Significance and Use

This guide reduces the time and effort to communicate the findings of project impact studies and improves the quality of communication between those who measure economic impacts and those who evaluate and interpret them.

Following the guide assures the user that relevant economic information on the project is included in a summary format that is understandable to both the preparer and user.

Since the standard guide provides a consistent approach to reporting the economic impacts of projects, it facilitates the comparison of economic studies across projects and over time.

The guide focuses on projects in construction and building-related research. It applies to government as well as private projects. And while the examples treat building-related projects, the guide is applicable to non-building-related projects as well.

Building-sector users of this guide include building owners and managers, private-sector construction companies, research groups in building and construction industry trade associations, parties to public-sector construction projects, and government laboratories conducting building-related research.

Use the guide to summarize the results of economic impact studies that use Practices E917 (Life-Cycle Costs), E964 (Benefit-to-Cost and Savings-to-Investment Ratios), E1057 (Internal Rate of Return and Adjusted Internal Rate of Return), E1074 (Net Benefits and Net Savings), E1121 (Payback), E1699 (Value Analysis), and E1765 (Analytical Hierarchy Process for Multiattribute Decision Analysis).

Use this guide in conjunction with Guide E1369 to summarize the results of economic impact studies involving natural or man-made hazards, or both, that occur infrequently but have significant consequences.

Use the guide to summarize the impacts of projects that affect exclusively initial costs, benefits, or savings, as well as projects that affect life-cycle costs, benefits, or savings.

Note 1Examples of projects dealing exclusively with initial costs, benefits, or savings include design modifications or innovative construction practices that reduce labor or material costs, reduce construction duration, or increase construction productivity, but leave future costs, benefits, or savings unchanged.

Use the guide to summarize the impacts of projects that affect parties that are internal to the organization preparing the summary as well as projects that affect not only the organization preparing the summary but also groups external to the organization.

Note 2Projects whose impacts are internal only correspond to situations where the organization preparing the summary bears all of the costs and receives all of the benefits or savings, or both, from the project. Examples include, but are not limited to, the use of innovative construction practices or alternative building materials, components, or systems that reduce initial costs or future costs, or both, to the building owner.

Note 3Projects with a public-sector component frequently have impacts that reach beyond the organization preparing the summary. Examples include, but are not limited to, building-related research conducted by government laboratories, projects aimed at mitigating the consequences of natural or man-made hazards, or both, that have the potential to cause collateral damage, and highway and bridge constructions that affect traffic patterns.

There is no limitation to the use of the guide in facilitating communication between project analysts and project managers and other decision makers. Substantial benefits from using the guide, however, are likely to come from its application in a large institution, such as a federal agency, where many projects are competing for funding, and a systematic presentation of results that can be compared across projects and agencies is needed to allocate efficiently scarce funds.

1. Scope

1.1 This guide covers a generic format for summarizing the economic impacts of building-related projects.

1.2 The guide provides technical persons, analysts, and researchers a tool for communicating project impacts in a condensed format to management and non-technical persons.

1.3 The generic format described in this guide calls for a description of the significance of the project, the analysis strategy, a listing of data and assumptions, and a presentation of the key economic measures of project impact.

1.4 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.

2. Referenced Documents (purchase separately) The documents listed below are referenced within the subject standard but are not provided as part of the standard.

ASTM Standards

E631 Terminology of Building Constructions

E833 Terminology of Building Economics

E917 Practice for Measuring Life-Cycle Costs of Buildings and Building Systems

E964 Practice for Measuring Benefit-to-Cost and Savings-to-Investment Ratios for Buildings and Building Systems

E1057 Practice for Measuring Internal Rate of Return and Adjusted Internal Rate of Return for Investments in Buildings and Building Systems

E1074 Practice for Measuring Net Benefits and Net Savings for Investments in Buildings and Building Systems

E1121 Practice for Measuring Payback for Investments in Buildings and Building Systems

E1369 Guide for Selecting Techniques for Treating Uncertainty and Risk in the Economic Evaluation of Buildings and Building Systems

E1699 Practice for Performing Value Analysis (VA) of Buildings and Building Systems and Other Constructed Projects

E1765 Practice for Applying Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to Multiattribute Decision Analysis of Investments Related to Buildings and Building Systems

E2506 Guide for Developing a Cost-Effective Risk Mitigation Plan for New and Existing Constructed Facilities

Adjuncts

ASTM Software Product

MNL 29 Software to Support ASTM : Standard Practice for Applying Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to Multiattribute Decision Analysis of Investments Related to Buildings and Building Systems

Keywords

adjusted internal rate of return; analytical hierarchy process; benefit-to-cost ratio; building economics; economic evaluation methods; economic impacts; engineering economics; homeland security; impact assessment; internal rate of return; life-cycle costs; man-made hazards; measures of worth; multiattribute decision analysis; natural hazards; net benefits; net savings; payback; savings-to-investment ratio: Net benefits analysis (of buildings); Savings-to-investment ratio; Benefit-cost ratio/analysis; Building economics; Adjusted internal rate of return; Analytical hierarchy process (AHP); Engineering economics; Impact assessment; Internal rate of return; Life-cycle cost (LCC) analysis; Multiattribute decision analysis (MADA);

ICS Code

ICS Number Code 03.100.01 (Company organization and management in general); 91.020 (Physical planning. Town planning)

DOI: 10.1520/E2204-11A

ASTM International is a member of CrossRef.

ASTM E2204