Financial Feasibility Analysis of Water Conservation Components in Mass Housing Projects: Suburban Indian Case Review

AbstractThe green building concept has recently gained momentum, and the success of green projects to a large extent depends on the lifecycle cost. Water conservation components contribute almost 12%–15% to the capital cost of a conventional residential building. This paper aims to analyze the financial feasibility of using water conservation components by evaluating their lifecycle costs and operational savings in large mass housing projects. Four components have been evaluated for a case project located in a metropolitan suburban location in India. To analyze the benefits, two different water tariffs are considered: local corporation combined with mineralized water and well water. Lifecycle cost analysis (LCCA) suggests that, excluding the rainwater harvesting component, the significant share of cost for all other components is related to maintenance, repair, and replacement activities. Results of the analysis suggest that water components do not pay a return when a local corporation water tariff is considered at an 8% discount rate. The results of this study are expected to benefit project stakeholders in mass housing projects for their financial and budgetary decisions, thus making implementation of these component-based designs feasible.