Automated LCC tool (CML method)

Automated LCC tool (CML method)


This guidance helps you to successfully complete your calculations for Life Cycle Costing analysis in One Click LCA with the automated LCC tool.

One Click LCA “Life-cycle cost, automated” tool is designed in line with EN 16627 and ISO 15686-5 and standards. The results will be reported based on cost categories mandatory in the EN standard. As a minimum, the categories that must be reported are construction, operation, maintenance, and end-of-life costs.

Follow this guide to successfully compete your LCC 


1. Set your LCC study parameters and calculation period

    • The window will open automatically when you first activate the project. Later you can click ‘Parameters’ from the project main page’s Design ribbon. The LCC parameters are location specific and enable the automation of your LCC calculations.



    • Firstly, set cost regionalisation by selecting the country and click ‘Load regional cost parameters’.

    • This generates automatic inputs for your project location. Please note that the generated values are averaged cost data and might not represent the real values for your project. Edit the generated parameters as necessary.

    • You should check as a minimum:
      • Exchange rate (expressed against 1 Euro)
      • Hourly labour rate worker (average hourly labour cost for low skilled worker)
      • Hourly labour rate craftsman (average hourly labour cost for high skilled worker)

    • Then, set your LCC study calculation period as specified by the client/dependent on the purpose of the study in the ‘Calculation period’ input form.
      The calculation period can be required service life of the building or specified by the client according to their preference or the purpose of the LCC study.
Please note: If the calculations for your LCA are complete, your LCC results will be displayed after setting the calculation period. However, you should adjust the LCC based on your project cost specific info.

2. Pre-construction stage costs (A0) are included in the ‘Other capital costs’ question form

  • Enter costs like land purchase, permits and licenses, planning, design and supervision costs, soil studies and comparable on the specific rows, if you wish to include these elements to the scope of your study. If you have cost elements, not listed in the dropdown menu, use ‘Other costs’ and specify the cost element in the comment row.

3. The construction material costs (A1-A5) are included in the ‘Building materials’ (or ‘Other capital costs’) input form

  • All your building materials and quantities can be automatically imported (see our import options and guidance for import here) or added manually. If you have already calculated your LCA, the materials are automatically taken from your LCA design question form ‘Building materials’. The software provides you default unit costs based on the type of the material, which you can edit as necessary.
  • If you know the lump sum of your material costs, edit the ‘Total cost’. If you have cost data available for whole building element, you can mark the ‘Total cost’ to be 0 for those materials and add the element total cost to the ‘Other capital cost’ question form, under ‘Construction cost’ and mark to the comment field it’s name (e.g. External windows and roof lights).
  • Make sure to mark the service life to enable replacement cost calculation.
You can use the comment row to structure your cost elements or mark if they are not included in your cost calculations if you wish.
            Please note, when adding materials or editing quantities, units or service life in this question form, the inputs will also change in the LCA tool and vice versa.

4. Including Maintenance, operation and repair (B1-B3) costs

  • Such operational costs are included in the ‘Other operating cost’ input form.Other operational costs (cleaning, minor repair, etc.) are to be added to ‘Other operating cost’ input form.
  • The inputs are calculated based on the building area. If you know the lump sum of the cost element, set the quantity as 1 and insert ‘Total cost’.

5. Replacement/refurbishment costs (B4-B5)

  • Replacement/refurbishment costs (B4-B5) will be calculated based on the building materials and their workload/investment costs that are discounted to net present value and service life of those materials.
  • Building materials service life will be defined based on service life values as selected for the LCA calculations. They can be adjusted as necessary.

6. Operational energy and water (B6 and B7)

  • Operational costs will be calculated based on operational energy and water consumption.
  • Like building materials, the energy and water consumption values are taken from your LCA calculations (and vice versa) or entered separately (if no LCA integration is used).
  • The software will provide you default unit cost, which you can adjust as necessary. If you know the annual costs for water and energy consumption, change the Total cost.

7. Your end-of-life costs (C1-C4) will be calculated based on your capital costs (A0-A5) automatically using share of total capital costs      

  • The % share can be edited in the calculation parameters.
      

8. Your LCC is now ready, you can analyze your results on the Results page

  • The results can be downloaded when clicking on ‘More actions’ (upper right corner on Results page) and ‘Life-cycle cost report’.
            

9. Download our LCC report template

  • If you need to present the results to client, you are welcome to use our LCC reporting template: One Click LCA report template for LCC (find attachment at the bottom of the page).

How to interpret your results

The discount factor and inflation are based on the settings which can be set and changed in the 'LCC Parameters' section.

The results page is split into two different columns. The 'Life-cycle cost, discounted' and the 'LCC, nominal (undiscounted, includes inflation).
Both result categories take into account take same calculation parameters (the same set inflation rates), however there is one major difference.

The 'Life-cycle cost, discounted' does not take into account inflation. In the case of the first result column the value of the chosen currency is estimated to be the same over the entire set calculation period. The second results column includes inflation as well, meaning that the set currency will not have the same value over the entire calculation period, which often results in a higher total.

In the example below it is shown with the set parameters from the 'United Kingdom' profile. The calculation period is set to 60 years, which results with the given parameters and an discounted life cycle cost of 1 013 022. The undiscounted life cycle cost results in 2 370 795, due to the fact that it takes into account inflation.


Video

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