Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, OSU

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Final Report for Period: 06/1994 - 11/1996

Title: Renovation of Agricultural Engineering Laboratory at Oklahoma State University

Principal Investigator: Brown, Glenn O.

Award ID: 9313447

Organization: Oklahoma State University

Activities and Findings

Research Activities

Overview
The Agricultural Engineering Laboratory was a 26,472 sq ft facility located on the main campus of OSU. Research and shop facilities comprise 20,432 sq ft with the remainder devoted to teaching. A steel frame building with brick veneer on the west laboratory wing and steel exterior siding elsewhere, it had no major modifications since its construction in 1967. Built on one level with the exception 2,900 sq ft that was down four steps, restrooms and other common areas were at 1960's standards. The structure was built in an era when agricultural mechanization research primarily involved the construction of heavy mechanisms and soil and water research involved unrefined measurements of natural runoff and sediment loads. The Department has adopted a strategic plan that includes research thrusts in modern machine design for harvest and post-harvest processing and a thrust in environmental and natural resource engineering. These high technology research and development efforts were seriously limited by the space. Not only was the lab built for different research needs, but also in several cases the research areas were compromised for teaching uses that were no longer relevant.

Project tasks included renovation of 12,505 sq ft of the existing structure and the enclosure of a 6,162 sq ft research shop. The heating system, and the electrical, water and gas water mains were replaced. A research shop enclosure replaced an open courtyard. It allows all season work on lab equipment that is critical to the installation and testing of sensors, instrumentation and control systems. Six laboratories of approximately 1,200 sq ft each were completely renovated. Work included the addition of air conditioning, lab benches and sinks, upgraded electric power, computer network connections, and double door access. In addition, the Bioenvironmental lab had two vent hoods installed. The existing machine shop area was converted into a 2,000 sq ft research and testing lab for large equipment. Two small tool rooms were remodeled into a larger tool room and a shop manager's office. In a nod to the change in the engineering profession over the last 30 years, the women's restroom was made equal in size to the men's.

Disable access to the facility was greatly improved. Handicap parking was added to both the west and east sides of the building. Curb cuts and exterior ramps were install at all exterior doors if the entrance was not already on grade. A power door opener was installed on the main building entrance and all interior doors had lever-style door sets installed. Restroom were provided with disabled toilet stalls and sinks. All hallways and room entrances were sized for wheelchair passage, and a wheelchair accessible drinking fountain added in the hallway. An interior ramp was added to enable access to the bioenvironmental labs, and all interior signage now includes Braille text. The facility now meets current Americans with Disabilities Act, (ADA) requirements.

Safety improvements included new fire alarms with strobe lights, ductwork smoke detectors and ductwork dampers. Two interior hallways that had dead ends were extended to exterior exits to meet current fire code. A small visitor/disabled parking area was placed at the building entrance and a hallway and walkways incorporated into the shop enclosure to keep students and visitors out of the shop area. Finally, the research shop addition included an area for a safety/environmental code-compliant paint booth, which has been recently installed.

Renovation Experience
The project experienced major planning problems and increases in costs. Unplanned for expenses included moving the electrical mains to the building when it was discovered that they ran under the new enclosure ($60,000) and unplanned upgrading of the existing structure to meet code requirements for fire, safety, and ADA ($50,000). While high, these were not too remarkable for a project of this size and type.

The largest part of the difficulties can be attributed to the very bond issue that provided partial funding for the renovation. A statewide bond issue, HERO, supplied the initial matching funding. That one-time bonding pumped over $300 million into infrastructure construction on the state's higher education campuses. At OSU three major renovations, (Willard Hall, Veterinarian Medicine, and Physical Science East) and two new buildings (Food & Agricultural Products Research & Technology Center, and the Advanced Technology Research Center) overlapped with this project. Those jobs totaled about $50 million.

These concurrent projects placed a severe load on the OSU Architectural and Engineering Services staff, which required most of our project's design to be ultimately farmed out to private consultants. While increasing costs only about $20,000, the use of outside consultants added to the time needed for job assignment, coordination, revision and bid review. A rough guess would be that planning and supervision delays added about six to nine months to the project duration.

The second impact of the bond issue was that construction costs in the state skyrocketed. The initial estimate was based on 1992 recession conditions, but we were faced with a building boom bringing shortages of tradesmen and materials. In particular the enclosure was impacted by increases in concrete and steel. As an example, only three companies placed bids on the project even through several were specifically asked to submit. The accepted low bid by SSi of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma was reasonable in retrospect, but much higher than the initial budget. We estimate construction costs increases added about $300,000 to the total project over the preliminary budget.

The cost overrun was handled by reducing the scope and by increased funding. In lab areas, special finishes on most walls, ceilings and floors were dropped, air conditioned space was reduced by one-half, one chemical exhaust hood was eliminated, power isolation units were deleted, and floor plans modifications were minimized. In the shop area enclosure, the floor plan was simplified, and one large overhead-door dropped. These reductions did not greatly reduce the renovation benefits, but did bring down costs about $100,000.

A major funding increase was provided by the OSU, Office of Associate Vice President & Controller. OSU Physical Plant, the Division of Agricultural Science and Natural Recourses, and the Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering provided the balance of financial support from a variety of operating funds. Each organization mentioned viewed the renovation as central to the mission of the Department. Because of the important improvements to the Department's research capabilities from the proposed work, they held that it was critical that the entire plan be completed.

A construction contract was let in May of 1995 and work began in August. Renovation proceeded at a steady pace with no abnormal difficulties. During the process, Departmental teaching and some research continued in the facility by utilizing areas not under construction. Change orders and cost escalations were almost eliminated by maintaining a close relationship with the contractor that included our shop personnel's assistance on occasion. This allowed minor adjustments to be made without additional expense. Construction was longer than anticipated due in part to a shortage of skilled labor.

The NSF contact was closed 5/31/96. At that point all NSF and required matching funds were expended. The contractor was substantially complete in October 1996. After that, Department shop personnel using operating funds have completed most of the work removed from the original plan for cost reduction. Work completed has included installation of two cranes, painting of spaces not in the renovation, floor tiling, construction of a wood working area and installation of a prefabricated paint booth with makeup heating. A formal building dedication was held on April 4, 1997.

The original proposal renovation timeline and actual are listed in Table 1 below.

Table 1. Original and Actual Project Timelines.

Item	Proposal	Actual
Date of NSF Award	8/93	6/94
Date of Cost Sharing/Matching Met	9/93	6/94
Development of Drawings and Specifications	12/93 - 7/94	6/94 - 2/95
Bidding and Award	6/94 - 9/94	3/95 - 5/95
Construction/Renovation	10/94 - 5/95	8/95 - 8/96
Completion/Occupancy	5/95	8/96
Dedication	-	4/4/97

For NSF budget accounting proposes all expenses were classified as direct costs and matched by cash funding from OSU. An approximate construction budget is listed in Table 2 below for informational purposes. This budget is not to be considered an official statement of projects expenses.

Table 2. Original and Actual Project Budgets, in $1,000.

Item	Proposed	Actual
Building (1)	589	1,014
Design, Supervision and Administration (2)	51	94
Miscellaneous (3)	-	22
Total Eligible Project Costs (4)	640	1,130
Grantee Share (5)	320 (50%)	810 (62%)
NSF Share	320 (50%)	320 (28%)

Notes
1. The proposed amount is the total of lines 8 and 9 of NSF Form 1326. The actual amount is only that paid to the contractor.
2. Corresponds to the sum of NSF Form 1326 lines 10 to 12.
3. Includes asbestos abatement, telephone, copying and other services provided by OSU.
4. Corresponds to NSF Form 1326 line 13.
5. The original grantee share included $100,000 of in-kind contribution. The actual grantee share shown only includes direct cash contributions.

The actual expenditures on the renovation are difficult to compute due the substantial amount of work done by Departmental and Physical Plant staff using operating funds. Our guess is that approximately $200,000 of additional funding and in-kind contribution and has been carried out.

The renovation project has strengthened our Agricultural Engineering research and enabled our expansion into Biosystems Engineering topics. The facility has become a great aid in attracting new faculty and students. The impact on graduate student studies is obvious. Among other things, the students work in a much safer environment. The mere appearance of the facilities assists us in recruiting students.

Research Findings
Oklahoma State University, through the Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, carried out a renovation of the Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Laboratory. Renovation has allowed the Department to properly support and expand its strong programs in machine vision, sensors and controls, intelligent machines and environmental engineering. Besides those impacts, the renovation also brings disabled access to current standards and provides a safer facility for both employees, students and visitors. This work provides us the infrastructure to continue our national leadership in Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering research into the twenty-first century. Project costs were substantially greater than the original $640,000 estimate. The actual project budget was $1,130,000, with $320,000 funded by NSF.