Evaluation of life cycle cost analysis methodologies

Abstract

After the emergence of Life Cycle Engineering as an effective tool for analyzing the various environmental impacts of a product in the stages of design/development, manufacturing, service and disposal, a necessity arises to analyze the cost information pertaining to these impacts. There are possibly many approaches to analyze and evaluate the cost criteria involved in the different life cycle stages of any product or investment. This paper attempts to review many of those approaches methodologically, and specifically outline a practical framework that provides a new tool for evaluating all the eco-costs and developing a cost effective eco-design of any product. © 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.