Development of a Pavement Marking Life Cycle Cost Tool

Author(s):  
Adam M. Pike ◽  
Bharadwaj Bommanayakanahalli

Pavement marking materials can be broadly classified into two types: durable and nondurable. The durable markings have a longer service life compared with the nondurable and, thus, need to be replaced less frequently. The material cost of the durable markings is higher compared with the nondurable markings. However, the durable markings have several benefits compared with the nondurable markings. Durable markings require less frequent striping resulting in less traffic delays faced due to marking installation and fewer accidents due to fewer work zone closures. The administrative costs associated with contracting and monitoring the work is also lower for durable markings due to less frequent contracting. The primary purpose of this project is to explore the cost differences between durable and nondurable markings, and how various factors can impact the life cycle cost of different marking materials. Researchers developed a life cycle cost calculator that considers the various costs associated with pavement markings to assist in comparing total costs of different marking materials. All costs associated with the implementation of pavement marking projects are considered, including material and installation costs, traffic delay costs and crash costs due to marking installations, and administrative costs to cover contracting and management of the pavement marking assets. This life cycle cost calculator would be another tool that decision makers could use to help choose the most cost-effective pavement marking for the selected input condition.

Transport ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 437-445
Author(s):  
Fan Ye ◽  
Paul J. Carlson ◽  
Mike N. Jackson

Overhead guide sign lighting has been used by many agencies to improve visibility. However, the availability of newer and more efficient retroreflective materials has created a new challenge for state transportation agencies going through sign sheeting upgrade programs and considering the need for using sign lighting, as there is no existing answer regarding whether upgraded sign sheeting itself can meet drivers’ nighttime visibility demands without external sign lighting. The purpose of the paper is to investigate whether high intensity reflective sheeting can be used to replace overhead guide sign lighting. The conclusion of the study provided a guidance for agencies to adopt their current sign lighting policy. A luminance computation model is used in the paper to calculate overhead guide sign legend luminance under various situations, including different sign lighting technologies, different geometrics and overhead guide sign locations, and different amounts of sign dirt and sign aging. By comparing the calculated luminance of a specific overhead guide sign at a specific situation with the legibility luminance levels required by older drivers, sign lighting needs are assessed. In addition, a life-cycle cost spreadsheet is developed and used to calculate the cost of replacing the current sign sheeting with high reflective sheeting and the cost of installing/upgrading sign lighting. Eventually, the most cost effective approach to maintain overhead guide luminance is discussed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1423
Author(s):  
José Manuel Salmerón Lissen ◽  
Cristina Isabel Jareño Escudero ◽  
Francisco José Sánchez de la Flor ◽  
Miriam Navarro Escudero ◽  
Theoni Karlessi ◽  
...  

The 2030 climate and energy framework includes EU-wide targets and policy objectives for the period 2021–2030 of (1) at least 55% cuts in greenhouse gas emissions (from 1990 levels); (2) at least 32% share for renewable energy; and (3) at least 32.5% improvement in energy efficiency. In this context, the methodology of the cost-optimal level from the life-cycle cost approach has been applied to calculate the cost of renovating the existing building stock in Europe. The aim of this research is to analyze a pilot building using the cost-optimal methodology to determine the renovation measures that lead to the lowest life-cycle cost during the estimated economic life of the building. The case under study is an apartment building located in a mild Mediterranean climate (Castellon, SP). A package of 12 optimal solutions has been obtained to show the importance of the choice of the elements and systems for renovating building envelopes and how energy and economic aspects influence this choice. Simulations have shown that these packages of optimal solutions (different configurations for the building envelope, thermal bridges, airtightness and ventilation, and domestic hot water production systems) can provide savings in the primary energy consumption of up to 60%.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 4651
Author(s):  
Ming-Lun Alan Fong

The analysis of ventilation strategies is fundamentally affected by regional climate conditions and local cost databases, in terms of energy consumption, CO2 emission and cost-effective analysis. A systematic approach is covered in this paper to estimate a local economic and environmental impact on a medium-sized space located in two regions during supply-and-installation and operation phases. Three ventilation strategies, including mixing ventilation (MV), displacement ventilation (DV) and stratum ventilation (SV) were applied to medium-sized air-conditioned space with this approach. The trend of the results for three ventilation systems in the life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle cost (LCC) analysis is SV < DV < MV. The result of CO2 emission and regional LCC shows that SV is the lowest one in both regional studies. In comparison with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) during 20 Service years, the case analysis demonstrates that the percentage differences in LCC analysis of MV, DV & SV in Guangdong are less than 20.5%, 19.4% and 18.82% respectively. Their CO2 emission of MV, DV and SV in Guangdong are more than HKSAR in 10.69%, 11.22% and 12.05%, respectively. The present study could provide information about regional effects in the LCA and LCC analysis of three ventilation strategies emissions, and thereby help set up models for decision-making on high efficiency and cost-effective ventilation strategy plans.


Author(s):  
Kosuke Ishii ◽  
Cheryl Juengel ◽  
C. Fritz Eubanks

Abstract This study develops a method to capture the broadest customer preference in a product line while minimizing the life-cycle cost of providing variety. The paper begins with an overview of product variety and its importance in overhead costs: supply chain, equipment and tooling, service, and recycling. After defining the product structure graph as a representation of variety, the paper introduces an approximate measure for the customer importance and life-cycle cost of product variety The cost measure utilizes the concept of late point identification which urges standardization early in the manufacturing process and differentiation at the end of the process. The variety importance-cost map allows engineers to identify cost drivers in the design of the product or the manufacturing system and seek improvements. The refrigerator door example illustrates the concept. On-going work seeks to validate and enhance the method with several companies from different industries.


Author(s):  
Wai M. Cheung ◽  
Linda B. Newnes ◽  
Antony R. Mileham ◽  
Robert Marsh ◽  
John D. Lanham

This paper presents a review of research in the area of life cycle costing and offers a critique of current commercial cost estimation systems. The focus of the review is on relevant academic research on life cycle cost from 2000 onwards. In addition to this a comparison of the current cost estimation systems is presented. Using the review findings and industrial investigations as a base, a set of mathematical representations for design and manufacturing costs and the introduction of the critical factors is proposed. These are considered in terms of the operational, maintenance and disposal costs to create a method for ascertaining the life cycle cost estimate for complex products. This is presented using as an exemplar, research currently being undertaken in the area of low volume and long life electronic products in the UK defence sector. The benefit of the method proposed is that it aims to avoid the inflexibility of traditional approaches which usually require historical and legacy data to support the cost estimation processes.


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-155
Author(s):  
Allen Blash ◽  
William Butler ◽  
Lindy Clark ◽  
Kyle Fleming ◽  
LTC Jennifer Kasker

In order to make the best use of the defense spending budget, it is critical that the Department of Defense (DoD) accurately predict the Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E), Procurement, and Operation and Support (O&S) costs down to the third level of the Work Breakdown Structure for Major Defense Acquisition Project (MDAP) wheeled or tracked vehicles. This research utilizes historical data, extracted from government databases, to develop cost estimating relationships (CERs) that predict the life cycle cost of wheeled and tracked vehicles based on attributes. This research can also be leveraged for defense acquisition programs across the DoD portfolio. The model will be integrated into a tradespace analysis tool, ERS & CREATE-GV, which was developed by ERDC to predict the cost of each alternative created in the tradespace.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 (DPC) ◽  
pp. 001003-001018
Author(s):  
Alan Palesko ◽  
Jan Vardaman

Fabricating the package after the die is placed can result in smaller form factors, increased performance, and improved supply chain logistics for OEMs. There are many different approaches for this packaging technique, but two of the most prominent are Fan-Out WLP and Embedded Die. Fan-Out WLP leverages existing semiconductor technology for a cost effective approach to achieve relatively tight package design rules. The Embedded Die strategy leverages existing PCB lamination technology for cost-reduction through scale: fabricating many small packages on large production panels. We will examine the cost differences and similarities between Fan-Out WLP and Embedded Die strategies by developing a comprehensive cost model for each technology. We will then analyze the manufacturing costs (labor, material, depreciation, yield loss, and tooling) and yield impacts across a variety of designs to demonstrate the cost differences and similarities in each packaging technology.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sung-Min Choi ◽  
Yeon-Sil Lee

Currently, repair and maintenance cycles that follow the completion of construction facilities lead to the necessitation of subsequent data on the analysis of study and plan for maintenance. As such, an index of evaluation was drafted and a plan of maintenance cycle was computed using the investigation data derived from surveying target housing units in permanent rental environmental conditions, with a minimum age of 20 years, and their maintenance history. Optimal maintenance and replacement methods were proposed based on this data. Economic analysis was conducted through the Risk-Weighted Life Cycle Cost (RWLCC) method in order to determine the cost analysis of maintenance life cycle methods used for repair. Current maintenance cycle methods that have been used for 20 years were also compared with alternative maintenance cycles.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 3229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig Langston ◽  
Edwin Chan ◽  
Esther Yung

Refurbishing buildings helps reduce waste, and limiting the amount of embodied carbon in buildings helps minimize the damaging impacts of climate change through lower CO2 emissions. The analysis of embodied carbon is based on the concept of life cycle assessment (LCA). LCA is a systematic tool to evaluate the environmental impacts of a product, technology, or service through all stages of its life cycle. This study investigates the embodied carbon footprint of both new-build and refurbished buildings to determine the embodied carbon profile and its relationship to both embodied energy and construction cost. It recognizes that changes in the fuel mix for electricity generation play an important role in embodied carbon impacts in different countries. The empirical findings for Hong Kong suggest that mean embodied carbon for refurbished buildings is 33–39% lower than new-build projects, and the cost for refurbished buildings is 22–50% lower than new-build projects (per square meter of floor area). Embodied carbon ranges from 645–1059 kgCO2e/m2 for new-build and 294–655 kgCO2e/m2 for refurbished projects, which is in keeping with other studies outside Hong Kong. However, values of embodied carbon and cost for refurbished projects in this study have a higher coefficient of variation than their new-build counterparts. It is argued that it is preferable to estimate embodied energy and then convert to embodied carbon (rather than estimate embodied carbon directly), as carbon is both time and location specific. A very strong linear relationship is also observed between embodied energy and construction cost that can be used to predict the former, given the latter. This study provides a framework whereby comparisons can be made between new-build and refurbished projects on the basis of embodied carbon and related construction cost differentials into the future, helping to make informed decisions about which strategy to pursue.


Author(s):  
Varun J. Prabhakar ◽  
Peter Sandborn

Long life cycle products, commonly found in aviation, medical and critical infrastructure applications, are often fielded and supported for long periods of time (20 years or more). The manufacture and support of long life cycle products rely on the availability of suitable parts, which over long periods of time, leaves the parts susceptible to a number of possible supply chain disruptions such as suppliers exiting the market, counterfeit part risks, and part obsolescence. One solution to mitigating the supply chain risk is the strategic formulation of suitable part sourcing strategies (optimally selecting one or more suppliers from which to purchase parts over the life of the part’s use within a product or within an organization). Strategic sourcing offers one way of avoiding the risk of part unavailability (and its associated penalties), but at the possible expense of qualification and support costs for multiple suppliers. Existing methods used to study part sourcing decisions are procurement-centric where cost tradeoffs focus on part pricing, negotiation practices and purchase volumes. These studies are commonplace in strategic parts management for short life cycle products; however, conventional procurement-centric approaches offer only a limited view when assessing parts used in long life cycle products. Procurement-driven decision-making provides little to no insight into the accumulation of life cycle cost (attributed to the adoption and use of the part), which can be significantly larger than procurement costs in long life cycle products. This paper presents a new life cycle modeling approach to quantify risk that enables cost effective part sourcing strategies. The method quantifies obsolescence risk as “annual expected total cost of ownership (TCO) per part site” modeled by estimating the likelihood of obsolescence and using that likelihood to determine the TCO allowing sourcing strategies to be compared on a life cycle cost basis. The method is demonstrated for electronic parts in an example case study of linear regulators and shows that when procurement and inventory costs are small contributions to the part’s TCO, the cost of qualifying and supporting a second source outweighs the benefits of extending the part’s effective procurement life.


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