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I. Kovacic, V. Zoller:
"Building Life Cycle Optimization Tools for Early Design Phases";
Talk: 9th Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems, Venice-Istanbul; 2014-09-20 - 2014-09-27; in: "9th Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems", N. Duic (ed.); Universität Zagreb, Zagreb (2014), ISSN: 1847-7186; Paper ID 2014.0300, 10 pages.

The following costs for operation of buildings are a multiple of initial costs. In terms of sustainability, optimization of following costs is in close relationship to the issue of affordability and often stands in direct relationship with optimization resources. The early planning phase plays crucial role for the future performance of a building throughout the life cycle - here the optimization potential is still very large, at very low cost. In the latter planning phases the change possibility rapidly decreases with simultaneously increasing costs. The AEC industry is facing the problem that has been known from other industries, that the early planning phases are characterized by the lack of information, data and tools. Therefore the investors and planners are increasingly requiring planning tools as decision support instruments, which would enable simulation and optimization of life cycle costs in the early planning phases already.
This paper will present a comparative study of three commercial software-tools for the calculation of life cycle costs, and test their fitness for the implementation in the early design phases. Using a case study of energy efficient building, life cycle costs were calculated employing the three tools and the deviations of the results were compared. The analysis showed, that the tested tools can not be employed in the early design phases without adoption and customization, lacking of benchmarks and reliable data representing the largest problem for a life cycle cost calculation and optimization. In further step, a strategy for investors for the assessment of life cycle costs in the architectural competitions for decision support a was developed, as well as the method for building up of life cycle cost database within the developers´ companies.

Life Cycle Costs, Simulation, Cost Calculation, Life Cycle Optimization