Building Life-Cycle Cost (BLCC)

BLCC5 is programmed in Java with an XML file format. The user's guide is part of the BLCC5 Help system. BLCC version 5.3-08 contains the following six modules:

• FEMP Analysis, Energy Project for energy and water conservation and renewable energy projects under the FEMP rules based on 10 CFR 436;
• Federal Analysis, Financed Project for federal projects financed through Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPC) or Utility Energy Services Contracts (UESC) as authorized by Executive Order 13123 (6/99);
• OMB Analysis, Projects subject to OMB Circular A-94 for non-energy, federal government construction projects, but not water resource projects;
• MILCON Analysis, Energy Project for energy and water conservation and renewable energy projects in military construction;
• MILCON Analysis, ECIP Project for energy and water conservation projects under the Energy Conservation Investment Program (ECIP); and
• MILCON Analysis, Non-Energy Project for military construction designs that are not primarily intended for energy or water conservation.

The BLCC computer programs conduct economic analyses by evaluating the relative cost effectiveness of alternative buildings and building-related systems or components. Typically, BLCC software is used to evaluate alternative designs that have higher initial costs but lower operating-related costs over the project life than the lowest-initial-cost design. It is especially useful for evaluating the costs and benefits of energy and water conservation and renewable energy projects. The life-cycle cost (LCC) of two or more alternative designs are computed and compared to determine which has the lowest LCC and is therefore more economical in the long run. BLCC also calculates comparative economic measures for alternative designs, including Net Savings, Savings-to-Investment Ratio, Adjusted Internal Rate of Return, and Years to Payback. The software can evaluate federal, state, and local government projects for both new and existing buildings. BLCC also contains a module for evaluating non-profit and for-profit projects in the private sector. While the BLCC programs are oriented toward building-related decisions, they can be used to evaluate alternative designs for almost any project type in which higher capital investment costs result in lower future operating-related costs.

BLCC4 is the DOS-based version of BLCC. It includes QuickBLCC for evaluating projects with multiple alternatives requiring relatively simple data inputs. BLCC4 contains designated modules for analyzing energy and water conservation projects subject to 10 CFR 436A; MILCON projects; OMB projects subject to Circular A-94; and private-sector projects including tax and financing analyses.

QuickBLCC is used in conjunction with BLCC4. It provides a convenient method of evaluating multiple alternatives in one file. With BLCC4, the user must set up a different file for each alternative; in QuickBLCC, the user inputs "header" information common to all alternatives and relatively simple line-item entries for each alternative. The requirements for this multiple analysis are: (1) all of the alternatives must be evaluated in the same LCC context (i.e., using the same study period, service date, and discount rate); and (2) projects must be (approximately) functionally independent. This latter requirement means that none of the alternatives significantly affect the energy savings or the LCC of any of the other alternatives included in the same QuickBLCC project file.