The Energy Department wants its employees to get a little closer. The department is implementing a plan to consolidate DOE's Washington-area offices.
In 1994, Energy decided to move out of 12 of its 16 Washington offices by the year 2000, corraling all of its capital-area employees into four locations: two in downtown Washington, one in Crystal City, Va., and one in Germantown, Md. The consolidation is expected to lead to a net savings of $17.9 million.
Marlene Snyder, team leader for Energy's space planning group, says her team held focus group meetings with DOE employees and worked with the General Services Administration to devise the plan. Offices that were split up among several floors of a building are being moved to a single location. DOE organizations that had previously been spread out across several locations are being put back together in one place. Not only does that save the department money, it saves employees from having to trek all over town for meetings with co-workers.
"You become more efficient, you become more productive, you reduce waste and you reduce operating costs," Snyder says. "It's cozier all over the place, but we're still comfortable."
DOE organizations are not only reaping the benefits of greater productivity, they're also cutting overhead costs. Two years ago, the department established a working capital fund, through which DOE organizations are charged for their rent and utilities. Before, managers did not track their overhead spending, so it seemed like they had a bottomless reserve of funds. The new system has motivated managers to look at ways to cut operating costs.
The department is now down to eight Washington-area sites. So far, it has saved $3.87 million in rent costs.
Last week, GSA's Office of Governmentwide Policy gave Snyder and her team one of its first-ever Real Property Innovation Awards. The team received $5,000 in cash, to be divided among the five team members.
A team from GSA's Public Buildings Service also won an award for creating a guide to performance contracts with companies that employ the blind and severely disabled.
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