With insight into current building condition and costs, it’s also helpful to have access to data on demographics and function in order to prioritize projects. The most successful prioritization is based on organizational objectives as well as an understanding of the relative importance of assets, the functionality of the buildings, and demographics that may impact use. For example, most schools have certain buildings in the portfolio that are strategically critical with a high level of permanence. They serve a specific and highly necessary function, even as the student population is growing. These buildings are essentially irreplaceable and a low FCI (Deferred Maintenance Cost ÷ Replacement Value of the Asset) is important. The strategy for such critical buildings may be to invest to improve – renewing systems proactively, providing redundancy, ensuring regulatory compliance, and addressing deferred maintenance.
On the other hand, many buildings in the portfolio may be operationally redundant, subject to frequent mission change, and easy to replace. They may no longer be serving the purpose for which they were built and may or may not be a candidate for re-purposing. Demographic analysis for the population that uses these buildings may show a decline in future use or a change in who is using them. Depending on what the analysis shows, the strategy for these less vital assets may be to reduce O&M costs, maintaining only critical systems for business continuity, making no long-term investments, and positioning them for short-term disposition or alternate use.
