Integrated life-cycle costs analysis and life-cycle assessment model for decision making of construction project

With the acceleration of urbanization process and the booms in domestic infrastructure investment, the amount of civil engineering projects and infrastructures increase with years. In this context, how to lower the energy and environmental impacts of proposed project while achieving an optimization of owner's investment capitals has become a research focus with both theoretical and practical significance. Since the traditional decision-making process of construction projects solely focuses on the return of investment, this research aims to formulize a more scientific one by combining the concrete economic costs with quantitative social costs. Specific methods adopted are life-cycle costs analysis and hybrid life-cycle assessment. Result shows that the large-scale hydropower project, no matter in the aspect of life-cycle costs or in energy efficiency and environmental impact, are superior to the small-scale one.