9
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paperback
ISBN Paperback: 0-309-68576-1
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-68577-X
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/26000
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. Effectiveness and Efficiency of Defense Environmental Cleanup Activities of DOE's Office of Environmental Management: Report 1. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is America's largest integrated health care system, providing care at 1,243 health care facilities, including 172 medical centers and 1,063 outpatient sites of care of varying complexity, serving 9 million enrolled Veterans each year. In addition, VHA has opened outpatient clinics and established telemedicine and other services to accommodate a diverse veteran population and continues to cultivate ongoing medical research and innovation. Facilities specific to VHA fulfill clinical, operational, research laboratory, and administrative functions. Each site is designed to serve a geographical location with specific health care needs. VHA's building inventory has sites of different ages, and often there is a mix of building size and age at each site or campus.
At the request of the VHA, this study presents a comprehensive resource planning and staffing methodology guidebook for VHA Facility Management Programs by reviewing the tasks of VHA building facilities staff and recommending actions for the VHA to meet the mission goals of delivering patient care, research, and effective operations.
136 pages
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8.5 x 11
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paperback
ISBN Paperback: 0-309-49291-2
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-49292-0
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/25454
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Facilities Staffing Requirements for the Veterans Health Administration—Resource Planning and Methodology for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. Founded in the late 1870s, NIH has produced extraordinary advances in the treatment of common and rare diseases and leads the world in biomedical research. It is a critical national resource that plays an important role in supporting national security.
The 310-acre Bethesda campus supports some 20,000 employees and contractors, and it contains more than 12 million square feet of facilities divided amongst nearly 100 buildings, including the largest dedicated research hospital in the world. The Bethesda campus supports some of the most sophisticated and groundbreaking biomedical research in the world. However, while some new state-of-the-art buildings have been constructed in recent years, essential maintenance for many facilities and the campus overall has been consistently deferred for many years. The deteriorating condition of NIH's built environment is now putting its ability to fulfill its mission at substantial risk.
Managing the NIH Bethesda Campus's Capital Assets for Success in a Highly Competitive Global Biomedical Research Environment identifies the facilities in greatest need of repair on the Bethesda campus and evaluates cost estimates to determine what investment is needed for the NIH to successfully accomplish its mission going forward.
180 pages
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8.5 x 11
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paperback
ISBN Paperback: 0-309-49436-2
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-49437-0
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/25483
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2019. Managing the NIH Bethesda Campus Capital Assets for Success in a Highly Competitive Global Biomedical Research Environment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Interim
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine was tasked by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to prepare a comprehensive resource planning and staffing methodology guidebook for VHA Facility Management (Engineering) Programs. The resource and staffing methodology must take into account all significant parameters and variables involved in the VHA Engineering Programs. The methodology should yield customized outputs based on site-specific input data, to enable specification of the optimal budget and staffing levels for each site.
Currently, the VHA does not utilize a staffing model for defining its facilities workforce. Each medical center defines its required facilities staffing. This interim report focuses on the types, availability, usage, and limitations of models in the staffing processes.
48 pages
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8.5 x 11
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ISBN Ebook: 0-309-49300-5
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/25455
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2019. Facilities Staffing Requirements for the Veterans Health Administration—Resource Planning and Methodology for the Future: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Workshop_in_brief
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a workshop on May 8-9, 2019, to gather data on performance management and financing associated with the complex and diverse physical plants that support a wide variety of Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facilities. This workshop was the fourth in a series undertaken to assist the larger effort by an ad hoc committee of the National Academies for the Veterans Administration to prepare a resource planning and staffing methodology guidebook for VHA Facility Management (Engineering) Programs. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.
12 pages
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8.5 x 11
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ISBN Ebook: 0-309-49285-8
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/25451
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2019. Performance Management and Financing of Facility Engineering Programs at the Veterans Health Administration: Proceedings of a Workshop—in Brief. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Workshop
In January 2019, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened the 2-day Workshop on Resourcing, Workforce Modeling, and Staffing. This workshop is one of several data-gathering sessions to support the committee's iterative study. The overarching goal of the study is to help the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) assess the overall resource needs of its Facilities Management Program and to develop budget and staffing methodologies. Such methodologies can provide better justification for ensuring that local VHA programs are adequately and consistently staffed to accomplish the mission and meet all requirements. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.
70 pages
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8.5 x 11
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paperback
ISBN Paperback: 0-309-49307-2
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-49308-0
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/25456
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2019. Facilities Staffing Requirements for the Veterans Health Administration—Resourcing, Workforce Modeling, and Staffing: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Workshop_in_brief
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a workshop on February 19-20, 2019. The purpose of this 2-day workshop was to explore the tools, techniques, and models being used by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and other organizations both within and outside the federal government for facilities asset and data management, capital planning, and project management relevant to Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals, and in particular the staffing challenges relative to those functions. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.
11 pages
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8.5 x 11
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ISBN Ebook: 0-309-49287-4
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/25453
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2019. Facilities Staffing Requirements for the Veterans Health Administration–Capital Asset Inventory Database Management and Strategic Capital: Proceedings of a Workshop—in Brief. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Workshop_in_brief
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a workshop on March 5-6, 2019, to explore staffing considerations for engineering administration at the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Workshop speakers shared information about (1) data and data management, (2) contracting strategies, and (3) perspectives on challenges and expectations at various VHA facilities. This Proceedings of a Workshop—in Brief summarizes the presentations and discussions that took place during the workshop.
12 pages
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8.5 x 11
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ISBN Ebook: 0-309-49284-X
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/25450
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2019. Facilities Staffing Requirements for the Veterans Health Administration–Engineering Administration: Proceedings of a Workshop—in Brief. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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