GSA takes steps to improve efficiency.

President Clinton's proposal for a more efficient and streamlined government will require federal agencies to improve operations with less resources. One agency, the General Services Administration (GSA), is already taking steps to more efficiently manage office space and reduce costs through specialized training.

With almost 7,800 buildings and 261 million square feet of space under its management, GSA is the nation's largest property manager. More than 400 of GSA's property management personnel have received training to improve efficiency through the Real Property Administrator (RPA) designation program. Sonny Cook, Acting Deputy Director of GSA's National Capital Region, says, "People with better training and broader job skills are essential for efficient management. They know more, can handle a wider range of assignments and are better prepared to develop the innovative policies GSA needs to meet the President's goals."

According to Carl Votteler, an RPA and Chief of the Maintenance Management Section for GSA's National Capital Region, RPA training provides a strong overview of most major aspects of property management. That knowledge has already translated into improvements in efficiency in his section. Votteler, recipient of the GSA Meritorious Service Award, recounted one instance. "We had to reduce staffing from 55 to 28 employees but we managed to increase efficiency. We went from 6 employees per supervisor to 10 and still maintained tenant satisfaction. It was a matter of working smarter, and the kind of knowledge RPA training gives you helps you do that. You learn the best way to handle a job."

Energy management and life cycle costing, subjects thoroughly reviewed in the RPA program, are important to saving costs and reducing operating expenses according to Steve Williford, RPA, Chief of GSA's Energy Management Section. "Installing the right lighting and controls can cut the lighting portion of your electrical bill in half. A particular air conditioning system can cost more up front, but can he more energy efficient and lower in maintenance costs." Over the past four fiscal years, energy conservation methods have helped the National Capital Region save more than $2.7 million in energy costs.

Like energy management, recycling and waste reduction is another way GSA is helping cut costs. In 1989, RPAs Stanley Ismart and Mark Sajbel put together a recycling/waste reduction program that not only complies with Washington, D.C.'s recycling laws, but pays for itself. In 1992, the recycling program for GSA's National Capital Region generated more than $100,000 from the sale of recyclable material and saved more than $60,000 in dumping fees. Sajbel says, "Not only did we have to write the policy, but we had to educate building managers, tenants, custodial personnel and others about it and get their cooperation. The broad education the RPA training provided on different aspects of building management made us aware of how to make the program easier to implement for the diverse group of people involved. That increased our chance of successful completion."

Practical education programs like the RPA are a growing part of the private and public sector's plan to achieve more efficiency.