The Effectiveness of Life Cycle Costing in Sustainable Construction

View This Dissertation Here

The UK construction industry is a fast pace and ever changing industry, with an increasing emphasise towards sustainability. As the public awareness of sustainability enhances the pressure on the construction industry to consider the concept progresses. Life cycle costing (LCC) is a technique that allows monetary evaluation of alternative investment or design options taking into consideration all of the life cycle costs associated with a building. The costs generally related to LCC are made up of capital expenditure (CapEx), operating expenditure (OpEx), which comprises of operational and maintenance (O&M) costs, general in-use costs and disposal costs. The outcome of the process assumes that a slight increase in CapEx can result in considerable savings over the life span of a building. A review of the literature, relevant to the research subject will introduce the key principles of LCC and investigate the limitations and barriers preventing further application of the process within the construction industry. The research will also explore the term ‘sustainable development’ in addition to the implementation of sustainable construction within the construction sector.

Further, the aim of the research is to identify the extent to which life cycle costing can be integrated into sustainable design to deliver sustainable construction. The data collection was conducted using a questionnaire, which was distributed among industry professionals and online social groups. The results from this were then used to draw conclusions and recommend any area of further research

Dissertation Objectives

• To examine the extent to which LLC and sustainable design are being effectively utilised in the construction industry today
• To investigate the methodology and limitations of LLC and identify why it is not used more broadly within the industry
• To analyse whether life cycle costing can be used effectively for reducing the environmental impact of construction projects
• To construct a set of recommendations and decisive conclusions to help support the use of life cycle costing as a tool for sustainability

Dissertation Contents – Life Cycle Costing

1 – Introduction
Background
Rationale
Hypothesis
Aims and objectives
Structure

2 – Sustainability in the Construction Industry
Sustainability information
Importance of sustainability in construction
Demand for green construction

3 – Legislation
Regulation and Initiatives
Zero Carbon Homes for 2016
Sustainability assessment methods

4 – Costs
Substantiating the Economy
Capital Costs
Whole Life Costs
Resale Cost and Value
Reducing Costs

5 – Research Methodology
Methods of research
Qualitative methods
Case studies
Other methods
Quantitative methods
Surveys
Other methods
Triangulation of methods

6 – Survey
Analysis of Responses
General identifying questions
Questions on legislation
The cost of sustainability
Innovative versus traditional methods of construction

7 – Conclusions and Recommendations
Limitations
Conclusions
Aim and Objectives
Recommendations for further research

References

Appendix

Other Relevant Blog Post

Construction Management Dissertation Topics

Sustainable Construction

View This Dissertation Here

For more tips on how to write your own construction management dissertation visit our Construction Management Dissertation Topics today. It contains many dissertation topics and dissertation titles. I would very grateful if you can share this post on Twitter or Facebook. Thank you.