ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE OF BUILDINGS THROUGH LIFE CYCLE COSTING

Abstract

This paper aims at contributing to the dissemination of Life Cycle Cost as a management tool to face current construction market challenges in terms of economic performance. Recent developments, methodology, advantages, weakness, and potential benefits of performing an LCC analysis are presented and discussed. A simplified case study illustrates detailed economic performance calculations for a hypothetical office building whose results presented in Net Present Value are discussed and complemented with case studies reported in the literature. Operation costs related to electric energy consumption for heating and cooling are commonly the main contributors to the LCC of buildings, followed by maintenance costs, which evidences the need to equate costs and energy efficiency, especially to meet the objectives of a sustainable construction market. LCC plays an important role in minimizing costs throughout buildings lifespan when performed in the building design phase.