Building Component Lifecycle Repair/Replacement Model for Institutional Facility Management

Abstract

The building infrastructure operations and maintenance phase is usually the longest and most costly phase of a building’s lifecycle, ultimately exceeding the total cost of initial design and construction. Targeting these operations and maintenance costs and the cumulative sustainment and renewal costs can have a significant effect on reducing total cost of ownership. This requires planning and correct timing of work, to reduce the adverse affect of deferred maintenance and repair which lead to accelerated deterioration and restoration costs for the structure. There is thus a financial payback in terms of reduced lifecycle cost for correcting distresses and maintaining a quality condition level through proactive facility management. This paper will examine the work management practices necessary to reduce total lifecycle cost of ownership for building facilities using a computational component repair/replacement simulation model. This model incorporates condition measurement, condition prediction, component service life expectancies, and corrective repair/replacement scenarios. Examples will show how a best practice approach to facility management can lower total maintenance and repair costs by nearly half over 50-year lifecycle. Building Infrastructure Lifecycle Buildings are comprised of systems and components, crossing civil, mechanical, and electrical construction disciplines. Each component works interdependently with other components to support the functions of an efficiently operating building. As a physical asset, these components age and deteriorate over time, ultimately adversely affecting performance and reliability of the building. Certain components, such as structural columns, have a service life designed to correspond to the life of the facility. Other components, such as a roof surface, can have a design life much shorter than the life of the facility. The lifespan of a component is rarely known exactly, and actual service life depends greatly on local environmental factors, use and abuse, and levels of routine maintenance accomplished. Periodic repair or replacement of the various deteriorated components