A Sustainability Perspective On Assembled Buildings Life Cycle Cost Study

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports that construction accounts for about 40 percent of the world’s energy consumption.In the European Union,about 40%of energy consumption and 36%of CO₂ emissions come from the construction industry.This poses a challenge to the sustainable development of the construction industry.In the background of the rapid development of construction industrialization in our country,the assembly type buildings stand out with the unique advantage of green environment protection,high efficiency and high-quality.However,due to the high cost of prefabricated components,transportation costs and design consulting costs,the economic cost of prefabricated buildings is higher than that of traditional buildings,forcing the development of prefabricated buildings to be hindered.In order to promote the sustainable development of prefabricated buildings,we should not only pay attention to the economic sustainability,but also consider the environmental and social sustainability.Therefore,it is necessary to quantify the economic,environmental and social costs of prefabricated buildings,and then synthesize the sustainable life cycle cost,explore the key factors affecting the cost,put forward targeted cost control measures,and provide reference for the related research of prefabricated buildings.Based on the life cycle sustainability assessment（LCSA）framework and combined with the characteristics of prefabricated buildings,this paper firstly determined the economic impact category,environmental impact category and social impact category,and then determined the assessment method of the sustainable impact of prefabricated buildings,and then established the calculation model of the economic cost,environmental cost and social cost of prefabricated buildings from the perspective of sustainability.The practical engineering case of prefabricated steel structure plant was selected for empirical analysis.Combined with the calculation model of economic,environmental and social cost,the value of economic,environmental and social cost was calculated,and the life cycle cost was summarized.Then the calculation results were analyzed,and the measures and suggestions to reduce the life cycle cost were put forward.The main conclusions include:Among the economic costs,construction cost has the most significant influence,accounting for 73.03%;Among the environmental costs,EPS board,gasoline and diesel production have the greatest impact on the environment;Among the social costs,construction has the greatest impact on the surrounding communities,and construction safety accidents have a greater adverse impact on workers;Under the concept of sustainable development,economic cost accounted for 67.22%of the life cycle cost,followed by environmental cost（32.61%）.Therefore,from the perspective of sustainability,considering the multi-dimensional target cost of economy,environment and society in the life cycle of prefabricated buildings is conducive to realizing the sustainable development of prefabricated buildings.The research results are helpful to guide the participating units of prefabricated buildings to formulate reasonable cost optimization measures and have theoretical and practical significance for promoting the sustainable development of prefabricated construction industry.