Analysis of Life Cycle Cost Methods for Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning Systems in Hospitals

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the current body of knowledge related to life cycle Co sting of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems HVAC systems in hospitals. Life cycle cost LCC is the total cost of procuring, designing, owning, operating, maintaining, and disposing of a building over its useful life including its fuel and water, energy, labor, and replacement components, determined on the basis of a systematic evaluation and comparison. Both government and private hospitals were studied. Hospitals have several interesting characteristics that made them useful to consider. Evaluation of life cycle costs is important because the true costs of ownership of a facility are much larger than the initial construction cost investment. Initial cost is typically the subject of intense scrutiny during design and planning and HVAC systems represent significant portions of the initial cost of a facility and consequently involve significant design choices and trade-offs. Figure 1 shows that facilities require significant ongoing operating expenses especially in maintenance and utilities, and thus influence future costs of ownership. Accurate life cycle cost information is helpful in decision making for initial investment in projects, replacement options, repair options, and for assessing the true costs of ownership of a building. Life cycle costing uses historical and tabular data as well as rules of thumb to make estimates and assessments of the costs involved in different design and construction choices before making a final business decision. The quality of the results of life cycle cost analysis depends on both the computation method and the input data.