Conducting Lifecycle Cost in Order to Make Better Decisions
Published on Monday, 17 November 2014 20:05:02
Written by Marc
By definition, the lifecycle cost is the total cost of an equipment over its useful life. For example, if we purchase a new rooftop unit for a commercial building, the lifecycle cost will include the cost of purchasing the unit, the cost of installation, and the cost of all its maintenance and energy used during its lifespan. If we take the long definition, it also normally includes any upgrade costs as well as residual value.

- Do not have time. In many cases, if the equipment is vital to the operations of the company, the cost of the equipment itself is minimal compared to the loss of production that is taking place because of the broken equipment. Therefore, lifecycle cost is not something they have time to do.
- Ask for a few bids and select the lowest one. This seemed to be a popular answer but when we dig a little deeper, we understand that the companies do know that they might not be making a sound decision. In many cases, people are simply following the company’s guideline of seeking three bids for an equipment replacement, but not taking the time to compare in detail the specs, performance and ongoing costs of the proposals. In many cases, they know that they might not be taking the best decision for the long run, but they follow policies. While that might help the employees stay out of trouble, it does not help the company’s bottom line.
- Do not have much budget, always take the cheapest solution. Although we know this is not the best way to go, we were not surprised by this one. At times where many companies struggle simply to stay afloat, it is hard to point fingers at a company trying to reduce their expenses every way they can. The downside is that is selecting the cheapest purchase, they might actually end up paying much more in the end.
- We purchase the minimum because we do not keep the buildings long enough. There are times when going for the cheapest solution might make sense. Few companies would really spend to replace an equipment with the most expensive option if they were getting ready to sell the building. In this case, even if the cheapest equipment used twice the energy consumption that another equipment that would be priced a little higher, the company would probably not have the time to recuperate the extra cost, so going with the lowest cost can make sense.
- We do some analysis when we have time, but not always and even with the equipment specs in hand, for most equipment replacement, it requires lots of engineering calculation to come up with valid numbers and we would need to pay a consultant for this service, so all savings would probably go to the consultant. This one did came as a surprise to us and actually took us some time to understand it well, but from a building owner or manager’s point of view it does make sense. If doing a lifecycle cost analysis of a number of equipment like chillers and boilers requires significant engineering load calculations and if the company does not have the internal resources to do these calculations, then it must outsource it to a consultant and the argument is that the cost of the consultant will probably be equal to the savings he might find in recommending the best equipment to purchase. In the end, there is no net gain for the building owner, so there is no reason to do a lifecycle cost analysis.

- Unit no.2-N: Purchase price: $90,000. Installation: $70,000 for a total of $160,000
- Unit no. 2-N-2: Purchase price: $50,000. Installation: $30,000 for a total of $80,000
- Unit no. 8-N-2: Purchase price: $180,000. Installation: $140,000 for a total of $320,000
- Unit no 2-N: Maintenance cost of $28,000
- Unit no 2-N-2: Maintenance cost of $45,000
- Unit 8-N-2: Maintenance cost of $15,000
- Unit 2-N: Purchase $160,000 + 5 years of maintenance (5X28,000) = $300,000
- Unit 2-N-2: Purchase $80,000 + 5 years of maintenance (5X45,000) = $ 305,000
- Unit 8-N-2: Purchase $320,000 + 5 years of maintenance (5X15,000) = $395,000
- Unit 2-N uses 1.0 Kw/Ton
- Unit 2-N-2 uses 1.2 Kw/Ton
- Unit 8-N uses 0.6 Kw/Ton
- Unit 2-N: $1,338,845
- Unit 2-N-2: $1,608,870
- Unit 8-N: $1,212,990