Whole-life costing is a business discipline concerned with assessing the total cost of ownership over the life of an asset, and may include areas of expenditure such as planning, design, construction, operations, maintenance and disposal.
The ’Whole Life Cost Evaluator’ developed by Whole Life Consultants will help asset managers and property developers determine strategies that minimise the total cost of any building or other type of asset for the whole of its life.
The Dundee company, currently based at the university’s incubator, employs three full-time and three part-time workers. Further recruitment is planned for 2011 and it is anticipated that 10 full-time workers will be employed in two years’ time.
The company is commercialising the research conducted by the Construction Management Research Unit (CMRU) at the university.
The first licence for the software has been purchased by Stanburys, a software development company specialising in building surveying applications and asset management.
Prof Malcolm Horner, chairman of Whole Life Consultants, said: ’We are delighted that the first licence for this novel software should be purchased by such a prestigious client. This is an important step towards the company’s goal of developing a suite of cutting-edge software in the fields of whole-life costing, sustainability and productivity.’
The funding for the research behind Whole Life Cost Evaluator originally comprised a grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) worth approximately £300,000 with a SMART award generating a further £50,000. The company itself invested another £150,000.
Although the technology is primarily targeted at the construction industry, it can be applied to any sector. Bespoke versions are also available.
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