Unblocking The Main Thread Solving ANRs and Frozen Frames
How much does it cost to build and maintain a building over its lifetime
1. How much does it really cost to create a building? Life time costs of buildings- They still cost money after you have built them
2. Why worry about lifetime costs? 100 Watts Lasts 6 months Costs 25p Five year power approx 180 kWh £15.00 Five year cost = £2.50 + £15.00 = £17.50 10 Watts Lasts 5 years Costs £4.00 Five year power approx 18kWh £1.50 Five year cost = £4.00 + £1.50 = £5.50 But… How much energy to make one of these? What much cost to dispose of one? Who pays?
3. What does it cost to build a building? The capital costs of a new building Site acquisition Legal and statutory fees Design fees Materials Labour Administration
4. Construction Costs Who is interested in the costs of building? If it is built for speculative sale, the initial owner, the developer, will only be interested in construction costs If it is built for lease or short term rent, the building owner will be interested in change and disposal costs as well, but not running costs If it is built for the owner’s personal use, she will be interested in all but the disposal costs as the building will probably outlive her. Someone will eventually have to bear the cost of demolition
5. What does it cost to run a building? Heating Lighting Cooling Power ENERGY Energy costs of buildings are of increasing public and political concern. Maintenance Redecoration
6. Running costs These will be of interest to a building owner-user or a tenant The Government is also legally interested in energy costs Building regulations cover conservation of fuel and power as a significant aspect of government policy Other regulations have been changed to allow building owners to feed power into the national grid, if their building generates a surplus of energy. An energy efficient building costs more to build than an inefficient one. Speculative builders will not be interested in such efficiency without legal pressure.
7. What does it cost to change a building? Why change a building? Change of use Change of technology Change of fashion Most buildings eventually become redundant for any or all of these reasons
8. Costs of keeping a redundant building There is no economic case for keeping a redundant building which cannot covers its costs. This is why it is called redundant Redundant buildings are kept for historical reasons (castles and keeps) Costs (it would be even more expensive to get rid of them: Nuclear power stations) Irrational pride (the Millennium Dome)
14. Demolition costs Many buildings cost little to demolish. They are smashed up, carted off and buried, or even recycled. Some buildings are very expensive to demolish: Asbestos PCBs Prestressed concrete Some buildings are prohibitively expensive to demolish Nuclear reactors What about off-shore wind farms?
15. If buildings cost so much, why build them? They satisfy needs and the costs are worth paying (benefits outweigh costs) Many buildings have an earning potential which covers their costs Rent Accommodation for valuable activities Resale value
16. The ethical dilemma for the professional advisor When you are asked to advise on building costs, what do you do? Just advise on capital costs? Consider running costs? Consider whole lifetime costs? Do you give advice based on the immediate cost to your client, or the long term costs to your society? Government interest in lowering “carbon footprint” of new buildings is becoming significant. How do you respond?
