Building Life Cycle Cost Research Articles

LIFE CYCLE COST ASSESSMENT OF RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS AS A TOOL FOR INCREASING ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY IN THE HOUSING SECTOR

The article considers one of the effective directions of increasing the economic efficiency of operation of the housing stock, based on the assessment of the life cycle costs of residential buildings. It is noted that the increase in modern real estate will improve the quality of life, make it more comfortable, and will also contribute to the saving of material and financial resources. Monitoring of the study by many authors of the problem of applying the methodology for assessing the life cycle costs of real estate objects by total costs was carried out. A comparison of the life cycle costs of 26 residential buildings constructed and operated in different regions of the Republic of Belarus is given. Based on the analysis, conclusions are made about the dependence of the life cycle costs of residential buildings on the number of storeys of the building, their space-planning solutions and heating systems. It is proposed to optimize the life cycle costs of residential buildings when choosing a design solution to set not only the maximum construction costs, but also the maximum life cycle costs, which will guide designers to develop projects of resource-saving residential buildings. It has been established that the potential economic effect from the introduction and widespread use of the methodology for assessing the life cycle costs of residential buildings, subject to the maximum values of these costs, is 191,997.88 Belarusian rubles per year or 4.131% of the total life cycle costs. It is emphasized that saving these funds can ensure an increase in the volume of housing construction for those in need of better housing conditions, which will contribute to increasing the effectiveness of the implementation of the state's social policy.

Strategies of Public University Building Maintenance—A Literature Survey

In this article, comprehensive insights into the field of building maintenance, emphasizing the importance of keywords, collaborative efforts among authors, and the evolving research landscape, are provided. The use stage, as the longest phase in a building’s life cycle, involves economic, technical, and social activities. Numerous authors have contributed to the broader topic of building maintenance, covering aspects such as maintenance prioritization, improvement actions, decision-making guidelines, factors affecting success, cost estimation models, and BIM usage in maintenance. The study conducts a thorough literature review using Scopus as a search engine, employing the full-counting method for authorship, and uses VOSviewer 1.6.20 software for bibliometric analysis to identify gaps and outline future research directions. The results reveal distinct data sets focusing on building maintenance from general to specific, with each set reflecting unique aspects and considerations. Bibliometric maps illustrate author collaboration and keyword connections within each set, highlighting evolving research trends and areas of focus. Overall, the analysis highlights the importance of prioritizing maintenance, integrating technology, and fostering collaboration to enhance building maintenance in educational institutions. The study concludes with recommendations for future research, emphasizing the ongoing need for exploration and development in building maintenance, especially on maintenance strategies and Life Cycle Costs of university buildings.

Study of the factors influencing the life cycle cost of green buildings using SEM-SD method

ABSTRACT The recent surge in carbon emissions from the building sector has raised significant environmental concerns. While green building practices have proven effective, their widespread adoption has been hindered by high costs. This study aims to explore the factors impacting the life cycle costs of green buildings, with the aim of achieving “double carbon” reduction. Through an analysis of 42 articles, 24 factors were distilled based on expert opinion. After collecting 322 data through questionnaires, a model of the factors influencing the life cycle cost of green buildings was constructed using structural equation modeling, and a cost simulation study was carried out through the system dynamics method in the practical case to examine how the cost changed. The findings highlight the pivotal role of planning and design, implementation, and operation and maintenance phases. Notably, green building design programs, green construction programs, and the property management level stand out as critical factors emerged as critical factors. These insights can inform strategies to reduce the cost of green buildings, thereby fostering energy conservation and emission reduction in the construction industry.

Optimal path shape of friction-based Track-Nonlinear Energy Sinks to minimize lifecycle costs of buildings subjected to ground accelerations

Track Nonlinear Energy Sinks (T-NES) are Pendulum Tuned Mass Dampers (PTMDs) whose nonlinear restoring forces are obtained from curved path shapes. They combine the abilities of traditional spring-based NESs with the operational advantages of PTMDs. T-NES can resonate with broad frequency content, becoming effective even under damage to the host structure originating from strong ground motions. In the published literature, the integration of Friction Dampers (FDs) into T-NESs (so-called T-NES Type II) has only been studied on PTMDs with circular tracks, and in deterministic settings. Herein, a novel Reliability-Based Design Optimization (RBDO) procedure is presented to find the optimal track shape of T-NES Type II in buildings subjected to earthquakes. The objective is to minimize expected life-cycle damage costs corresponding to slight damage, moderate damage, and extensive damage limit states. A set of rational functions encompassing a wide range of generic curvatures is constructed to describe the T-NES track shape. The nonlinear description is used for restoring force and also in the dissipative mechanism. The case study is a medium-rise building located in Chile. The results indicate that, for the studied building, the optimal path is multimodal, and quite different track profiles can significantly reduce oscillation of the host structure.

A Work Breakdown Structure for Estimating Building Life Cycle Cost Aligned with Sustainable Assessment—Application to Functional Costs

The tools used for budgeting in the building design phase are still insufficient to address the life cycle of the building in terms of environmental and cost impacts. The main objective of this research is to define a model for extending existing cost databases to accommodate life cycle sustainability assessment. For this, current classification systems are reviewed and a case study has been analysed using the new approach. To this end, a new system of classification of construction information is proposed for the evaluation of early design costs, when data are scarce and the only information available refers to the gross interior area and the plot. The classification organizes the costs in a similar way to the sustainability assessment in EN-15643. A subcategory has been added for revenue, developer costs, and taxes at all stages of the lifecycle. The resulting classification is applied to the functional elements of a secondary school project. In the case study, construction costs represent 21% while the use stage accounts for 72% in a 100-year lifespan. The results show that, starting from generic cost bases, more complex costs and functional costs can be defined at different stages of the life cycle and adjusted to sustainability assessment standards.

Building renovation plan - introducing energy and cost into the managerial perspectives: A case study

Implementing more stringent energy requirements for public buildings has the potential to expedite the renovation rate of building stocks. While many studies have explored optimal renovation solutions to reduce energy consumption and cost, few have established a comprehensive building portfolio strategy from the perspective of portfolio managers. This study addresses this gap by developing a framework that empowers building portfolio managers to make informed decisions regarding building renovations. Through an in-depth case study, the current workflow for determining renovation needs, which involves analyzing maintenance requirements, building usability, and adaptability, is enhanced by incorporating a cost-optimal renovation framework. The study utilizes building simulations and life cycle cost analysis to assess the energy reduction potential of six school buildings requiring renovation. The results demonstrate a potential for energy use reduction, ranging from 11% to 44% when incorporating energy-saving measures into the renovations. Cost-optimal solutions are achieved for two buildings, resulting in energy reduction ranging from 31% to 36% and cost reduction ranging from 7% to 8%. The primary contribution of this research is developing a framework that reduces ambiguities of which buildings a portfolio manager should prioritize for renovation. By identifying current performance and improvement potential, the framework enables benchmarking against energy performance classes, aiding in strategic decision-making. However, the study also underscores the complexities of assessing a diverse building stock from a bottom-up perspective. Barriers such as obtaining high-quality data, scaling assessments, time constraints, and knowledge transfer are problems to overcome. Additionally, evaluating various building typologies with diverse characteristics, including those with legal restrictions due to heritage status, presents unique challenges. Future research directions should focus on expanding the framework to incorporate a life cycle assessment perspective. This approach will ensure a comprehensive building portfolio strategy that mitigates the risk of sub-optimal solutions.

Optimizing Insulation Material Selection in Conceptual Building Design: A Simulation-Based Study on Lifecycle Cost and Carbon Emissions

Insulation materials play a crucial role in reducing a building’s energy demand and carbon emissions. To optimize building lifecycle costs and reduce carbon emissions, this study developed an energy consumption simulation method specifically for the conceptual design phase of buildings to assess the impact of insulation material selection. Through this method, the study obtained the energy performance of buildings and calculated the lifecycle cost and carbon emissions data. A comparative analysis of different design schemes and material choices was then conducted. The results indicate that a rational selection of insulation materials can significantly reduce related costs by 75% and carbon emissions by 81%. The significant variations in cost and carbon emissions among different conceptual design styles further emphasize the importance of using simulation methods in the early stages of building design to optimize both cost and carbon emissions.

Expert studies on the impact of risk on the life cycle costs of buildings

Expert studies on the impact of risk on the life cycle costs of buildings

Life cycle cost analysis of seismic retrofit policy at the city scale

Many early-developed cities are grappling with aging building environments, characterized by chronic deterioration of structures. The consequent rise in seismic risk and loss has spurred governments to promote relevant disaster mitigation plans. In the process of urban renewal or the retrofit of dilapidated buildings, it is crucial to consider economic feasibility and the impact of policies. To support decision-making, this study aims to develop a framework for evaluating different seismic reinforcement strategies at a city level using a life cycle cost-benefit analysis. The reduction of seismic loss by a certain reinforcement strategy was assessed through the capacity spectrum method, fragility curves, and probabilistic seismic hazard analysis. Construction costs and reinforcement costs were adapted from historical data. The Equivalent Uniform Annual Cost Method was also adopted to analyze the overall life cycle cost of the target buildings based on the chosen reinforcement strategy. The researchers of this study analyzed the private buildings in Taipei City, Taiwan, to demonstrate the proposed method. The priority for reinforcement was determined based on various vulnerability measures of the buildings. Six different reinforcement strategies were compared in the case study. The results revealed that the strategies that can properly exploit soft story reinforcement are more economically attractive in terms of life cycle cost. However, a decline in marginal utility was detected. The results also showed that the proposed method could provide an objective reference for determining the priority of reinforcement plans and effectively mitigate the impact of earthquakes on the community. The findings of this research can assist stakeholders in earthquake disaster preparedness and mitigation.

Life Cycle Cost in Circular Economy of Buildings by Applying Building Information Modeling (BIM): A State of the Art

The building industry is one of the largest consumers of materials resources and significant contributors to global waste. Applying core principles of circular economy (CE) could significantly help the environment by reducing waste and decreasing the life cycle cost of buildings. Several strategies to implement the concept of CE in buildings include design for deconstruction, adaptability, and flexibility. However, implementing these design strategies could face constraints. In this study, we identified 22 barriers related to the adoption of CE in buildings, as reported in the literature. We discussed the role of Building Information Modeling (BIM) in overcoming those barriers. This paper demonstrates how BIM can facilitate the implementation of CE principles while providing critical insights into the life cycle costs of circular buildings. We identified 14 ways to use BIM to foster the implementation of a circular economy approach. To achieve these objectives, we have undertaken a thorough review of recent publications that explore CE design strategies, Life Cycle Costing in the circular construction of buildings, and BIM developments in the building industry. This literature review is based on 88 articles covering BIM’s role in enhancing the management of a building’s end-of-life while reducing the life cycle cost in the circular construction of buildings.

A Study on Assessment of Carbon Footprints Reduction and Life-Cycle Cost of Buildings Using University Halls of Residence in Nigeria as a Case Study

A Study on Assessment of Carbon Footprints Reduction and Life-Cycle Cost of Buildings Using University Halls of Residence in Nigeria as a Case Study

Sequencing the carbon emission cycle of green buildings in China based on an ecological city perspective

As people's basic material living standards continue to rise, the demand for a better living environment and a better life is becoming increasingly strong. Since the 18th and 19th National Congresses of the Party proposed to carry out ecological civilization construction and build a beautiful China, carrying out ecological city construction has become one of the effective ways to solve the current urban development problems. In this paper, we summarise the latest research on green building assessment systems, life-cycle carbon emissions and life-cycle costs of buildings. We find that China's green building assessment system still has many shortcomings compared to the world's advanced green building assessment systems. Based on this, we have conducted a sequencing analysis of the life cycle carbon emissions of green buildings in China, so that buildings can meet the green building rating and at the same time achieve energy and carbon savings. The results of the study show that the building use phase has the highest carbon emissions in the building life cycle, accounting for 77% of the life cycle carbon emissions.

Life Cycle Cost Analysis to Maintain Material Construction on Hotel Development Project Batu

Life cycle cost analysis is a crucial design process in controlling the initial costs and future costs of owning a company investment project. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct a life cycle analysis study cost to find out what cost categories are contained in the Project hotel development in the Batu City area also, see how much the total cost incurred by a project. The construction of the hotel starts from the design stage to the technical age of the hotel that has been completed set. The purpose of this study is to identify service life components hotel building materials, and make a long-term plan for the life cycle cost of the hotel building in the Batu City area. The results of this study indicate that in the Life Cycle Cost Analysis using the essential cost of building investment for 15 years, where there are items of Initial Cost, Annual Recurring Cost, Non-Recurring Cost, the LCC cost of Architectural Work on the Initial Design is IDR 21,542,108,279.

Influence of various parameters on lifecycle cost of buildings with active energy efficiency measures.

The energy consumption of the building sector has heightened significantly in recent times owing to rapid global urbanization. Energy efficiency measures (EEM) may become a legal obligation for construction in years ahead. This study proposes the execution of Active Energy Efficiency Measures (AEEM) in a hospital building model evolved in energy simulation software while designed for a warm and humid environment. A series of design models were developed for the study by considering temperature set-points, HVAC star rating, and roof area for solar plant as the varying parameters. Investors have been reluctant to adopt efficiency measures attributed to the rise in their capital costs. Therefore, the study performed a Lifecycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) and payback period computations for additional investments to implement EEM. The findings are presented in the form of a correlation study between percentages of annual energy savings, life-cycle cost reductions, and additional capital investments for the implementation of AEEM. Energy conservation strategies without any additional investments to obtain a good future return are also discussed. With the combination of varying parameters, energy savings of up to 38.66% and a reduction in Lifecycle Cost (LCC) of up to 17.25% are obtained. Comparisons of design models highlight the importance of performing energy simulations and LCCA prior to actually making an investment in energy efficiency strategies.

Life Cycle Cost Assessment and Retrofit in Community Scale: A Case Study of Jordan

In the last few years, the renovation and refurbishment of existing buildings have been recognized as one of the main strategies to achieve energy efficiency and sustainability goals. However, the current studies have mainly focused on the retrofit, life cycle assessment (LCA), and Life Cycle Cost (LCC) of buildings in isolation without envisaging the impact of microclimate and the surrounding buildings on the outcome of energy simulation. Specifically, many energy simulation software needs to include the environmental responses when buildings are treated with outdoor conditions based on weather data from the nearest metrological site. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the impact of microclimate on retrofit and LCC of a community of buildings rather than a single isolated building. For this purpose, a coupling method is developed to integrate building energy simulation (BES) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD), which exchange parameters on a dynamic time step basis using Envi-met to create weather files from microclimate parameters and use it on energy simulation through DesignBuilder software. Furthermore, this study interlinks the life cycle cost assessment and retrofit strategies on a community scale. A case study of Amman – Jordan, is selected in this paper by one a residential building with two floors and an area of 450. At the same time, the retrofit strategy is considered as implementing green roofs for community areas, which are implemented in the context around the buildings. In addition, this study calculates the net present value and the pack period regarding the life cycle cost study. The initial result shows that there is an impact for microclimate parameters on the temperatures gained on the building's envelope as a result of the effect of airflow through context parameters, which in turn affect the value of energy consumption used for cooling inside the buildings. Moreover, this paper demonstrates that using green roofs on one of the neighbourhood buildings will decrease energy consumption by 28% in the simulated time while the payback period is 9.5 years.

Enhancing the seismic performance of building using damage-avoidance shear wall hold-downs

Concrete coupled wall is one of the outstanding seismic resisting systems for mid to high-rise building structures located in a high seismic region. In this system, the link beam provides coupling action between the beam and the adjacent wall panel, which significantly increases the wall system's lateral stiffness and eventually reduce the footprint for the seismic resisting system. However, once the link beam is damaged due to a severe earthquake, it is difficult, costly, and time-consuming to be repaired, which results in business disruption and the increased building life cycle cost. To deal with these issues, the Resilient Slip Friction Joint (RSFJ) has recently been introduced and employed in the New Zealand construction industry. This novel technology does not only aim to provide “life safety” but also “immediate occupancy” criteria. The flag-shaped hysteresis of the RSFJs provides the required seismic performance, including a self-centring behaviour. This paper addresses the enhanced seismic performance of the structures using this system. An eight-storey reinforced concrete building is designed using the conventional forced-based design method, and its seismic performance is evaluated by non-linear static pushover and nonlinear dynamic time-history simulations. The results showed that this system can provide a high level of structural ductility while providing fully self-centring behaviour.

The Influence of Green Building Application on High-Rise Building Life Cycle Cost and Valuation in Indonesia

The building sector has slowly but constantly had the largest contribution to global carbon emissions. Thus, business in the building sector has a responsibility to contribute to reducing carbon emissions. One of the ways of doing this has been by developing the concept of a green building, which is one of the solutions for sustainable development. However, the main obstacle for the property developer is a misconception that capital cost spending is more important than the life cycle cost of the building. The majority of property owners and developers are more concerned about the initial cost without taking into consideration that the initial cost is closely related to the operational cost of buildings, especially high-rise buildings. From this phenomenon, there are research opportunities that aim to determine how the concept of green influences the financial decisions of developers in Indonesia that are applied to high-rise buildings. The method used in this research is inferential analysis to determine how the influence of the application of green building factors into the valuation of a building. The valuation is based on one of three methods in a building’s valuation, which is the cost approach. Then, a comparison between the building’s valuation using green and non-green is conducted in terms of the cost analysis and sensitivity. The result of the analysis is known that according to the developer practitioners in Indonesia with the green building concept, the increase in construction costs is not always accompanied by a decrease in operating and maintenance costs, as well as an increase in property values. These findings can have implications for achieving expectations, that is increasing property values through the use of the green building concept by reducing the operational and maintenance costs.

BIM-based approach for the integrated assessment of life cycle carbon emission intensity and life cycle costs

The construction industry is well known for generating a large amount of carbon emissions and this, together with huge costs of buildings during their life cycle, seriously affects its environmental and economic sustainability. That reducing the former tends to increase the latter is a highly significant problem exacerbating the situation. Finding a solution with the lowest carbon emission at a certain cost is an urgent problem to be solved. Research to date aimed at remedying the situation, however, has been largely focused on either treating the two issues independently or partially conjoined, with little progress in their integrated assessment. In response, this study presents a method for integrating the life cycle carbon emissions (LCCE) and life cycle costs (LCC) of buildings to assess their life cycle carbon emission intensity (CEI) based on BIM technology. Through a public building in China as a case study, the feasibility of the method is verified, the key stages of building carbon emissions are analyzed using CEI, and the conversion of high carbon emission materials to low carbon emission materials is explored. The proposed methodology and framework provide solutions and ideas for achieving optimal costs commensurate with low carbon emissions throughout the building life cycle, facilitating the assessment of carbon emissions at the decision-making and design stages, achieving the optimization of building carbon emissions and costs, and enhancing building life cycle sustainability.

DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIALLY AFFORDABLE HOUSING USING CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT TEMPLATES

Introduction. As a result of the military aggression of Russian Federation, an unprecedented amount of housing stock was damaged in various cities of Ukraine. Accordingly, the issue of restoring damaged and rebuilding new housing for socially unprotected population arises. In addition to a wide range of issues related to architecture, energy efficiency and structures of these buildings, there is a need to create a reliable management tool that will allow a large amount of construction and restoration work to be carried out economically and in a short period of time. Problems. Restoring damaged and rebuilding new housing includes solving the following tasks: reduction of construction cost and life cycle cost of buildings; shortening the terms of construction and restoration works; taking into account world experience in the design and construction of high-quality socially accessible housing; flexible management of the intensity of state financing of portfolios and programs of investment and construction projects. The information and communication concept “construction management template” can be a tool for solving these tasks. Purpose. The article is intended to justify the expediency of using a new multidimensional business-model of construction enterprise based on the concept “construction management template” for the development of social housing in post-war period of Ukraine recovery. Materials and methods. The new information and communication concept provides the implementation of the most effective innovative and traditional management methods. The corresponding multidimensional business-model of construction enterprise provides taking into account the principles of sustainable development. It is proposed to use this concept within the framework of a multidimensional business-model that will ensure high standards of management of the construction of socially affordable housing during the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine. Results. The information and communication concept “construction management template” is proposed. The concept served as a basis for the development of a new multidimensional business-model of construction enterprise. The principle of operation of this model consists in comparing the factors of sustainable development of the enterprise with its organizational divisions and determining the relevant performance indicators. The multidimensional business-model of construction enterprise, proposed for the first time, allows balanced distribution of business processes and responsibilities between the structural divisions of the enterprise. This is achieved due to: the use of one unifying information and communication tool that allows to automate a number of business processes; structuring information about the project in such a way that top management can receive it without the need to use intermediate hierarchical links of management; identification of discrepancies between the activities of different divisions when creating and editing the information and communication model. Conclusions. The multidimensional business-model of construction enterprise makes it possible to raise the standards of construction management. The corresponding technical and economic effect consists in shortening the terms of construction and restoration works; reduction of the construction cost and cost of the life cycle of buildings; taking into account world experience in the design and construction of high-quality socially accessible housing.

EVALUATION OF A BUILDING LIFE CYCLE COST (LCC) CRITERIA IN EGYPT USING THE ANALYTIC HIERARCHY PROCESS (AHP)

Recently, life cycle cost (LCC) has gained a wide acceptance in the field of industrial building construction, where it is categorized under economic sustainability in the overall sustainability of buildings. Hence, it is necessary to think about the categories and criteria that affect the building’s cost over its lifespan. In this study, the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), a multi-criteria decision-making methodology, is employed to evaluate and weight four categories which are building blocks of the LCC of industrial building construction. The assessment model applies seventeen criteria which are distributed under the following four categories: initial cost, operating or maintenance cost, environmental impact cost, and the end of life. These are evaluated by thirty-seven civilian experts responding to a pair wise questionnaire. The results are significant as they reflect the viewpoints of the civilian experts and can aid in the development of a building's economic sustainability by illuminating the impact factors of the life cycle cost of buildings. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to handle criteria evaluation of LCC for sustainable building using the AHP multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methodology.