ACE Team Charter

Vision:

DOE-EM program/project managers, cost engineers, and cost estimators have the necessary tools, systems, and training to develop credible cost estimates, and to manage cost of EM projects and programs.

Membership:

Membership is open to Operations/Field offices and Headquarters Office of Environmental Management personnel. The Team is inviting the participation of all interested individuals of the EM Office and other offices of the Department of Energy to reflect the integrated management approach being developed in EM. Membership details are contained in Appendix A of this charter. The champion for the ACE Team efforts is the Office of Acquisition and Project Management (EM-50).

• ACE Team Members

Goals:

The goals of the ACE Team are to:

• Have Increased confidence in DOE EM cost engineering capabilities by Congress, stakeholders, and regulators.
• Ensure that DOE EM Program and Project Managers have adequate and appropriate skills, training, and tools in the areas of cost estimating and cost validation, so that projects are completed within cost.
• Establish an integrated, uniform, and comprehensive system, for collecting and analyzing historical cost data.
• >Facilitate the use of cost estimates to establish and defend credible baseline/budget formulation.
• Promote continuous improvement in EM project cost estimating efforts.
• Influence cost estimating policy development and implementation including issue resolution.

Objectives:

The objectives of the ACE Team are to:

• Establish capabilities to resolve cost information and cost engineering issues.
• Share lessons learned and exchange information between sites to enact higher standards of cost engineering, control, and evaluation throughout the EM complex.
• Establish standards and procedures for centralized collection of scope and cost data.
• Provide Field and HQ professionals training on cost estimating, cost validation, and tools, consistent with EM and the Office of Engineering and Construction Management (OECM) training programs.
• Provide and maintain cost information which support EM cost estimates.
• Maintain a standardized vocabulary of terms that may be applied to cost estimates within the DOE, other Federal agencies, and commercial industry for cost comparison purposes.

Rewards:

The rewards of the ACE Team activities include:

• More knowledgeable and better trained/prepared cost estimators and project/program managers.
• Increased managerial and financial control of projects by DOE-EM project and program managers.
• Increased accuracy of project estimates.
• More reliable, consistent, and timely baselines and budgets.
• Improved accountability and improved project controls and tracking.
• Availability of comparable benchmarks for measuring project performance.
• Providing cost estimating tools and software will facilitate comparison of alternatives, make performing cost validations easier, and allow for development of independent estimates that are faster and less labor intensive.
• Reduced cost of doing business by streamlining and standardizing estimating and cost engineering practices.
• Allowing important experiences and lessons learned to be shared between sites. Additionally, with a database and a standardized cost structure, there is a fast and easy resource for obtaining and using data from similar projects across the site and other Federal agencies.
• Improved project management can shorten project cycles.
• Minimize confusion and redundancy by assisting in the development or review of DOE/EM cost guidance and policies.
• Ability to perform evaluations and analysis to determine factors that impact costs and schedules.

Appendix A Environmental Management Applied Cost Engineering (ACE) Team Charter Supplement

The ACE Team is a joint Field/HQ group working together on cost activities throughout the EM complex. The ACE Team aims to obtain better understanding of cost activities and to ask the right questions to determine what continuous improvement process (course of action) needs to be taken so that work can be conducted efficiently. The following sections address the ACE Team operational approach, accomplishments, and identification of future activities.

Operational Approach:

• The ACE Team will maintain a membership of both Headquarters and Field personnel. Operating/integrating contractors, support contractors, and personnel from other agencies are welcome to participate in an advisory capacity, but this is a DOE HQ/Field Working Group. Therefore membership, most interaction and all decision making must be of and by DOE HQ and Field Federal staff.
• To maintain a reasonable size for membership, two members from each Field Office (one designated lead, one backup) will participate. Two members for each HQ Environmental Management Office will also participate. It would not be necessary to include both individuals for meetings requiring travel. At least one person from Office of Acquisition and Project Management (EM-50), Office of Engineering and Technology (EM-20), Office of Planning and Budget (EM-30), Office of Safety Management and Operations (EM-60), and other EM offices will also be invited to participate.
• Field personnel will provide cost engineering data and project management experience to the Team. It is intended that Field Team members will take leadership of this effort and move the Team in a direction that would be most beneficial to management and project technical staff through a consensus or democratic process.
• Headquarters personnel will provide policy guidance, and will serve as communicators to other organizations within DOE Environmental Management and other applicable organizations. It is intended that HQ's role be one of facilitation and support. HQ will also continue participation in the Environmental Cost Engineering Committee (EC²) for Environmental Cost Element Structure (ECES). EC², previously known as the Interagency Cost Estimating Group was formed in 1991 to enable cost comparisons across Environmental Cleanup complex.
• All members (Field and HQ) shall communicate and coordinate activities and information with their co-workers and management.
• Team Co-Chairs will be designated. One Co-Chair will be from the Field, and the second will be from Headquarters. The Co-Chairs will ensure that goals are set, milestones completed, and that communications between group members, EM and other organizations, as appropriate, proceed smoothly. Bryan Skokan is the current Headquarters Co-Chair. To create an environment of cross-pollination of ideas and concepts, the Field Co-Chair will rotate to each site having the meeting responsibility for the current half-year. The Lead Member from that Field Office (as described above) will act as the Field Co-Chair of the Team for the current half-year. In order to maintain continuity, the Headquarters Co-Chair will not rotate.
• A Coordinator is to be designated to establish meeting agendas; coordinate time, place and conference call numbers; and to communicate within the group. The Coordinator will be assigned the responsibility of ensuring meeting summaries are completed and distributed.
• It will remain the responsibility of each Team member to contribute to the goals of the Team, to innovatively apply Team developed techniques and concepts, to share one's own ideas with the Team, and to communicate this information to one's co-workers and management.
• Workshops will be held semi-annually, or as required. Teleconferences will be held at least monthly. HQ will assume responsibility for the monthly teleconferences. The responsibility for coordinating/hosting the semi-annual workshops will rotate among Field sites. This will allow broader staff participation at the sponsoring location. HQ can provide a facilitator for each teleconference and workshop. Meeting and teleconference summaries are to be recorded and distributed to all Team members, and to management as appropriate.
• Elements of the approach to be implemented by the Team include:
  • Raise and resolve cost estimating issues of concern to EM management.
  • Present cost estimating and cost control program information, including project accomplishments, at site-wide meetings and other forums.
  • Compile and maintain a reference library of documents, reports, and other materials about cost estimating and cost control for environmental projects.
  • Establish the Team as a cooperative resource by disseminating information to Headquarters' Working Teams and Field elements, as deemed appropriate by the Team members.
  • Maintain "open lines of communication" between Headquarters and the Field, and within respective Field and HQ organizations.
• A uniform approach to electronic communication should be developed.
• Communication by e-mail, bulletin boards, and among a variety of user platforms (Windows based, Mac based, Unix based, etc.) are to be utilized as much as possible.
• This is viewed as a continuous improvement process.

Accomplishments and Activities:

Currently, the scope envisioned for the Team encompasses all environmental activities across the complex. Some of the ACE Team accomplishments include:

• Completed review, modification and updating of the Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste Work Breakdown Structure (HTRW WBS), now renamed the ECES, to include waste management activities, additional technologies, and life-cycles phases of an environmental projects.
• Completed annual update of the ECES.
• Adoption of ECES and HTRW WBS by DOE sites performing environmental work.
• The development of the Practical Cost Estimating and Validations Lessons Learned Workshop and Workshop manual which are use to train project/program managers in cost estimating and other cost engineering areas. Workshops have been conducted at Oakland, Richland Operations Office, Savannah River Site, Ohio Field Office, and at Headquarters.
• Development five of Decontamination and Decommissioning cost estimating models in Remedial Action Cost Estimating and Requirement (RACER) System.
• Training of RACER cost estimating tool at several DOE sites (Albuquerque, Idaho, National Energy Technology Laboratory, Oakland, Oak Ridge, Richland, Savannah River Site, and Headquarters).
• Purchase of RACER 2000a for Field Offices needing the software.
• Coordinated the development of models and modifications to RACER Software with other Federal Agencies
• Assisted with development of EM Project Management Guide, specifically, issues regarding contingency and programmatic risk
• Assisted with drafting the DOE Order 413.3, drafted by OECM.
• Compilation of available cost estimating software or tools that may be used by EM in developing estimates.
• Development of general environmental cost factor for environmental work versus commercial construction.
• Assisted with identifying issues and making recommendations for innovative technology costing and collection of the cost data.

Future planned activities include:

• Expand ECES to allow to use as a cost management tool and to develop links with financial management and budgeting systems.
• Promote ECES to become an American Society for Testing and Material standard
• Annual update of the ECES to include Long-Term Stewardship and Waste Management activities, new technologies, and other modifications.
• Complete the development and initiate the use of historical cost data compilation and analysis system known as Environmental Cost Analysis System.
• Develop "CostRisk" software to analyze contingency, based on risk, for environmental management projects and to provide training.
• Continue to train project/program managers in cost estimating and other cost engineering areas.
• Development of DOE specific area cost factors for environmental work.
• Develop cost estimating models, where the cost estimating software (such as RACER) is lacking in DOE needs along with area cost factors for EM sites.
• Updating of cost estimating software summary sheet which provides information on current cost estimating software and tools that can be used by EM to develop estimates.
• Provide Cost Control tools to the complex. EM Project Managers across the complex need a methodology for establishing what a project should cost, and determining if the contractor's costs stay within reasonable costs.
• Establish the Team as a cooperative resource and communication point to pool resources, assist Field organizations with specific cost engineering tasks, develop cost account/work breakdown structures, and share environmental management actual and estimated costs.
• Develop a web site that consolidates and centrally locates data and information useful for EM cost estimators and project/program managers.
• Provide other cost engineering assistance to and coordination with other International, Federal, DOE, and EM Teams, Offices, and Organizations.