THEME: Preparing Today for Healthcare Facilities of the Future
The Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA), in partnership with the Construction Owners Association of America (COAA), is now accepting submission of abstracts for the 2007 Healthcare Project Delivery Conference. While all submissions will be given equal consideration, DBIA specifically seeks presentations focused on the following areas:
TOPIC AREA #1: Pairing Innovation with Design-Build
The design and construction industry has seen its share of innovations. Some have not stood the test of time, while other very positive, time-tested innovations have revolutionized our industry, making their mark and helping to improve quality, cost and productivity. Among the highly successful innovations have been design-build and its numerous variations and add-ons. The combining of design-build with other “process” and “program” innovations is the wave of the future. Sessions in this track will focus on how pairing other innovations with design-build can further enhance project outcomes. Of particular interest are the following:
- Commissioning:
o Resource allocation and commitment for commissioning, both internally and externally for equipment and systems;
o Commissioning line of demarcation – owner’s scope versus builders and when to commit.
- Building Information Modeling: The impact of BIM on speed and efficient installation, including what works and what doesn’t.
- Public-Private Partnerships: The outlook for Public-Private development of healthcare facilities, including case studies of completed PPP healthcare projects.
- Sustainability: Case Studies of how “going green” can be made more seamless in a design-build environment.
- On-site Mock-up – what to do, how to spend and what are the benefits
- Lean Construction and its applicability to the Healthcare industry
TOPIC AREA #2: Managing Risk
The ability of owners and service providers to recognize and acknowledge each other’s risk allocation viewpoints, needs and expectations is at the heart of this “hot button” issue. Despite agreement on design-build as an effective project delivery system, contractual allocations of specific risks and how these risks are managed can be a source of friction and disagreement. Of particular interest are the following areas:
- Strategies to mitigate the owner’s risk in a design-build setting
- Innovative strategies by healthcare owners to balance real and perceived risk and attract competitive bidders;
- Examples of “win-win” contract agreements that are fair and equitable to all parties
- Critical areas of understanding for an owner and a design-builder when implementing the design-build delivery method on healthcare projects.
TOPIC AREA #3: Optimizing Flexibility, Speed and Cost
Beyond the traditional challenges of delays in design, shortages of qualified design and construction professionals, and delays in plan review and approval, healthcare projects also face the critical challenges of avoiding cost escalation, keeping pace with frequent and significant medical equipment/technology changes, and changing hospital, physician and consumer needs. Of particular interest are the following:
- proven methods to speed design/construction of healthcare facilities and maximize future flexibility
- best practices in healthcare design and construction project management
- “reasonable” flexibility design to accommodate medical equipment of the future
- design-build in the international healthcare marketplace including pros, cons and how to apply the same principles in the U.S.
