Date of Award

5-2010

Degree Name

Master of Science in Engineering

Department

Civil and Construction Engineering

First Advisor

Dr. Haluk Aktan

Second Advisor

Dr. Osama Abudayyeh

Third Advisor

Dr. Ahmed Jrade

Fourth Advisor

Dr. Yufeng Hu

Access Setting

Masters Thesis-Campus Only

Abstract

Life-cycle cost analysis is considered an important study in the feasibility phase of a building, and may be cause changes in decisions. Currently, life-cycle systems do not focus on illustrating the impact of adding renewable energy sources in a building's lifecycle cost and optimize the benefit cost. When a renewable energy source is used, it adds initial and future costs in addition to operation and maintenance costs. However, it is not clear how decision makers can minimize cost and maximize benefit without creating more alternatives. A computer model has been developed to draw a scenario for the lifecycle cost with different types of renewable energy.

This thesis aims to study the impact of using renewable energy on the cost of a building's execution and life-cycle. The study targeted the feasibility stage, where a computer model was developed to help decision makers compare alternatives and the establishment and operation costs before proceeding with design. The model is designed to estimate construction cost, energy and water consumption and cost, solar and wind power production and cost, import data to be processed from BIM systems: Graphisoft® ArchiCAD, Autodesk® Revit, and Bentley® Architecture. Also, the model can locate utilitiy prices and renewable sources. In hope that will guide investors in making decisions for sustainably built environments on a solid scientific basis.

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