Military Construction Standards Should Be Updated To Better Meet User Needs and Save Money

Military construction standards are used in designing and building Department of Defense (DOD) facilities worldwide; these standards affect the adequacy of a facility and its costs for construction, operation, and maintenance. The application of selected standards was examined in the Pacific Ocean area.

DOD construction standards are generally comprehensive and provide the flexibility to meet varied user needs. However, conflicting and outdated standards contribute to increased costs and may run counter to the government's energy conservation goals by providing a facility with too much lighting and cooling or too little insulation and vapor barrier protection. More local input into the planning process and better consideration for unique needs could produce better adapted facilities in Hawaii. The criteria for Hawaiian construction do not result in facilities which meet user needs at the most reasonable cost. Air conditioning and insulation criteria do not consider the lack of temperature or humidity extremes and the availability of cooling winds. Standard designs used by DOD fail to provide the open-air livability features common to privately constructed buildings in Hawaii.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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