The Facilities Division manages the Lab’s facilities and infrastructure to optimize usage, minimize life cycle costs, and ensure site capabilities meet today’s and tomorrow’s mission needs and complex challenges. Described below are the related stewardship responsibilities for Lab management and leaders and Facilities Division management.
Introduction
In their ongoing planning exercises, Berkeley Lab’s Director, Deputy Directors, and Associate Lab Directors describe ways in which the Lab’s infrastructure ought to evolve to support current and future mission needs. In addition, through the forum of the Space and Infrastructure Governance Board (SIGB), senior management prioritizes space needs according to the Lab’s overall goals, and to serve certain opportunities as appropriate.
Taking these recommendations, the Facilities Division develops a 10-year campus vision for the annual lab plan, and uses this to guide the allocation of resources, activities, priorities, and decision making to meet mission needs. Facilities partners with scientific divisions and areas early in proposal phases to ensure adequate infrastructure/affordability and ADA compliance, alignment with Lab and space modernization needs, and the Lab’s ability to meet its sustainability goals.
Line Management of Infrastructure Stewardship
Associate Lab Directors and Division Directors:
- Managers and staff are accountable for safekeeping LBNL’s assets; they report infrastructure issues for resolution.
- Leaders and managers encourage, support, and implement decisions that support sustainable initiatives, programs, and opportunities.
- Management and tenants return space that is underutilized and remove items (equipment, chemicals, other) no longer needed.
- Management ensures new systems aren’t purchased or installed without checking that the building can support the new systems.
- At times, utilities or other outages may be necessary to maintain or fix systems. Managers and staff need to work with their Facility Area Manager to identify windows of opportunity and any needed compensatory measures (e.g., generator needs) to support this work.
Facilities Division:
- Facilities responds to infrastructure issues identified from proactive identification and those reported from other organizations.
- LBNL maintains a sustainable laboratory by applying social, environmental, and resource-responsible approaches into planning and operations.
- Space is managed in accordance with the Space Standards.
- Facilities coordinates planned outages with research and operations organizations that are impacted.
- As a steward of taxpayer money, the Facilities Division is fiscally responsible, looking for ways to decrease costs.
- Facilities partners with Procurement, the Project and Construction Office, and others to foster a wide pool of general contractors.
- Facilities partners with Procurement to centrally manage and execute leases.
- Facilities updates Land Parcel Leases with either UC and/or Regental approval.