This guidance can be used to help you successfully complete your calculations for BREEAM Life Cycle Costing credits in One Click LCA with our automated LCC tool. Please note that this guidance only applies to BREEAM UK NC 2014, but the LCC tool can also be used for other schemes.
Elemental life cycle cost (LCC)
An elemental Life Cycle Cost (LCC) analysis has been carried out, at Process Stage 2 (equivalent to Concept Design – RIBA Stage 2) together with any design option appraisals in line with ‘Standardized method of life cycle costing for construction procurement’ PD 156865:20081.
You can find a description of the Concept Design stage in RIBA plan of work. The One Click LCA Life-cycle cost tool, PD 156865:2008, is set based on the British standard for life cycle costing. All the costing entries in the queries are categorized according to the standard, and the results will be reported based on those categories. To calculate LCC, you will need to include at least construction, operation, maintenance, occupancy and end-of-life costs. Customer data to be entered in One Click LCA.
In order to successfully complete your calculations for BREEAM UK Life Cycle Costing credits in One Click LCA, please follow this workflow:
Create a new design and give it a name of your choice. Follow our guide on how to create a design here.
Define your scope. Fill in cost data for the components that are relevant for your project.
Enter your cost data in the ‘Building Materials’ tab. Quantity expresses the area/number for the cost element, and the Unit cost expresses the cost per unit. If you know the lump sum, add value to the Total costs. Define the BCIS category to your selected LCC components in the comment row.
Fill in the Deconstruction costs by providing typical deconstruction costs based on the area (£/m2).
Maintenance and Operating costs must be included in the ‘Operating costs’ tab. Enter the operation costs apart from utility costs under the ‘Annual operating, maintenance and repair costs’ question. Enter annually occurring maintenance and operation costs under the ‘Annual operating, maintenance and repair costs’ question. Enter regularly occurring maintenance costs under ‘Periodic costs from material replacement’ and enter their occurrence frequency in the Service life field.
Enter the utilities costs under the ‘Energy and water utility annual costs’ question
Occupancy costs must be included in the ‘Operating costs’ input form. Enter annually occurring occupancy costs under ‘Annual operating, maintenance and repair costs’
In the ‘Calculation period’ input form, choose your cash flow scenario, e.g. 20, 30 or 50+ years.
For your design option appraisal, you can create a copy of the design and change the cost elements or LCC calculation period and or calculation period – in this way, you can work out the most cost-optimal solution!
Component-level LCC Plan
You can find a description of the Technical Design stage in RIBA plan of work
The One Click LCA Life-cycle cost tool, PD 156865:2008, is set up based on the British standard for life cycle costing. All the costing entries in the queries are categorized according to the standard, and the results will be reported based on those categories. Include construction, operation, maintenance, occupancy and end-of-life costs at a minimum.
Create a new design and give it a name of your choice. Select RIBA stage 4. Follow our guide on how to create a design here.
Include required component types in the LCC. Define for all Construction costs BCIS categories in the comment row.
Enter all necessary costs related to the elements as it has been done for the building.
In the ‘Calculation period’ input form, choose your cash flow scenario, e.g. 20, 30 or 50+ years. If you compare alternative options for the same building component, make sure that you use the same calculation period and parameters.
Prepare a document to demonstrate how the component-level LCC plan has been used to influence building and systems design/specification to minimize life cycle costs and maximize critical value
The main difference between elemental level and component level LCC is the quality of cost data. For the element level, the costs are estimates, and the LCC calculations can be based on the order of magnitude estimations, whereas for the component level, LCC cost data should be at a substantive estimate level.