ASSIGNMENT

1. What is a Life Cycle Assessment? To which general construction-related topic is this related?
2. What is a Life Cycle Cost Analysis? To which general construction-related topic is this related?
3. What are some of the lifetime costs associated with owning a building?
4. What is Payback Period? What sort of building elements can it be used to evaluate?
5. Is it better to have a higher initial price with lower operating costs or a lower initial price with higher operating costs?
   1. Quickly sketch these two options on a graph with time on the X axis and dollars on the Y axis.

EXERCISE

You are choosing between two mechanical systems for a 57,250 sq ft. office building. You need to provide 1 Ton of Cooling for every 600 sq ft. Utility costs are $0.49/kWh and are expected to remain stable. System A costs $20,000 to install and will use 15 kWh per 24,000 BTU of cooling per month to operate. System B costs $36,000 to install and will cost 18kWH per 36,000 BTU of cooling per month to operate. The system will only be in use during the 6-month cooling season.

1. Which system costs less after 10 years?
2. What about after 20 years?

REFERENCE

Whole Building Design Guide
Life-Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA)

US Forest Service
Life-Cycle Cost Analysis for Buildings is Faster Than You Thought

AccountTools.com
Payback Method | Payback Period Formula

YouTube | Environmental Finance Center at UNC-Chapel Hill
Understanding Life Cycle Cost

Problem Seeking: An Architectural Programming Primer 5th Ed
Financial Analysis pg 120