Fuzzy-Based Life-Cycle Cost Model for Decision Making under Subjectivity
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 139, Issue 5
Abstract
Decision support models are needed to facilitate long-term planning and priority setting among competing alternatives. Life-cycle cost is the most frequently used economic model that considers all cost elements and related factors throughout the service life of the alternatives being considered. These cost elements and related factors are usually associated with uncertainty and subjectivity. As such, it is important to model the uncertainty arising from the assumed data over the service life of competing alternatives. Probabilistic techniques, such as Monte Carlo simulation, are commonly used to deal with such uncertainty or vagueness. However, they have been criticized for their complexity and amount of data required. This paper presents a fuzzy-based life-cycle cost model that accounts for uncertainty in a manner that disadvantages commonly encountered in probabilistic models are alleviated. The developed model utilized fuzzy set theory and interval mathematics to model vague, imprecise, qualitative, linguistic, and/or incomplete data. The model incorporates the equivalent annual cost method along with the Day–Stout–Warren (DSW) algorithm and the vertex method to evaluate competing alternatives. An example application is presented in order to demonstrate the use of the developed model and to illustrate its essential features.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Arditi, D., and Messiha, H. (1996). “Life-cycle costing in municipal construction projects.” J. Infrastruct. Syst., 2(1), 5–14.
Ashworth, A. (1996). “Assessing the life expectancies of buildings for life-cycle costing.” Proc., COBRA’96, RICS Research Foundation.
Burgess, E. (1993). “Planning model for sewer system rehabilitation.” Proc., Int. Conf. of Pipeline Division of the ASCE, ASCE, Reston, VA, 30–38.
Byrne, P. (1997). “Fuzzy DCF: A contradiction in terms, or a way to better investment appraisal?” Proc., Cutting Edge, RICS Research Foundation.
Dong, W., and Shah, H. (1987). “Vertex method for computing functions of fuzzy variables.” Fuzzy Sets Syst., 24(1), 65–78.
Dong, W., Shah, H., and Wong, F. (1985). “Fuzzy computations in risk and decision analysis.” Civ. Eng. Syst., 2(4), 201–208.
Edwards, P., and Bowen, P. (1998). “Practices, barriers and benefits of risk management process in building services cost estimation: Comment.” Constr. Manage. Econ., 16(1), 105–108.
Excel 2007 [Computer software]. Microsoft Corp., Redmond, WA.
Ferrari, P., and Savoia, M. (1998). “Fuzzy number theory to obtain conservative results with respect to probability.” Comput. Meth. Appl. Mech. Eng., 160(3–4), 205–222.
Flanagan, R., and Norman, G. (1983). Life-cycle costing for construction, Quantity Surveyors Division of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, London.
Fortemps, P., and Roubens, M. (1996). “Ranking and defuzzification methods based on area compensation.” Fuzzy Sets Syst., 82(3), 319–330.
Frangopol, D., Kong, J., and Gharaibeh, E. (2001). “Reliability-based life-cycle management of highway bridges.” J. Comput. Civ. Eng., 15(1), 27–34.
Gransberg, D., and Diekmann, J. (2004). “Quantifying pavement life-cycle cost inflation uncertainty.” AACE Int. Transactions, 48th AACE Int. Annual Meeting, 1–11.
Griffin, J. (1993). “Life cycle cost analysis: A decision aid.” Life cycle costing for construction, J. Bull, ed., Blackie Academic and Professional, Glasgow, UK.
Harvey, G. (1976). “Life-cycle costing: A review of the technique.” Manage. Account., 343–347.
Kahraman, C., Ruan, D., and Tolga, E. (2002). “Capital budgeting techniques using discounted fuzzy versus probabilistic cash flows.” Inf. Sci., 142(1–4), 57–76.
Karray, F., and de Silva, C. (2004). Soft computing and intelligent systems design, Pearson Education, Essex, UK.
Kirk, S., and Dell, J. (1995). Life-cycle costing for design professionals, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Kishk, M., and Al-Hajj, A. (2002). “A fuzzy model and algorithm to handle subjectivity in life-cycle costing based decision-making.” J. Financial Manage. Property Constr., 5(1–2), 93–104.
Kleiner, Y., Adams, B., and Rogers, J. (2001). “Water distribution network renewal planning.” J. Comput. Civ. Eng., 15(1), 15–26.
Lorterapong, P. (1995). “Fuzzy project-network scheduling under resource constraints.” Ph.D. thesis, Concordia Univ., Montreal.
Lorterapong, P., and Moselhi, O. (1996). “Project-network scheduling using fuzzy set theory.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 122(4), 308–318.
Rahman, S., and Vanier, D. (2004). “Life-cycle cost analysis as a decision support tool for managing municipal infrastructure.” CIB 2004 Triennial Congress, National Research Council, Canada, 1–12.
Ross, T. (1995). Fuzzy logic with engineering applications, McGraw-Hill.
Salem, O., AbouRizk, S., and Ariaratnam, S. (2003). “Risk-based life-cycle costing of infrastructure rehabilitation and construction alternatives.” J. Infrastruct. Syst., 9(1), 6–15.
Sarma, K., and Adeli, H. (2002). “Life-cycle cost optimization of steel structures.” Int. J. Numer. Methods Eng., 55(12), 1451–1462.
Sinhal, R., Abell, R., and Ramdas, V. (2001). “Use of whole life costs in network level assessments of road maintenance budgets.” 5th Int. Conf. on Managing Pavements, Seattle.
Smadi, O., and Maze, T. (1994). “Network pavement management system using dynamic programming: Application to Iowa State interstate network.” Proc., 3rd Int. Conf. on Managing Pavement, Vol. 2, TRB-NRC, 195–204.
Sobanjo, J. (1999). “Facility life-cycle cost analysis based on fuzzy set theory.” 8th Int. Conf. on Durability of Building Materials and Components, Vol. 3, Vancouver, Canada, 1798–1809.
Vipulanandan, C., and Pasari, G. (2005). “Life-cycle cost model (LCC-CIGMAT) for wastewater systems.” Proc., Pipeline Division Specialty Conf., Houston, 740–751.
Wirahadikusumah, R., and Abraham, D. (2003). “Application of dynamic programming and simulation for sewer management.” Eng. Constr. Archit. Manage., 10(3), 193–208.
Woodward, D. (1997). “Life-cycle costing—Theory, information acquisition and application.” Int. J. Project Manage., 15(6), 335–344.
Zadeh, L. (1965). “Fuzzy sets.” Inf. Control, 8(3), 338–353.
Zadeh, L. (1995). “Probability theory and fuzzy logic are complementary rather than competitive.” Technometrics, 37(3), 271–276.
Zayed, T., Chang, L., and Fricker, J. (2002). “Life-cycle cost analysis using deterministic and stochastic methods: Conflicting results.” J. Constr. Facil., 16(2), 63–74.
Zhi, H. (1993). “Simulation analysis in project life-cycle cost.” Cost Eng., 35(12), 13–17.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 139 • Issue 5 • May 2013
Pages: 556 - 563
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 27, 2011
Accepted: Jul 9, 2012
Published online: Nov 17, 2012
Published in print: May 1, 2013
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.