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Not Costing the Earth
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Building procurement based around "whole life costing" models is gaining ground over the traditional lowest capital cost approach.
Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contracts for hospitals, schools, social housing, infrastructure and other publicly funded works, have identified whole-life costing as a prerequisite for best-value investment decisions.
Whole-life costing is all about the long-term value and sustainability of a project - taking account of operating and disposal costs as well as initial capital costs. Using cheap materials is a quick way to reduce initial costs, but may prove an expensive mistake when considered over the whole life
of a building.
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Life-cycle costing studies typically show that, over a building’s useful life, maintenance and operating costs are respectively 5 times and 200 times more than the initial capital cost. Cheap materials that need to be replaced frequently, and which are not recyclable, will not prove cost effective over the whole life of the building. And there will almost certainly be associated adverse
environmental impacts.
By using high quality materials, with proven long-term performance and durability, whole-life project costing enables PFI contractors to avoid false economies and manage risk effectively. With this in mind, BLÜCHER has commissioned The Building Performance Group to prepare a whole-life cost assessment of our BLÜCHER EuroPipe® system compared with cast iron and other internal soil and waste drainage systems over 30-year and 50-year periods.*
A whole-life cost assessment considers complex issues that, for clarity here, we can think of in terms of capital costs, operating costs, and recycling or disposal costs. Compared with cast iron and other systems, our BLÜCHER EuroPipe® stainless steel system provided best value for money, whatever cost measures are used.
This means that BLÜCHER EuroPipe® systems have:
The lowest capital cost
BLÜCHER EuroPipe® is one-third the weight of cast iron. So drainage stacks require fewer loadbearing supports and fixings. Quick push-fit connections also give BLÜCHER EuroPipe® clear advantage over cast iron, reducing installation time by as much as 50%.
The lowest cumulative costs over the 30 and 50-year time periods.
The lowest net present values at both 3.5% and 6% discount rates (using present values to assess future costs).
A low environmental impact
Stainless steel is 100% recyclable.
So, the findings show that stainless steel is the natural choice for drainage systems that won’t cost the Earth.
* Whole-Life Cost Assessment of Above Ground Drainage Systems
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