Construction Management 498
Facility Life Cycle 2: Design and Construction
Introduction
What Completing This Course Will Do for You
In this course, you will study the second phase of facilities management, Design and Construction. The course covers design basics, cost estimates, building materials, project management, and construction administration. When you have completed this course, you will have learned about the phases of design; the budget process; characteristics of building materials; and requirements for different facility systems. You also will learn to identify project management issues, and will become familiar with the construction process and numerous construction-related issues such as bidding, contract documents, and site issues. In addition, you will learn about the people skills important for facilities managers, such as team building, establishing consensus, and resolving conflict.
Building Skills through Experience
The goal of this course is the development of practical skills. To gain these skills, you must learn basic concepts and terminology. For the most part, you'll get this information from the printed materials, the videos, and the online image gallery.
In this course, you also will have the opportunity to apply your knowledge to the real world. You will establish a relationship with a mentor, an experienced facilities manager, who will serve as a field guide to his or her facility. Through interviews with your mentor, you will be introduced to practical applications of the concepts you study in this course.
Throughout the course, your instructor will serve as your expert coach, giving you regular guidance and assistance, showing you the strengths and weaknesses of your work, and giving you feedback on the results expected of accomplished professional facilities managers. Needless to say, to get the most from this course, you must assume responsibility for completing the reading and viewing assignments on your own, regularly participating in online discussions, and completing the online quizzes.
Whether you already have some experience managing facilities or are new to the process, this course will help you increase your ability to identify facilities issues, resources, and alternatives. It also will help you develop or acquire the interpersonal skills needed to manage a facilities team. Finally, completing this course will give you a context for understanding facilities issues and processes so that you can successfully complete the UW Distance Learning Certificate Program in Facilities Management, if that is your goal.
Objectives
By the end of this course, you will be able to
- identify phases of the design process (Lesson One);
- identify factors in evaluating consultant candidates (Lesson One);
- identify effective techniques for giving and receiving feedback (Lesson One);
- understand the budget phases in a building project (Lesson Two);
- describe how working drawings are organized (Lesson Two);
- learn how to motivate team members (Lesson Two);
- discuss the properties and uses of particular building materials (Lesson Three);
- identify and describe the types of mechanical and electrical systems used in your (or your mentor's) company (Lesson Three);
- understand the causes of conflict, and how to use conflict to your advantage (Lesson Three);
- develop a project work breakdown structure (Lesson Four);
- describe project tracking and documentation systems and methods (Lesson Four);
- learn how to conduct meetings effectively (Lesson Four);
- describe how construction costs can be minimized (Lesson Five);
- identify the components of a well-written contract (Lesson Five); and
- learn to manage project changes effectively (Lesson Five).
Harborview Medical Center as a Design and Construction Model
In Facility Life Cycle 1, you reviewed case studies of Harborview Medical Center's (HMC) planning process. In this course, we will continue to use HMC as a model. A construction case study, a video depicting the facilities systems at HMC, and an extensive online gallery of photographs of HMC facilities will enhance your study of design and construction in this course.
How is this Course Organized?
Facility Life Cycle 2: Design and Construction, is composed of five lessons. Part I of the course guide contains Lessons One through Three; Part 2 contains Lessons Four and Five. As you go through the course, you will complete a required activity approximately once per week. See the online calendar for assignment due dates.
This course is designed to be completed in 16 weeks. Each lesson is designed to be completed in approximately three weeks.
What are the Minimum Technology Requirements?
- You will need a browser of version 5.0 or higher.
- If you are using America Online's browser, you will need to switch to Netscape or Microsoft Internet Explorer so that you can access the discussion forums.
- A Shockwave plug-in for the FLC 2 online images is recommended so that you can view the dynamic elements of the photographs. Directions for getting the plug-in follow .
You can download either one of these browsers free of charge. For Netscape, go to www.netscape.com; for Microsoft Internet Explorer, go to www.microsoft.com. Look for the download sites. If you have problems with the download, please call our Technical Support line at (206) 543-2350 or (800) 543-2320, option 4. Hours are 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. Monday through Friday, PST. You can leave a detailed voice message at any time.
Go to the course home page and click on the link to the online image gallery. Your browser will detect the Shockwave player if it's present on your computer. If it is not present, you will be prompted to download it—a button will appear that says "Get Shockwave. " Click on this button and follow the instructions. (The download takes place from the macromedia Web site: http://www.macromedia.com/)
What Do I Need to Do to Complete this Course?
To successfully complete this course, you must do the following:
- actively contribute to the online course discussion;
- complete reading assignments in the texts, the supplemental reader, and this course guide;
- complete the online quizzes;
- complete and submit all written assignments;
- view the Harborview Medical Center video and complete the online quiz;
- view the Designing for Accessibility video and complete your report; and
- view and complete assignments related to the online HVAC and electrical diagrams.
Actively Contribute to the Online Discussion Question Forum
In FLC 2, you'll continue to participate in the online discussion question forum. As with FLC 1, assignments for each lesson include one question that you must answer online. You will make at least one posting to the online discussion per lesson. Satisfactory completion—measured by one substantive response to each discussion question, or a thoughtful response to another student's posting—will result in a satisfactory participation grade for this segment of the course work. You will find due dates for your responses to the discussion questions in the online calendar.
In addition to discussing assigned topics in the discussion question forum, you can use the general discussion forum to share work experiences, thoughts on the readings, or ideas about other assignments.
You also should plan to communicate with your classmates via e-mail, telephone, and FAX.
Complete Reading Assignments in the Course Guide, Texts, and Supplemental Reader
For most of the lessons, readings are assigned from one or both of the texts and the supplemental reader. My commentaries in this course guide serve as an introduction to the topics covered in the texts. I recommend that you read the commentaries first, then the text readings. Follow up with the articles from the supplemental reader. These articles will enable you to solidify your understanding of the lesson's key concepts as you see how they are discussed in specific applications.
About the Texts
In FLC 2, you will continue to use Facility Management by Rondeau, et al. as one of the texts. In addition, you will be reading from a new text, Facilities Planning and Relocation, Volume I, by David Owen. This is an excellent text to add to your personal Facility Management library. While Rondeau focuses on the core competencies of the Facility Manager, Owen focuses on interior projects, from planning to implementation and post-occupancy evaluation.
You will find the concepts applied by Owen to interior projects transferable to many project types. It is interesting to compare Rondeau's and Owen's approaches to Facilities Management. The Owen text also will be used in FLC 3.
Complete the Online Quizzes
Each lesson of this course guide includes a required online quiz. The quizzes are designed to help you assess how well you understand the lesson material, including assigned readings and lesson commentary. After you complete each quiz, you will receive instant electronic feedback on your performance. Completion of the quizzes counts toward your course participation grade. You can link to the quizzes from the course home page.
Complete and Submit All Written Assignments
At the end of each lesson, you will complete at least one written assignment, which will be graded and returned to you. The assignments vary in length from one to four pages.
View Videotapes and Complete Related Assignments
You will watch two videotapes for this course. The first, titled Harborview Medical Center, deals with the facilities program at HMC. The video includes interviews with managers of the different facilities systems, and a tour of each system. You will complete an online quiz about this video, which will count toward your course participation grade.
The second video, Designing for Accessibility, will give you information about designing buildings and sites in compliance with the American for Disabilities Act. You will write a short report on this video, which will count as one of your written assignments.
View Harborview Image Gallery and Complete Related Assignments
For this course, an extensive online gallery of photographs depicting the Harborview facilities systems is available. Electrical, mechanical (vertical transportation, plumbing, and HVAC); site elements (foundation, underpinning, retaining wall, roofing, landscaping); as well as fire, lighting, and data communications systems are portrayed.
For some photographs, dynamic elements guide you to key elements of the systems. In addition, a set of CAD (computer-aided design) drawings enables you to see the lighting and power diagrams of the northwest wing at Harborview, which includes the trauma room. Details of the lighting and power systems in the trauma room can be seen by using zoom capabilities. You will complete a short written assignment based on the Harborview Image Gallery that will be graded and returned to you.
View the Online Diagrams [HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Cooling) and Electrical Diagrams] and Complete Related Assignments
The online diagrams aregeneral diagrams of HVAC and electrical systems. They are not related to Harborview Medical Center. (The diagrams were produced by Larry Crawford of Training Labs.) Clear explanations accompany the well-labeled diagrams. These materials are good visual tools that will help you understand the basics of HVAC and electrical systems.
You will be asked to view these diagrams in Lesson Three. You will revisit them in Lesson Five and complete a short written assignment that will be graded and returned to you.
The Lessons of this Course Guide
Each lesson in this course guide provides a list of key terms, a reading assignment (and in some cases, a viewing assignment), a list of objectives, my commentary, an online discussion question, an online quiz, and at least one writing assignment.
Key Terms
Each lesson includes a list of key terms to help you master the vocabulary of facilities management. These terms are intended to serve as guides to your study. You are expected to use them in your written work whenever possible.
Many of the key terms are defined in the lesson commentary. Whenever a key term is used or defined for the first time in the commentary, you will find a key term icon in the callout margin next to the sentence where the term appears. If you encounter a term or abbreviation that is not explicitly defined in the course guide, think about what other resources you can turn to in order to find the definition for this is precisely the way you will need to go about problem solving as a facilities manager.
Submitting Assignments
See your student handbook for instructions on submitting assignments by e-mail, regular mail, and FAX. I encourage you to submit your assignments by e-mail so you can get feedback from me as quickly as possible. With only three weeks to complete each lesson, assignment turnaround time can make an important difference. When you use e-mail to submit assignments, please include the assignment in the body of the e-mail, not as an attachment.
Please prepare your work neatly, and if you are submitting a hard copy, please double space and leave me room to write in the margins.
Evaluation
This course is one for which you will receive academic credit. All written assignments, including regular assignments for each lesson; those based on interviews with your mentor; the Harborview Image Gallery; the HVAC and electrical diagrams; as well as your report on the Designing for Accessibility video, will be graded. The required online discussion questions and online quizzes will count towards your course participation grade.
The Composition of Your Course Grade
Your written work contributes to your overall course grade according to the following percentages:
| Lesson 1 | 20% |
| Lesson 2 | 12% |
| Lesson 3 | 20% |
| Lesson 4 | 14% |
| Lesson 5 | 14% |
| Course participation grade | 20% |
| Total | 100% |
Which Writing Assignments Will Be Graded?
You will be graded on all writing assignments. These include:
- assignment(s) based on the readings for each lesson;
- a report based on interviews with your mentor;
- an assignment based on the Harborview Image Gallery;
- an assignment based on the HVAC and electrical diagrams;
- your report on the ADA video, Designing for Accessibility.
Please note: The report on the ADA video is not part of a lesson assignment. You can view the video at any time during the course. Check the online course calendar for the report due date.
What Makes up the Course Participation Grade?
These are the two components of your course participation grade:
- each of your postings to the required online discussion question; and
- your completion of the online quizzes, including the HMC video quiz.
Your course participation grade will reflect whether or not you (1) completed these activities and (2) demonstrated thoughtful application of course concepts to the discussion.
When Will I Receive my Course Participation Grade?
I will grade you twice on your course participation. You will receive the first grade after you have completed Lesson Three. This grade will reflect your participation in Lessons One, Two, and Three. You will receive your second grade after you complete Lesson Five. This grade will reflect your participation in Lessons Four and Five.
Time and Information Management
As with FLC 1, this course mirrors real-life facilities management in terms of the time allotted for accomplishing tasks and the amount of information you will encounter. This section gives you suggestions for managing your study time and for handling the quantities of information you will need to absorb and evaluate in this course.
Budget Time for Assignments
The information in this course is designed to give you a comprehensive overview of the issues and processes that are important to your facilities management career. Be sure to budget enough time each week to complete the reading assignments, and the viewing assignments when given. This will help you learn to assimilate and organize the quantities of information that will come your way—through a variety of media—as a facilities manager.
Reading Tips
Because facilities management is about information, you have a considerable amount of reading to do for this course. You should spend approximately three to five hours per lesson on the reading assignments. Use the lesson objectives and key terms as guides for what you should learn from the readings. As noted above, it will be to your benefit to read the commentaries first, then the assignments in Owen and Rondeau, and then the articles in the supplemental reader.
Continue Working on Your Facilities Management Resource Book
In the introduction to FLC 1, you were advised to start gathering and organizing information on facilities management—the material from this course, as well as articles and brochures on facilities-related subjects. Continue to add to your resource book throughout this course.
Recall that the developers of the UW Certificate Program in Facilities Management suggest that you organize your resource book in a three-ring binder with separately tabbed sections and extra pockets in the front and back for temporary storage of loose sheets. Gathering facilities information in this way will help you to integrate key concepts, terminology, and the knowledge of resources that you are learning about in this course. This organizational tool also will be an important resource book for your future employment in the facilities management field.
Enhance Your Professional Development: Additional Resources
As was recommended for FLC 1, make a point of regularly looking at professional journals, trade publications, and Web sites for facilities-related organizations and businesses. Consider joining a professional organization or listserv; doing so will add to your professional portfolio and keep you abreast of trends in the profession.
Resources
Being a facilities manager means knowing how to find and use resources that will help you solve a problem.
Primary Resources
These resources were mentioned in the FLC 1 course guide. Continue to use them in FLC 2. Additional resources for FLC 2 are listed below.
For Key Terms
- "Glossary of Facility Management Definitions and
Buzz Words on pp. 606–13 of Rondeau."
- Web site for the BOMI Institute:
http://www.bomi-edu.org/
Click on the menu selection titled "Master Glossary."
- Barron's Dictionary of Real Estate Terms, widely available in book stores.
For General Information on Facilities Management
- Web site for the BOMI Institute:
http://www.bomi-edu.org/:
The site includes a "quick quiz " that changes monthly. Test your knowledge of various facilities issues! Doing so will help you decide what to follow up on to meet your information needs.
- Facility Center at the Haworth Furniture site:
http://www.haworth.com
This site includes information on facilities planning and management, ergonomics, communications, and office trends, among other topics. - Web site for Steelcase, Inc.:
http://www.steelcase.com
Steelcase is a designer and manufacturer of office furnishings. This site includes information on technology, utilities, and redefining the workplace, among other topics. It also includes case studies and back issues of the company's publication The Knowledge Report.
Additional resources for FLC 2
- Web site for the Construction Specifications Institute
(CSI):
http://www.csinet.org/
- Web site for Webopedia, an encyclopedia of computer related
terms useful for the Networking section in Lesson Three:
http://www.pcwebopedia.com/
- Professional organizations that serve as resources for
the design process are listed in Lesson One.
- Web sites that pertain to cost estimates are listed in Lesson Two.
As you explore the Web and find useful sites related to Facilities Management, please post them to the general discussion forum for the benefit of other students.
Concept Maps
Review the information in the FLC 1 course guide about concept maps, and continue to use these tools as you study the material in FLC 2.
Study Tips
Before you begin your readings for FLC 2, look back over the study tips outlined in the FLC 1 course guide.
Use Your Student Handbook
When you registered for FLC 1, you received a copy of the UW Distance Learning student handbook. This handbook contains administrative information as well the requirements for completing the facilities life cycle courses. It also includes details on how to submit assignments, plan your time, use the UW libraries, and use electronic mail and the online course discussion tool. Please review the information in the handbook before you begin Lesson One of this course.
Use Technology to Ask Questions
If you have a question, consider posting it to the general discussion forum so that others will have a chance to learn from your question when I respond. I also encourage you to respond to others' questions when you have something to contribute.
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