United States Office of Water September 1984
rental Protectior eae Operations (WH-547) 430/9-84-009
y \gton, DC 20460
Value Engineering
For Wastewater
Treatment WorksVALUE ENGINEERING FOR
WASTEWATER TREATMENT WORKS
Prepared for:
Office of Water Program Operations (WH-547)
United States Environmental Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20460
Contract No. 68-01-6737
Prepared by:
Contractor: Roy F. Weston, Inc. (West Chester, PA)
Subcontractor: L-Z Associates, Inc. (Rockville, MD)
EPA Project Officer: James Wheeler
EPA Work Assignment Manager: Haig Farmer
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Region 5, Library (PL-12))
77 West Jackson Boulevard, 12th Floor
Chicago, IL 60604-3590FOREWORD
The Environmental Protection Agency's value engineering pro-
gram is an extremely successful element in its construction
grants program. Over the seven-year period from 1977 through
1983, the value engineering program produced a $15 dollar
return on each dollar invested in value engineering and a 5.4
percent net capital savings on $7.5 billion worth of total pro-
ject costs. In addition to the obvious benefit of lowering
capital costs for wastewater treatment facilities without
sacrificing performance or reliability, the value engineering
program produces additional benefits of operating and main-
tenance cost savings and enhanced reliability for the
facilities.
Although value engineering is required on large wastewater pro-
jects, the Agency encourages its use on smaller projects since
they offer similar potentials for cost savings.
This document provides users with state-of-the-art guidance
for conducting value engineering on wastewater treatment pro-
jects. The guidance document strives to:
Promote broader use of value engineering;
® Increase the knowledge of the value engineering
process; and
. Improve the quality and effectiveness of value
engineering in the construction grants program.
With the positive application of the value engineering process
described in this document, capital cost savings of five to
ten percent plus additional operation and maintenance cost
savings can be achieved for individual wastewater treatment
facilities.
Value engineering presents communities with an excellent oppor-
tunity to reduce the present and future costs of their waste-
water treatment projects.ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The contribution of the following participants in the development
of this guidance document is gratefully acknowledged.
Prime Contractor
Roy F, Weston, Inc., West Chester, PA
Subcontractor
L-2 Associates, Inc., Rockville, MD
EPA
Project Officer: James Wheeler, Municipal Construction Division
Work Assignment Manager: Haig Parmer, Municipal Construction
Division
Key Individuals
Document Development:
Bradford Cushing, Roy F. Weston, Inc., West Chester, PA
Haig Parmer, EPA, Washington, DC
Larry Zimmerman, L-Z Associates, Inc., Rockville, MD
Technical Consultation and Review:
Alphonse Dell'Isola, Smith, Hinchman, and Grylls Associates, Inc.
Roger Hyde, Roy F. Weston, Inc., Cleveland, OH
Edward Nichols, Edward J. Nichols and Associates, Inc.
Alexandria, VA
Robert Williams, Culp/Wesner/Culp, Cameron Park, CA
Technical Review:
Bryan Chesson, EPA, Atlanta, GA
Hubert Duckett, EPA, Kansas City, MO
Glen Hart, Arthur Beard Engineers, Inc., Azusa, CA
Arwin Hothan, EPA, Chicago, IL
Ancil Jones, EPA, Dallas, TX
David Wohlscheid, arthur Beard Engineers, Inc., Vienna, VA
iiTABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
POREWORD....-e+eeee0e oe eeet ea i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS... -+0+e0000+ ii
LIST OF FIGURES......++ee+e00+ v
LIST OF TABLES.......+++.-+ v
SECTION 1 INTRODUCTION
L.L Overview...sceceesceeeeeeeeeees 1-1
1.2 Purpose and Scope......-.+ 1-2
1.3 Benefits of VE.......eeeeee 1-2
1.4 History and Accomplishments 1-4
1.5 VE in the EPA Construction
Grants Program.........+ 1-6
SECTION 2 MANAGEMENT OF VALUE ENGINEERING
Qala Generales eee teenie ec 2-1
2.2 VE Sequence and Typical Schedule..... 2-1
2.3 Advertising for VE Consultant
SErViced....sseccrsceceencreececessss 295
2.4 Response to the RPP (VB Consultant's
Proposal) ....e.eseeseeeeee 2-6
2.5 Number and Timing of vE studies 2-7
2.6 VE Teat.....seeeeeeeeeee aes 2-8
2.7 VE Team Coordinator (VETC).........6. 2-12
2.8 Level of Effort......eseceseceeeseees 2-12
2.9 Selecting the VE Consultant....... 2-14
2.10 Types of Contracts for VE Services 2-15
SECTION 3 PREPARATION FOR THE VE WORKSHOP
3.1 Overview.......eeeeeeeee 3-1
3.2 Coordination Meeting.... 3-1
3.3 Technical and Cost Data. pre 3-2
314 VE Team Composition and Logistical
ALTANGeMENtS.....-eeeeeeeeeeeeeee 3-5
3.5 Cost Estimates pee eee 3-5
316 Cost and Energy Modeis......... 3-6
iiiSECTION 4
SECTION 5
APPENDIX
APPENDIX
APPENDIX
APPENDIX
APPENDIX
THE V:
Loss:
SELEC:
WORKS!
SAMPL
TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued)
PAGE
E WORKSHOP
VE Job Plan.... el
Information Phase..... ee 42
Speculative/Creative Phase... te 47
Zvaluation/Analytical Phase.......... 0 4-9
Development/Recommendation Phase..... 4-10
Report Phase... seeeee Mel
WORKSHOP ACTIVITY
Review of the VE Report.. - Se2
Final VE Report... : 2 Sel
Reviewing Agency Coordination
and Approval....e.esseeeeseeeeeees 5-3
ARY OF TERMS
fT BIBLIOGRAPHY
HEETS
E VE REPORT
SAMPLE FINAL VE REPORT
ivLIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE NO. PAGE
2-1 VE STUDY TASK FLOW DIAGRAM. .....0.ceeeeeeeeeeenees 202
2-2 VE PLOW DIAGRAM: NORMAL SEQUENCE (TWO VE STUDIES). 2-3
2-3 POTENTIAL VE SAVINGS VS. WORKSHOP TIMING.......... 2-7
3-1 EXAMPLE COST SUMMARY MODEL....... 3-11
3-2 EXAMPLE MATRIX COST MODEL......... 3-12
3-3 EXAMPLE COST MODEL... .....ceesceeseeseeseeneees 3-13
3-4 EXAMPLE ENERGY MODEL.......--eeeeeeeeeeeereeeee 3-14
3-5 EXAMPLE LIFE CYCLE COST MODEL........... 3-15
4-1 EXAMPLE FUNCTION ANALYSIS WORKSHEET............ 4-14
4-2 EXAMPLE FUNCTION ANALYSIS WORKSHEET FOR SUBSYSTEM. 4-15
4-3 EXAMPLE SPECULATIVE/CREATIVE PHASE WORKSHEET........ 4-16
4-4 EXAMPLE EVALUATION/ANALYTICAL PHASE WORKSHEET..... 4-17
LIST OF TABLES
TABLE NO.
1-1 SUMMARY OF VE SAVINGS (EPA CONSTRUCTION GRANTS
PROGRAM... 0c sseccssscrcesssccssesccscsereccsesse 197
2-1 IDENTIFICATION OF CONSTRUCTION COSTS..... + 2-10
2-2 TYPICAL LEVEL OP EFFORT FOR ONE VE STUDY.......... 2-13Lal
1.2
SECTION 1
INTRODUCTION
OVERVIEW
In 1974, the United States Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) started a voluntary program to encourage the use of
value engineering (VE) in its construction grants program.
Since 1976, the Agency's value engineering program has been
a mandatory design element for all large wastewater
treatment works. The success of this value engineering
effort has improved the reliability of new wastewater
treatment works while reducing their costs.
Value engineering is a specialized cost control technique
performed by an independent group of experienced
professionals. The technique involves an intensive,
systematic and creative study to reduce costs while
enhancing reliability and performance. The technique is
used to achieve the best functional balance between cost,
reliability, and performance of a product, process, system,
or facility. The value engineering effort provides a
project designer with an additional source of engineering,
construction, and operations expertise to enhance the
project's design and operability. When the VE efforts are
properly coordinated, they will not delay work on a
project's design.
A glossary of terms common to value engineering is presented
in Appendix A. Users of this guidance document are
encouraged to consult this glossary prior to a detailed
reading of this document.
PURPOSE AND SCOPE
The purpose of this guidance document is to provide
municipal authorities, state agencies, design engineers, and
VE teams with state-of-the-art guidance for conducting
effective VE studies on wastewater treatment works. This
guidance document serves as a reference source for
contracting, planning, performing, reporting, and evaluating
value engineering studies. It also consolidates and updates
the EPA's existing information and experience on value
engineering. This document has not been developed as a
training manual or textbook on value engineering. The value
engineering techniques are adequately described in numerous
texts on the subject. (Refer to the select bibliography in
Appendix B).