TOTAL LIFE CYCLE COSTING

Green thinking takes the long-term view and looks at the larger impacts of any action on the environment and society. Total life cycle costing is an essential part of such holistic thinking. Even when applied in a narrowly economic manner, life cycle costing demonstrates green design to be a sound investment. It proves that a building's initial capital cost amounts to only a small fraction of the total cost of running and maintaining it. Over the years, the savings in utility bills achieved by energy efficiency can prove equal to or exceed what the building originally cost. Also, buildings that require less maintenance, and are easier to clean, can recoup several times over any extra investment necessary to achieve this. If the wages, contentment and performance of the building's occupants are considered, the cost benefits of green design can prove enormous. During the life of an office building, factory or hospital, the salaries of those who work there amount to several times the building's original cost. The diminished absenteeism and staff turnover, along with the increased productivity, typically reported of green buildings are compelling economic (as well as social and political) reasons for investing in green buildings. Increasingly, total life cycle costing is considered in terms that are broader than economic, and longer term than merely that of the building's life. It is concerned with assessing the total costs--including those to society, local community and individuals, ecology and larger environment, the psyche and sense of the aesthetic--of every aspect of the building, from the extraction, manufacture and transport of its materials, through its erection and useful life to the ultimate recycling of its materials or their degradation back to earth.

Buildings: Beyeler Foundation Museum, Commerzbank Headquarters, Gotz Headquarters, Minnaert Building, Mont Cenis Training Center, University of Nottingham Jubilee Campus