Green procurement of buildings: estimation of environmental impact and life-cycle cost

This thesis focuses on environmental impact reduction and life-cycle cost estimations in building procurement. The aim for the work presented in this thesis is to contribute to the understanding of whether costs and environmental impact of a building can be integrated in a, from the users perspective, practical model applied for tender evaluation. The model should also be able to use as a base of evaluating different solutions in the design phase. Specifically this means to: Increase knowledge about integration of economical and environmental aspects from a life-cycle perspective in relation to buildings Provide recommendations for procurement of cost effective and environmental aware buildings In the first part, environmental requirements stipulated by Swedish clients were investigated through a questionnaire survey followed by interviews. The identified requirements were analysed in relation to reduction of environmental impact and productivity. It was found that requirements linked to the construction process, waste reduction and choice of building materials were well represented. Several requirements were obstacles for a more cost-effective construction without benefiting the environment. The environmental impact from operation, as energy use, was however not considered to any larger extent. Energy use is currently considered to be the major source of environmental impact and governmental authorities in Sweden and EU advocate reductions. To encourage a development of innovative solutions in this area, clients should provide the incitements. It is here suggested that the integration of environmental impact assessment with life- cycle cost estimation in tender evaluation provide such incitement. In the second part, a broader understanding of life-cycle cost estimations and the extent of use by clients was established by a questionnaire survey in Sweden and a seminar in Canada. It was found that Swedish clients consider life-cycle cost estimations mainly in design and to a limited extent in procurement. In general the cost elements considered are investment, energy and, maintenance costs. Limitations for a wider uptake were also identified as lack of access to reliable input data and restricted experiences in actual use of the method. The seminar in Canada aimed at collecting information about the integration between theory and practice and the use in environmental design. It was found that in the absence of a formalised life-cycle cost approach, capital