Civil Infrastructure Systems Technology Road Map - Engineers ...

Life-Cycle Cost/Benefit AnalysesTo integrate technical, economic, environmental and social factors into sustainable CISinvestment decision-making processes that are based on life-cycle cost/benefit analyses.In the next decade, municipalities and other CIS owners will have methods of integratingtechnical and financial information, as well as life-cycle cost/benefit analyses, into theirdecision-making processes and sustainable asset-management programs. The environmentaland socioeconomic costs, and benefits of infrastructure projects, should be quantified over thelife cycle of the assets.Life-Cycle Cost/Benefit AnalysesMajor Challenges• Costs vary over the life of the infrastructure,depending on the level of service and utilization.• Most procurement systems are not conducive tolife-cycle costing.• Benefits of life-cycle costing are not wellunderstood by administrators and decisionmakers.• Environmental and social costs are intangibleand difficult to estimate.• Decision-makers’ concerns are often short-term,while infrastructure investments require longtermcommitments and planning.Technology Needs• Identify and characterize life-cycle costs(economic, environmental and social) andevaluate the factors that influence these andassociated costs, including the effects of demand,service and load levels• Develop models for the life-cycle costs ofinfrastructure that are adaptable to wide-rangingconditions and can be incorporated into assetmanagementand decision-making systems• Create tools to determine the factors thatinfluence the service life of assets• Develop methodologies to incorporate life-cyclecosts into procurement systems and proceduresP A G E 3 1