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Suggested Citation:"Summary." 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. doi: 10.17226/26684.
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Summary

NIST—A NATIONAL TREASURE

For more than a century, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has provided a crucial role for the United States as enumerated in its mission, “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 carries out its mission with core competencies in measurement science and traceability, and by supporting documentary standards that enhance commerce and innovation. NIST has also enhanced importance to the United States’ competitiveness in the global marketplace with the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 funding. Building and maintaining world-class1 facilities is important to meet these national goals. Chapter 2 details this overview of NIST and is condensed below.

NIST has an extraordinary record of success and contributions to the quality of life and the advancement of industry in the United States. Its programs span and impact all aspects of our national life and commercial activity; from home safety to manufacturing competitiveness, from pharmaceuticals to nuclear security, from election integrity to crypto-security, from baby food safety to natural disaster resilience, and from computer chips to infrastructure. One example of NIST’s critical role is its Internet-time services, which receive over 40 billion requests per day, serving over 300 million unique devices by time-stamping financial transactions and computer cloud services. Another is creating the analysis method for biopharmaceutical manufacturing of rapid tests during the COVID-19 pandemic. NIST has accomplished its remarkable successes despite drastic underinvestment in its facilities. But this shortfall is now affecting its productivity and standing among other world-class facilities around the globe, as well as recruitment and retention of top talent.

NIST has its headquarters in Gaithersburg, Maryland, with complementary laboratories in Boulder, Colorado. It also has two other small facilities, which are not the subject of this report. Organizationally, NIST has three operating units: laboratory programs, management support services, and an innovation and industry services directorate. The laboratory programs carry out NIST research in six separate laboratories:

  • Center for Neutron Research
  • Communications Technology Laboratory
  • Engineering Laboratory

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1 This report uses “world-class” in the sense of being among the best in the world.

Suggested Citation:"Summary." 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. doi: 10.17226/26684.
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  • Information Technology Laboratory
  • Material Measurement Laboratory
  • Physical Measurement Laboratory

Extramural programs of NIST are the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership, supporting small and mid-size manufacturers, the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program, which administers the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, and the Office of Advanced Manufacturing, which coordinates a network of 16 public–private institutes funded by the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy, in addition to NIST.

NIST had an appropriated budget in 2022 of $1.2 billion. NIST also performs some work under contract for other federal agencies and performs some services, such as calibrations, for which it charges fees. Overall, NIST supports about 3,500 federal employees, as well as about an equal number of associates, such as contractors, postdoctoral fellows, and guest researchers. In terms of economic impact to the country, an external assessment of the economic effect of 16 NIST programs conducted between 2000 and 2011 showed a median benefit-cost ratio of 9, with the least being 4.

The 2022 to 2026 strategic plan for the Department of Commerce (DOC) assigns NIST as the lead agency for three strategic objectives: (1) revitalize U.S. manufacturing and strengthen domestic supply chains; (2) accelerate the development, commercialization, and deployment of critical and emerging technologies; and (3) improve the nation’s cybersecurity and protect federal government networks.

This report has particular focus on the NIST Office of Facilities and Property Management (OFPM), which has responsibility for the construction, renovation, repair, and upkeep of all NIST facilities. OFPM is specifically responsible for the safety, capacity, maintenance, and major repairs (SCMMR) through direct appropriation from Congress.

EXISTING FACILITIES—ISSUES AND IMPACTS

In Chapter 3, the existing facilities of the Gaithersburg and Boulder campuses are discussed, including their current issues and impacts. For 20 years, NIST’s Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology (VCAT) has annually affirmed to Congress that NIST has an outsized impact on the nation’s economy, national security, and quality of life; that NIST’s work is essential to helping the nation overcome grim economic and security challenges; and that NIST’s potential to help the nation is drastically hindered by the “alarming” and “critical” state of funding for the sustainment, restoration, and modernization of NIST’s facilities. Since 2002, VCAT has consistently and unequivocally reported that the root cause of NIST’s progressive facilities decline is grossly inadequate funding; and that the nation’s well-being depends on Congress’ renewed commitment to invest in the sustainment, restoration, and modernization of NIST’s facilities.

Acting on congressional direction, NIST commissioned a committee of the National Academies consisting of a dozen members of diverse backgrounds to assess NIST’s current capital needs and make recommendations. The study opened with briefings by NIST and evaluation of NIST-prepared project documents and cost estimates, particularly identifying whether there were deficient NIST facilities impacting the mission. The committee evaluated NIST’s current strategies and tools for capital facilities assessment, and NIST’s methods for determining annual funding levels for sustainment, restoration, and modernization. It quickly became apparent that many laboratories are not able to consistently provide an effective environment for devoted scientists and sensitive equipment working at the frontiers of science. Frequent and lasting facility lapses routinely wreak havoc with researcher productivity and national needs. Indeed, when the Gaithersburg and Boulder campuses are considered together, 63 percent of the research facilities and 69 percent of the non-research facilities fail to meet the DOC-established facility condition index/condition index standard for acceptable building condition. For at least the past 5 years the NIST Enterprise Risk Management Office has ranked the condition of NIST’s facilities as the number one risk to NIST’s mission.

Suggested Citation:"Summary." 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. doi: 10.17226/26684.
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The two NIST campuses comprise a total of almost 5 million gross square feet (GSF).2 About 80 percent of the building space on both campuses consists of laboratories. The NIST OFPM computes the facility condition index of all facilities but uses a system that is different from the standard federal agency approach. The committee found the NIST system acceptable, in which backlog projects are included as part of its calculation. In this manner it is possible to explicitly incorporate functional deficiencies related to safety, environmental, and accessibility requirements. This approach, however, still does not fully capture inadequacies of the facilities for the purposes for which they are currently used. A substantial number of facilities, in particular the general purpose laboratories, have functional deficiencies in meeting their environmental requirements for temperature and humidity, and of electrical systems for stability, interruptability, and for life safety. Most of the older laboratories that have not been renovated fail to provide the functionality needed by world-class scientists on vital assignments of national consequence. The committee concluded that these deficient functionalities of NIST’s facilities constitute a major threat to its mission performance and thereby, to our nation’s economy, national security, and quality of life. The following is a list of observed issues:

  • Substantive delays in key national security deliverables due to inadequate facility performance.
  • Substantive delays in national technology priorities such as quantum science, engineering, biology, advanced manufacturing, and core measurement sciences research.
  • Inability to advance research related to national technology priorities.
  • Material delays in NIST measurement service provisions to U.S. industry customers.
  • Serious damage or complete destruction of highly specialized and costly equipment, concomitant with erosion of technical staff productivity.

Efficiency losses reported to the committee from staff ranged from 10 to 40 percent, with typical reported values of 20 percent.

The committee’s site visits, interaction with laboratory personnel, and presentation information led to the conclusion that for the most part the research facilities are not suitable to the measurement science research that is the essence of NIST’s mission. Many of the laboratories, even if refurbished to original performance specifications, would not be suitable to meet the 21st century demands of metrology. Two examples are given below to show the kind of situation NIST is increasingly facing.

The quantum sensor laboratory in Boulder has developed unique superconducting X-ray and gamma ray spectrometers for materials analysis and telescope arrays. NIST provides these devices to U.S. government agencies for security applications in nuclear materials identification. While the sensor arrays are fabricated in a clean room, wiring and packaging occurs in space that has not been renovated and is without humidity or dust control. Deliveries to Idaho National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory were repeatedly delayed with the delays traced to low humidity during packaging.

A demonstration project for quantum entanglement of microresonators (awarded the 2021 Physics World Breakthrough of the Year) was delayed 18 months until a suitable renovated laboratory could be located, a delay in a critical advance in the global race for quantum science superiority.

Other examples cited in the report include the inability to perform critical measurements in biotechnology and the closure of a project in quantum information science, both due to unstable room temperatures and humidity, and the loss due to flooding of the Kibble balance that was instrumental in the redefinition of the unit of mass for the International System of Units (SI). Unstable environmental conditions also caused delays in Standard Reference Material for infant formula, greenhouse gases for regulation by the Environmental Protection Agency, fiber optic power meter calibration, and liquefied natural gas.

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2 Gross square feet is the area of all floors on all levels of a building as determined using an industry standard such as ANSI/BOMA Z65.3-20096, Gross Area of a Building or IFMA/ASTM E1836-01, Standard Classification for Building Floor Area Measurements for Facility Management.

Suggested Citation:"Summary." 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. doi: 10.17226/26684.
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The committee’s investigations have found that facility issues are preventing NIST from achieving its mission, that valuable researcher time is being wasted due to inadequate facilities, and that in many cases NIST facilities are no longer world class. This led to the committee’s first recommendation:

Recommendation 3-1: NIST should modernize laboratory facilities to provide the performance needed to meet the measurement science and mission-focused research and development challenges for today and the future, and to attract and retain the scientists and engineers required to solve these challenges. Current conditions and functionality are adversely impacting NIST’s current mission, and modernization is well overdue and desperately needed.

While the focus of the discussion up to this point has been on physical condition and functionality within the laboratories, the campus infrastructure is equally important and problematic. The central utility plant (CUP) at Gaithersburg is not able to provide backup generators for laboratory operations (although they do for operations of the CUP itself) because they have aging direct-bury distribution lines, have many water leaks causing a loss of some 50,000 to 70,000 gallons per day in the water and steam supply, and leading OFPM to expect that the State of Maryland will issue a Notice of Violation for chemical and temperature issues in this surface water stream. As a result, the entire system was shut down for several weeks in the summer of 2022. The CUPs at both sites were found to have no reserve capacity, be in possible violation of Executive Order s (e.g., 12902 and 13327), and have caused building leaks and foundation failures. All of this is severely impacting NIST’s ability to meet its mission. With respect to electrical power, both sites are affected by intermittent power outages (in Boulder these occur about once a month, and in Gaithersburg the entire system was off-line for 1 month).

These infrastructure observations and concerns led to the committee’s second recommendation:

Recommendation 3-2: NIST should address the underlying deficiencies with campus infrastructure including the CUPs, distribution systems, and electrical power quality and continuity to ensure that the modernization plan investment is effective. If not developed in conjunction with laboratory modernization, the requirements of the new laboratories will not be met.

PRACTICES FOR SUSTAINMENT, RESTORATION, AND MODERNIZATION OF EXISTING FACILITIES

Care of existing facilities includes operation, sustainment, restoration and modernization. The practices for these functions for the existing facilities, known as facilities sustainment, restoration, and modernization (FSRM), are discussed in Chapter 4. Funding for operations comes from an internal NIST tax on expenditures for scientific and technical research services and other NIST activities. Funding for facilities sustainment, restoration and modernization comes from a single government appropriation of two general categories, the previously mentioned SCMMR, and construction and major renovations (CMR). SCMMR and CMR expenditures are planned, programmed, budgeted, and executed by the OFPM. The committee found some inconsistencies in the assignment of expenditures to the various categories, and the use of some NIST-only terms, such as Construction of Research Facilities (CRF).

The committee examined internal practices of OFPM to determine whether it has contributed to the serious problem of underfunding mentioned previously. It found no evidence that this was the case. OFPM uses good practices for planning, programming and budgeting SCMMR and CMR funds. There is always room for improvement, and an appendix in the report lists best practices for OFPM consideration. Key among these is the presentation of budget requests to senior leaders within NIST, at DOC, and at the congressional level. Communication should include the impact on NIST’s mission of the continued underfunding of SCMMR and CMR requirements.

The committee identified two different categories of increased funding needed for CRF:

  • Increased CMR funding to recover from significant mission impairment and to expand the physical size and capability of NIST’s facilities portfolio to accommodate the growth of staff and of the research program.
Suggested Citation:"Summary." 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. doi: 10.17226/26684.
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  • Increased annual SCMMR funding to sustain existing facilities and return equipment that is aged, damaged, or obsolete (or all three) to fitness for current use and to prevent further growth of the backlog.

The NIST VCAT was established by federal law in 1988. It reviews and makes recommendations regarding general policy for NIST, including organization, budget, and programs. For the past 20 years its annual report to Congress has warned about the poor and worsening physical condition and functionality of NIST’s facilities, and the impact on its mission. The 2002 report used the terms “alarming” and “critical” when characterizing facility funding, and the 2020 report stated, “NIST’s ability to maintain and modernize its facilities has been stymied by … inefficient federal procurement processes and an unstable and unpredictable funding stream.”3 That report goes on to say that unless NIST’s goal of annual base funding of $160-$180 million for construction and renovation is realized, there will be a complete degradation of the ability of NIST to support its research and development mission. The 2021 VCAT report uses the terms “crumbling” to describe NIST’s infrastructure.

Over these same 20 years NIST has had to cover more of its facility operations from its internal tax on NIST spending and allocate more of the SCMMR funds to sustainment rather than restoration and modernization. Accounting for inflation, current SCMMR funding is significantly less than it was in 2002 when VCAT referred to the facility funding as “inadequate.” In addition, OFPM is now responsible for the IT infrastructure, which has its own significant level of deferred maintenance.

The committee believes that the solution to NIST’s unsatisfactory existing facilities situation requires immediate, top-down attention and resolute action by leaders of NIST, DOC, and Congress. Past budget requests submitted by the President to Congress have sought funding for only a fraction of the needs of OFPM. The situation also requires continued efforts at communicating the needs and mission risks of not meeting those needs up from OFPM.

NIST’s poor and worsening facility situation will continue to prevent its world-class scientists from realizing NIST’s full potential, to the detriment of the nation’s security and economic competitiveness. This conclusion led to the following two recommendations:

Recommendation 4-1: NIST and DOC leadership should ensure that the leadership of DOC, OMB, the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), and the House and Senate Appropriations Committees are fully aware of NIST’s facility needs and the national consequences of not meeting those needs. So that OMB, OSTP, and Congress can fully support NIST in recovering from its unsatisfactory facility situation, NIST and DOC should also consider:

  • Establishing practices that prevent or fully mitigate the diversion of appropriated NIST CRF funds to non-NIST organizations and to other non-FSRM purposes within NIST—for example, institutional support taxation for CRF spending and the burdensome insertion of IT network requirements into the CRF budget.
  • Requiring semi-annual follow-up verification and accountability from NIST to ensure that adequate funding is provided and implemented for annual sustainment, restoration, and modernization requirements, and that increased annual investments in CRF backlog reduction and FSRM of NIST’s existing facilities are spent as intended and their return optimized to meet the nation’s economic and security challenges.

Recommendation 4-2: NIST should more effectively communicate the impacts on taxpayers and consumers of higher or lower appropriations of CRF funding. To make its CRF budget justifications and other communications more compelling and accurate, greater input and collaboration is necessary from NIST scientists, facilities officials, and budget and communications staff, working together with OFPM.

NIST has a plan to arrest, stabilize, and recover from NIST’s mission impairment and the injurious national consequences due to chronic, subpar facility performance. This report, with OFPM concurrence, refers to the plan

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3 Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, U.S. Department of Commerce, 2020, “Annual Report,” https://www.nist.gov/system/files/documents/2021/05/12/2020%20Annual%20Report%20for%20website.pdf, p. 12.

Suggested Citation:"Summary." 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. doi: 10.17226/26684.
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as the “OFPM Draft Coordinated Recovery Plan,” which comprises two coordinated sub-plans: the “OFPM Draft Recovery Sub-Plan for Recapitalization (CMR-funded),” and the “OFPM Draft Recovery Sub-Plan for Stabilization (SCMMR-funded).” The committee understands that the OFPM Draft Coordinated Recovery Plan is a work in progress and subject to change.

The OFPM Draft Coordinated Recovery Plan began to take shape in October 2020, when NIST concluded its most recent routine updating of its traditional facilities master planning by formally submitting to Congress the congressionally mandated NIST 2020 Integrated Master Plans Implementation Report. This report called for spending $2 billion over 26 to 33 years on 22 projects drawn from NIST’s 2017 to 2018 Gaithersburg and Boulder Master Plans.

OFPM Draft Recovery Sub-Plan for Recapitalization (CMR-funded)

In April 2021, DOC directed NIST to develop a broader and more ambitious plan than existed at that time. Consequently, the “Draft 2022 Infrastructure Plan” was created. The new plan consists of 30 candidate projects and annual CMR investments of $300-$400 million (2022 dollars) over 12 years for a total CMR investment of $5.125 billion (2022 dollars). The Draft 2022 Infrastructure Plan is partially based on NIST’s approved master plans, but drawn mostly from a separate, pioneering study conducted by NIST during 2021 to 2022. NIST has designated the Draft 2022 Infrastructure Plan to serve as the OFPM Draft Recovery Sub-Plan for Recapitalization (CMR-funded).

NIST’s Research Building Modernization Program created the Draft 2022 Infrastructure Plan independently of NIST’s traditional master planning practices, which had been historically performed by a two-person, OFPM master planning staff with contract architect and engineer support. Responding to DOC’s direction, NIST mobilized an innovative planning process involving a year-long, orchestrated effort of over 300 scientists and facility experts starting with a blank canvas and creating a breakthrough, 25-year vision and the 12 plus year, 30-project Draft 2022 Infrastructure Plan. Candidate projects from the 2020 Integrated Master Plans Implementation Report were included in the new Draft 2022 Infrastructure Plan, but former project scopes, rankings, phasing, and cost estimates were changed due to the significant, year-long study deliberations.

NIST’s senior leadership met in late 2022 to discuss the Draft 2022 Infrastructure Plan. The ultimate decision setting the path forward will be made by the NIST Director and communicated to Congress in the same manner that the now obsolete 2020 Integrated Master Plans Implementation Report was submitted to Congress almost 2 years ago.

OFPM Draft Recovery Sub-Plan for Stabilization (SCMMR-funded)

The second component of NIST’s Draft Coordinated Recovery Plan is “OFPM’s Draft Recovery Sub-Plan for Stabilization (SCMMR-funded).” The Sub-Plan for Stabilization proposes at least 12 years of $120-$150 million annual sustainable SCMMR funding. Its purpose is to arrest and stabilize the effects of further physical deterioration and functional obsolescence and prevent new backlogs of deferred FSRM funding requirements. The Sub-Plan for Stabilization includes SCMMR funding for annual routine maintenance and repair of existing facilities while those facilities await their turn for recapitalization action, if planned. The Sub-Plan for Stabilization also includes SCMMR funding to meet anticipated annual requirements for “band-aid” restoration and modernization work.

OFPM’s Draft Coordinated Recovery Plan identifies the annual CMR and SCMMR funding requirements for making existing NIST facilities fit for use by 2033. This report calls it a “coordinated” report to signify the necessary, managed relationship between amounts of annual CMR and SCMMR funding requirements over time. OFPM’s vision is to improve facilities conditions and functionality while at the same time funding its major modernization program. It has proposed this two-pronged, coordinated approach to funding because experience shows that allocated annual funding addresses only deferred maintenance or only expansion or renovation work, but not both. A balanced, two-prong approach to sustaining facilities while updating them to modern research standards is vital. OFPM has learned that not having such a balanced approach only invites failure in the end.

The committee supports and conditionally endorses the OFPM Draft Coordinated Recovery Plan. The committee believes this plan would generally achieve its purpose, but each sub-plan needs further refinement in order

Suggested Citation:"Summary." 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. doi: 10.17226/26684.
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to clarify its proposed scope, total amount of required investment, and the possible effects of inflation on the investment amount and length of the recovery period.

The committee also concludes that the proposed funding for the OFPM Draft Recovery Sub-Plan for Stabilization (SCMMR-funded) may be seriously understated but could begin achieving its purpose with an initial SCMMR fiscal year (FY) 2023 investment of $150 million (2022 dollars). Thereafter, the annual SCMMR investment should be adjusted (up or down) over the recovery period as replacement facilities come online and the degraded facilities they replace are divested from the NIST portfolio.

The committee also believes that NIST has the capability to implement its OFPM Draft Coordinated Recovery Plan upon receipt of sufficient and consistent funding. OFPM has already tasked its architects and engineers to prepare documents called programs of requirements for most projects on the new OFPM Draft Recovery Sub-Plan for Recapitalization (Draft 2022 Infrastructure Plan). The chief facilities maintenance officer anticipates that $3 billion worth of projects, complying with the PORs, will be ready to turnover to design-build contractors by the end of FY 2022 in the event of major recovery funding.

This conclusion leads to the following three recommendations:

Recommendation 4-3: NIST and DOC should increase and intensify efforts to advocate that Congress invest fully in NIST’s Coordinated Recovery Plan beginning in FY 2023 to restore NIST’s existing portfolio to a functional status while continually updating the Recovery Plan. NIST and DOC should annually ensure that the Recovery Plan’s annual investment amounts and NIST budget requests are appropriately adjusted to reflect actual and projected inflation rates as well as refined cost estimates.

Recommendation 4-4: OFPM should continue refining and updating its Draft Coordinated Recovery Plan. The purpose of such continued refinement would be to ensure that every year going forward reflects the latest inflation rates and collectively addresses all categories of funding requirements in a coordinated combination of CMR projects and SCMMR-funded work.

Recommendation 4-5: OFPM’s entire NIST Coordinated Recovery Plan, both the Sub-Plan for Recapitalization (CMR-funded) and the Sub-Plan for Stabilization (SCMMR-funded), should be approved and fully funded beginning in FY 2023, subject to continuing refinement.

There is a serious national problem traceable to NIST’s unsatisfactory facility situation. The committee emphasizes, however, that NIST’s national problem can be solved only by top-down action of senior leaders in Congress, the administration, and DOC rather than from the bottom-up by facility managers in OFPM. Top-down emphasis is vital and aligns with the 2021 recommendation of NIST’s VCAT.

Practices of Portfolio Management and Capital Project Planning

The processes employed by NIST for portfolio management and capital project planning are consistent with DOC’s Real Property Management Manual and are reviewed in detail in Chapter 5. For capital facility planning, NIST uses strategic plans and master plans. NIST has been assigned a leading role in the DOC strategic plan released in March 2022 in response to the Government Performance and Results Act and is in direct alignment with the President’s FY 2023 budget request. In addition, until superseded by the Research Building Modernization Program and the Draft 2022 Infrastructure Plan, NIST had been following its 2018 master plan that contains a 20-year modernization strategy and includes both Gaithersburg and Boulder master plans. The former comprises three phases and won the 2019 Honor Award by the Federal Planning Division of the American Planning Association. The Boulder plan is appropriate for that site and was awarded the DOC 2018 Energy and Environmental Stewardship Award. These plans are aligned with best practices and institutional planning tools for new and replacement facilities.

Master planning at NIST incorporates the principles of enterprise risk management and is in compliance with the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act. At both campuses, some of the facilities appear on the National

Suggested Citation:"Summary." 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. doi: 10.17226/26684.
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Register of Historic Places, and the entire Gaithersburg campus has been named an historic district. NIST works within the resulting restrictions in its plans, including the creation of an OFPM Architectural Design Review Board.

For FY 2019 Congress directed NIST to develop an integrated implementation report for the Boulder and Gaithersburg master plans. This report was created in 2020 and includes an implementation plan based on historically constrained budgets, leading to a ranking of projects for both campuses. As mentioned previously, in April 2021, DOC directed NIST to develop a broader and more ambitious plan. Consequently, the “Draft 2022 Infrastructure Plan” was created. The committee finds the estimated costs prepared by NIST for new construction and renovation of laboratory facilities to be appropriate for this early stage of planning, given the requirements for various types of laboratories and NIST’s comprehensive approach to costs. The cost estimates provided by NIST were reviewed at a high level of detail and the committee determined their completeness to be comprehensive, their accuracy to be in alignment for this stage of planning, and their relevance essential for the current and future success of NIST’s mission. The committee believes funding at this level would lead to completion of the 12 plus year plan on schedule. This review has led to the following committee recommendation:

Recommendation 5-1: OFPM has a sound Draft Recovery Sub-Plan for Recapitalization (CMR-funded) and should seek funding of $300-$400 million annually for at least 12 years to enable NIST to restore lost mission capabilities and provide facilities for new NIST programs.

In order to secure funding for NIST capital needs, the additional consideration of mechanisms such as energy savings performance contracts, General Services Administration Construction with NIST leaseback, and a NIST Facilities Modernization Fund can also be considered.

In a review of best management practices, the committee identified a few areas for further consideration by NIST. These are a review of the budget request process, continued evaluation of laboratory replacement versus renovation, an enhanced ability to acquire appropriate project staffing to effectively serve the proposed implementation plan, and a performance management and measurement system to track objectives and status of completion.

Sustainable Ownership Strategies

Chapter 6 presents sustainable ownership strategies for NIST’s facility portfolio. This is a result of analysis at NIST and other similar organizations.

In order to gain perspective of practices in place at other agencies, members of the committee interviewed relevant personnel at the National Institutes of Health, the Department of the Interior, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Engineer Research and Development Center, as well as the Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University. Summaries from these agencies are included in the report.

The time has arrived for NIST to create a physical and information technology infrastructure to support its 21st century research mission. This requires the processes and funding for a sustainable ownership strategy, comprising four separate but interrelated asset management strategies.

The first of these strategies is to establish program requirements for maintaining a 21st century research environment. To accomplish this NIST will need to document future portfolio requirements by real property category. This leads to the following recommendation:

Recommendation 6-1: NIST should develop and maintain facility and infrastructure total cost of ownership standards for each unique facility and infrastructure type that identify costs on a per unit basis including (1) first cost; (2) annual operations costs (utility, custodial janitorial, and security); (3) sustainment costs; and (4) renewal (restoration and modernization) costs. This will serve as a baseline for identifying and forecasting the total cost of ownership for each new and existing facility and supporting infrastructure, with the resulting funding requirement identified as part of the overall research program needs.

For a second strategy, NIST will need to develop and update an evolving analysis of how the proposed capital

Suggested Citation:"Summary." 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. doi: 10.17226/26684.
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investments will affect the total cost of ownership from conception through the life cycle. This will require a sustainable fiscal model capable of delivering 21st century research campuses including adequate maintenance and repair allocations in relationship to current replacement value of those facilities.

Functionally appropriate and maintainable facilities and infrastructure offer an opportunity to move from a reactive to a proactive approach for stewardship of NIST’s real property portfolio. Any shift to a proactive approach would depend critically on linking the physical condition and functionality of NIST’s facilities to the accomplishment of its mission priorities as reflected in its laboratory program. The third strategy will be to enable portfolio revitalization. This type of total cost of ownership will therefore be incorporated into NIST master plans and capital development programs.

Finally, since world-class research facilities are essential to NIST’s ability to deliver commensurate research, an integrated ownership strategy should be a foundational element with the organization’s strategic plan. NIST’s current capital facility asset management system has evolved substantially in the last several years and can be improved to provide a proactive approach. This leads to the final recommendation:

Recommendation 6-2: NIST should expand its current real property asset management strategy beyond condition assessment and deferred maintenance reporting and provide a proactive, life-cycle approach to real property ownership for the NIST real property portfolio that aligns with the Federal Real Property Reform Act of 2016 and the associated framework by the Government Accountability Office and the 2023 National Academies’ report Strategies to Renew Federal Facilities.

With these four strategies contained in the above recommendations in place, NIST will be in a position of having the physical resources for continued guaranteed excellence in meeting its mission to serve the citizenry and business communities of the United States.

Suggested Citation:"Summary." 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. doi: 10.17226/26684.
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Suggested Citation:"Summary." 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. doi: 10.17226/26684.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Summary." 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. doi: 10.17226/26684.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Summary." 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. doi: 10.17226/26684.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Summary." 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. doi: 10.17226/26684.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Summary." 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. doi: 10.17226/26684.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Summary." 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. doi: 10.17226/26684.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Summary." 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. doi: 10.17226/26684.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Summary." 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. doi: 10.17226/26684.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Summary." 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. doi: 10.17226/26684.
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Suggested Citation:"Summary." 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. doi: 10.17226/26684.
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Technical Assessment of the Capital Facility Needs of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Get This Book
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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.

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