Life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) of construction projects: sustainability perspective

Construction industry projects play a significant role in the sustainable economic growth of all other industries. To achieve a sustainable economy, the future associated costs act as a barrier that must be addressed in the initial stages of a construction project. To evaluate the future costs, Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) is found to be an effective technique that determines the present worth of future costs. This study focuses on reviewing the conducted research in the field of optimising cost during the project life cycle via LCCA to sustain economic sustainability and associating the environmental and social cost factors to enhance sustainability. A systematic literature review strategy is developed to extract relevant literature from Scopus, Web of Science, Science Direct, Emerald and American Society of Civil Engineering from the year 2009 to 2020. Adopting the PRISMA statement, a total of 83 articles are reviewed systematically in detail. Many construction sections are explored with the impact of LCCA on them. The LCCA impact the performance of construction projects during certain practices such as structural designing, energy cost optimisation, building envelope efficiency in energy demand and utilisation optimisation and earthquake engineering. Moreover, this study highlights the influence of LCCA in optimising the environmental impact of a new or existing construction project to avail economic sustainability along with the social and environmental. A conceptual framework has been proposed that shows the influence of LCCA on the construction industry, which directly impacts economic sustainability and indirectly environmental sustainability.