Open Standards Consortium for Real Estate - OSCRE
Data Exchange Standards Activity

Planning
Programming 1- Members of OSCRE’s REAL PROPERTY UNIQUE IDENTIFIER WORK GROUP (RPUID-WG) are currently developing a new business process that will associate a unique non-intelligent identification code to all properties, buildings and structures. All user defined and local regulatory agency numbers can associate to the RPUID.

This standard will apply RPUID’s to Non-Linear Assets such as Buildings and Linear Assets such as roadways, runways, tunnels, parking lots.

This standard has garnered interest and value to all stakeholders across the real property supply chain.

“Design a conceptual and organizational structure to manage the standard for building/property identifiers that is usable across a broad range of users and constituents.”
  • Ease the matching and reconciliation of disparate data sources.
  • Manage the dispute resolution of identification conflicts in mapping of different data sources.
  • Define a standard that can be used across all types of industries and properties.
  • Define the minimal core attributes of property that are needed to ensure unique identification.
  • Investigate RPUID distribution mechanisms.
  • Discuss the merits of a single source repository.
  • Allow for compatibility with existing identification schemas.
Scope and Success Criteria
The scope of the Working Group is as follows:
  • Define the RPUID standard data structures and process definitions in the OSCRE standard, to the degree that the definitions already exist, and to create new definitions as needed to allow for a unique identification for each unit of real property.
  • Identify constituents who would benefit from the RPUID.
  • Identify appropriate groups to form governance over the life of the project.
  • Recommend processes by the RPUID that could be administered.
Business Values
Assist in achieving multiple objectives within each adopting organization for synergies in data collection, reference, and use.
  • Creates a credible model for working with real property data for adaptors.
  • Creates a tool for moving towards common rather than divergent.
  • Better opportunities to benchmark through ease in matching different data elements supplied from different sources around individual assets.
  • Industry should be able to research property history as is currently possible for the automotive industry with CarFax.com that provides on-line, fee based reports of a specific vehicle based on its Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). This concept has been met with enthusiasm by the investment, appraisal and brokerage industries and should provide significant value throughout the stakeholder supply chain.
Summary
If you’ve ever wanted to aggregate portfolio data – either from internal autonomous agencies or via acquisitions into a single repository, the RPUID Standard is intended to be the master link. This WG standard will also be of value to all other OSCRE WG’s as it will be across the Real Estate industry.


2- Members of OSCRE's STRATEGY AND PLANNING METRICS WORK GROUP (S&PM-WG) are expected to publish the following standards by 2QFY07:

A- GEOLOCATION STANDARD
Allows users to roll-up and drill-down any metric from the Global portfolio down to the Site level. B- SPACE CLASSIFICATION STANDARD
Breaks 100% of the floorplate out into 3+ levels of hierarchy by Classification Code and works in conjunction with reconciled BOMA/IFMA Floor Area Measurement Standards and Financial Chart of Accounts.

Space classifications have been used as best practices by a large number of firms since the 1980's and made popular with the use of Computer Aided Facilities Management (CAFM) applications. This is the first coordinated industry-wide effort to standardize this set of classifications that will bring consistency, transparency and apples to apples capabilities to the real property supply-chain.

Both GeoLocations and Space Classifications are considered Primary Level Data (PLD) elements that a large number of metrics and calculations are developed from.

C- SPACE UTILIZATION METRIC
This metric is designed to enable space and portfolio planners and managers obtain an accurate determination how much time workers occupy a variety of space classifications such as designated offices, conference rooms, labs, etc with the basic calculation Duration Workspace Used / Duration Workspace Available. A variety of audit methods are considered in the project.

Specific benefits for adopters of the proposed standard include the following items:
  • True understanding of the performance of the organization’s real estate portfolio, resulting in significant infrastructure cost savings which can be realized by evolving from the current practice of Systems Integration to Standards Adoption.
  • Other areas of potential costs savings include those typically found within the Owner/Operator business processes and described within the International Facility Management Associations (IFMA) Benchmark Survey III Research Report #18, listing business process categories and associated costs per square foot.
  • More time dedicated to useful analysis and less time needed for data consolidation and reconciliation;
  • Robust data sharing due to connectivity improvements;
  • Easier, more effective communications with other parts of the organization such as EH&S, Security, Finance, IT, and HR;
  • Less time and money spent on initial system implementation and systems integration;
  • Quicker, easier deployment of systems. More efficient integration of new systems, such as integration needed following mergers and acquisitions, and greater agility to switch between systems and service providers as needed;
  • Easier and more effective benchmarking through more consistent performance metrics;
  • Better, more credible communications with senior executives;
  • Reduce/eliminate ‘reinventing the wheel’ by grabbing workplace standards off the shelf instead of developing new ones or having to decide on which corporate standard to adopt after acquisitions and mergers. Less time spent on developing consensus on definitions;
  • Suggested approaches to metrics that reflects new workplace strategies and uses, such as activity-based rather than allocation based use of space, which will support better evaluation of space usage and better decision-making.
Summary
The S&PMWG is also working on developing a standard set of Space Classifications that align with BOMA and IFMA’s Floor Area Measurement Standard allowing building owners, managers and investors to accurately and quickly; identify, quantify and compare types of space either within a building, site or across your entire portfolio. This will provide better performance metrics on CAM, Loss Factor, Rentable/Usable/Assignable areas. The output from this work group might very well have the greatest impact not only across all other OSCRE WG’s, but quite possibly the entire Real Estate supply chain.
Contracts Yes. OSCRE International (PISCES) is developing data standards for electronic Contract Transactions, though more focused towards Real Estate transactions. Additionally, up front language required for changes in handoff of project closeout documentation.

Design
Analysis Yes. Using BIM Models and other technologies to extract, segregate and determine building systems/components costs in accordance with the Internal Revenue Code's Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MACRS).

Ongoing Operations
Maintenance Members of OSCRE’s FACILITY MANAGEMENT WORK GROUP are nearing completion of their AUTOMATED WORK REQUEST/WORK ORDER STANDARD designed to enable interoperable data exchanges between a variety of stakeholder applications.

The business values of participating in the OSCRE FM Work Group and adopting the OSCRE FM standard are several:
  • Originators: Minimize data entry of service requests and work orders(From multiple times to single entry)
  • Originators and Recipients: Cutting costs of data management. With a single data export, all service provider and vendor channels will be able to be kept current.
  • Originators and Recipients: Improve data quality. Providing data definitions will contribute to better data quality and easier data interpretation
  • Originators and Recipients: Improve the ease of data management. Providing data in a consistent format will allow data originators and receivers to more readily manage data from different sources.
  • Originators: Re-purpose data for other activities. Data formatted for OSCRE FM purposes can be used for other business activities, saving time and resources formatting the data and interpreting the results.
In the short term, data exchange partners will benefit from decreased costs associated with less data entry, simpler data management and improved data quality. The financial benefits of this process will initially be a reduction in soft costs. Hard cost savings may occur after the data exchange process is vetted with both the data originator and data receiver’s, allowing both parties to cut labor costs associated with data management. The business value of the OSCRE FM standard process cannot be entirely captured in cost savings terms. Many of the benefits generated through this standard will occur as a result of data exchange enabling, streamlining business processes and creating new ones based on the ability to easily manage and track service request and work order data. Many of these enabled processes will occur along the supply chain and where granular work order data can be consumed for business intelligence, market analysis and other data intensive activities inside and outside companies using the OSCRE FM standard.

Summary
Regardless if your organization is involved in Corporate Real Estate or Real Estate Property Management both have to manage work order requests and fulfillment. The FM Work Order Work Group will be a valuable tool designed to automate and streamline this business process that is critical for everything from employee workplace productivity, Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) to tenant retention.