Cost Efficient Construction
(COTM 5271)
Ermias Adane
july, 2021
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Chapter 1
Introduction to Cost Efficient
Construction
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Outline
• Introduction
• Importance/Objectives
• Basic definitions
• Cost Efficiency and Sustainability
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Introduction
Why cost efficient construction?
• The last time a global survey was attempted – by the United Nations
in 2005 – an estimated 100 million people were homeless worldwide.
As many as 1.6 billion people lacked adequate housing (Habitat,
2015).
• The total number of homeless is growing worldwide housing needs
are expected to double over the next 50 years.
• In Africa alone, they are expected to grow more than threefold.
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…cont.
▪ Increase in cost of construction due to:
• Increase in cost of construction materials primarily
▪ steel,
▪ cement,
▪ bricks,
▪ timber and
▪ other inputs as well as cost of labor.
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…cont.
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…cont.
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…cont.
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…cont.
• As a result, the cost of construction using conventional building
materials and construction technique is beyond the affordability of
the economically weak and low-income groups of population as well
as a large cross section of the middle - income groups.
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Importance/Objectives
• To take advantage on local resources to produce alternative
construction materials in sustainable and ecologically acceptable way
the;
• To promote the production of
• local construction materials,
• alternative traditional and modern construction systems,
• To contribute to the creation of regulations of alternative
constructive systems and uniformity of the method and quality
of the local production materials.
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Basic definitions
• Cost: the value one give to something ( a physical object, service, information,
etc.) and as such one is willing to give up another of similar value in order to
acquire it.
• Cost of a Building = Material + Labor + Equipment/Machine/Tools +
Others (Overhead + profit) + ….
• Affordability: Affordable housing is a term used to describe dwelling units
whose total housing cost are deemed “Affordable” to a group of people with a
median household income or below as rated by the national government or a
local government by a recognized housing affordability index.
• affordable housing means any housing costing less than 30% of household
income of the bottom 40% of the community.
• Affordable housing policies seek to house as many people as practical at the
lowest cost, leading in the past to overcrowding.
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…cont.
• Low-cost housing
• provision of housing which caters the minimum requirements of masses
within their income capabilities, without sacrificing quality of the
construction.
• Cost efficient housing
• relative concept and has more to do with budgeting and seeks to
reduce construction cost through
• better management,
• appropriate use of local materials,
• skills and technology but without sacrificing the performance and
structure life
• cost-efficient construction methods can be implemented either by
• upgrading traditional technologies
• using local resources
• applying modern construction materials and techniques with efficient inputs
leading to economic solutions.
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Cost effective Vs cost efficient
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…cont.
• Life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA) is a method for assessing the total cost
of facility ownership. It takes into account all costs of acquiring,
owning, and disposing of a infrastructures.
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…cont.
• SUSTAINABILITY Sustainable development means ‘meeting the needs
of the present without compromising the ability of future generations
to meet their own need’.
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Stages of construction projects:
• Inception or initiation or Conceptual
• Feasibility study
• Stakeholder identification
• Assigning professionals
•
•
•
•
Planning
execution
Monitoring and controlling
Closing
✓Cost minimization could be achieved through close and serious consideration at
all stages
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Strategic Plans for cost efficient construction
i. Selection and evaluation of materials and processes.
ii. Upscaling and modernization of home-grown production
technologies
iii. Selection, evaluation and establishing economics of emerging
methods of construction
iv. Economy and efficiency in housing/building construction projects
v. Strengthening technology dissemination and demonstration
capabilities.
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…cont.
vi. Training and skill development
vii. Field level applications of innovative building materials and
construction technologies in mass housing projects.
viii. Use of alternative materials in housing and building construction
ix. Vulnerability reduction, risk assessment and disaster resistant
construction.
x. Technology Transfer
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Assignment 1
• Case study of cost-effective building project in Ethiopia?
• What kind of materials and construction techniques were used?
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Thank you!
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