In this edition of Property Matters we’ll talk about the Regional Hubs Programme Business Case, the review of the Building Performance Specification (BPS), how we’re building capability across the government property system, updates on Serraview and the Government Property Portal, and a summary of our knowledge hours.

It’s all hands-on deck with the Regional Hubs Programme Business Case. We are currently working on a programme business case for the regional hubs programme to progress individual office hub projects. Our focus is on driving regional economic growth, collaboration between agencies and a standardised approach to fit-out and design.

We’re aiming to have a draft completed for agency and stakeholder engagement within the next month.

Key elements include:

• establishing regional office hubs
• establishing non-agency specific shared workplaces
• co-location and joined up services of agencies
• building fit out and design for sustainability and energy efficiency
• interfacing with the living standards framework

Pastoral House in Wellington, shared by MBIE and MPI, is a recent example of a cross-agency office accommodation project that embraces these key elements.

We’ll keep you updated on our progress. If you are interested in the opportunity, email us.

Government office accommodation

In December’s newsletter we asked for your input on a system-wide view into the key influences and areas that are relevant from a government property portfolio context, for example, potential impacts from COVID-19 and market trends (nationally and internationally). We’ve received a lot of great ideas - a big thanks to everyone who contributed. We’re now going through the submissions and will commission the work once finalised.

It’s time for a makeover! The Building Performance Specifications (BPS) were last updated in August 2018. Needless to say, there have been several changes to the building specifications across multiple areas, and new policies established. This review will incorporate these changes and help us understand if the current content still meets our stakeholders’ needs. We’re also making them easier to use and understand.

Objectives for this review are to:

• Provide agencies and building suppliers with a benchmark of the required quality specifications for public sector offices.
• Highlight what specifications are mandatory minimum requirements.
• Highlight what specifications can be customised to optimise the cost efficiency profile of the site and its specifications.
• Create a set of specifications that are efficient, clear and easy to follow.
• Lift the quality and consistency of public sector workplace accommodation.

We are gathering feedback from our agency contacts and will publish the updated BPS later this year. If you’d like to be part of the review or have any questions, email us.

The capability programme is well underway and we’ve got our first wins. We’ve developed the capability framework that will underpin our focus areas and provide us with a clear direction. We’ve also established a working group to support this programme with expert advice. A couple of other updates to share:

The Property Maturity Model (PMM) survey

The survey is closed! Thanks to everyone who participated. We really appreciate your time and input. Your feedback will help us identify best practices and develop a roadmap to boost property expertise across government. We’ll keep you updated as we progress with this piece of work.

Training modules development: Demystifying Property Procurement

Earlier this year, we ran a workshop to see how we can create bespoke property procurement training for agencies, leveraging off the Demystifying Procurement training module which is already available. We have been reviewing the course content to make it relevant to property procurement, making this the first course in a suite of educational offerings for property practitioners. We expect to update you about this course and how it will be delivered in April.

We are very excited about the potential Serraview (workspace management tool) helping agencies to track actual space utilisation and  real time data on desk booking metrics to support strategic planning decisions and portfolio adjustments based on site demand and forecasting metrics. There’s also the possibility to connect to the “Internet of Things” in the future.

The proof of concept for Serraview continues to the end of April and we will keep you posted on developments.

We have successfully deployed a new version of GPP.

This latest version expands on the existing functionality of the portal (Lease, Space, Facility Management & Asset) with a modern interface, and a better user experience with new tools.

Over the next couple of months, we’ll be talking to agencies about potential for new modules that we’d like to roll out, so make sure you’re talking to us about what you need from a property portal so we can include it in our planning.

Government Property Portal

If you would like to know more email our systems team.

We’ve kicked off the year with two knowledge hours. Here’s our wrap-up if you’ve missed either.

Flexible working through Technology enabled Shared Accommodation (TeSA)

Russell Pratt joined us from Te Tari Taiwhenua Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) to share some information around TeSA and its capabilities.

TeSA allows staff from multiple agencies working in shared accommodations to access and share resources and services. This means that people can walk into any TeSA supported building and feel immediately at home with the technology. In essence they will have the same user experience as they would in their home agency.

Most impressively, DIA has created an “Identity Broker” component to TeSA. This system seamlessly determines which agency a user works for, and directly passes the user to that network. This creates cost savings for agencies as expensive security-authentication networks and infrastructure don’t need to be duplicated.

COVID has shown how vital it is to set up regional hubs and change the way we think about our working environments. TeSA’s services offer a solution to many of the questions around how to make this work.

We’ve been piloting TeSA at Pastoral House since December 2020 and it is due to start at 8 Willis Street later in 2022.

Reducing carbon with Green Star

Brad Crowly and Peter Taylor joined us to talk about Green Star and their work with Antarctica New Zealand.

Green Star is a tool designed to ensure all new buildings are built to international best standard codes and requires all projects to meet at least a 5-star rating. The tool also covers 9 out of 17 sustainable goals issued by the United Nations for building green.

Green Star buildings have been found to improve productivity and reduce sick leave in employees by creating more comfortable and healthier working environments.

A true test of Green Star can be seen in how it was used in the Antarctica Scott Base project, where a bespoke version was set up for the building of the new base.

You don’t have to work in Antarctica to enjoy the benefits of Green Star.  It’s already here and available to agencies!

Future Knowledge Hours

We’re always on the lookout for ideas on future knowledge hours. If you have any topics you’d like to hear about or present on, email us.

• Welcome to Robert Lopez and Elana MacDonald-Rose who joined us late last year.
• We’re currently working with a few agencies on NABERSNZ assessments, helping them to understanding the requirements. If any other agencies are looking for similar support, then please get in touch.
• The All-of-Government (AoG) office furniture contract return to market process has started. You should have seen this in the March Contract Bulletin inviting feedback by 1 April 2022.
• We have completed workplace design reviews for the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment, Stats New Zealand and Ministry for the Environment. These reviews help agencies decide how their workplace aligns with the eight principles of workplace design guidelines.

If you’d like to know more, email us.

We have added a list of key property definitions to our website that supports the property guidelines, standards and reports.

Property definitions