760
Special Procedures: System Evaluation
765
SYSTEM EVALUATION
765.1
MONITORING THE PROCESS
765.1.1
Objectives
The construction of a demonstration hospital utilizing the Prototype Design
will constitute an example of the application of the principles of systems
integration to the particular building problems of the VA.
765.1.2
Scope of Subject Material
The precise nature of the monitoring program will depend to a great extent
on the degree to which the VA is involved in special funding, phased
bidding, product development, subsystem innovation, construction
management, etc., at the time. In any case, the scope of the program
should cover the entire production process, from inception through
occupancy, to provide full benefit. Limited monitoring should continue
through the life of the building to determine long-range effects, particularly
on adaptability.
765.1.3
Structuring the Experiment
From the point of view of overall building system research and
development, the more innovations that can be tried out on a single
project, the better, so long as their effects can be kept sufficiently
separated to allow accurate assignment of each effect to a specific
innovation. The general parameters are cost, time and performance, but
appropriate specific parameters must be selected for each project,
depending on what degree of emphasis has been placed on various
subsystems and on particular aspects of design, construction, operations
and alteration. Both innovations to be tried and parameters to be
measured should be selected to maximize return of useful information
within budget available for monitoring.
765.1.4
The Threat of Red Tape
Monitoring is a task requiring expenditure of considerable time and effort
by all parties involved in administration, design and construction on a
systems project. This effort is superimposed on all the usual as well as
new tasks these parties will be responsible for just to build the building,
and therefore can come into conflict with the demands of these tasks.
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