Applications of Life-Cycle Cost Analysis in Water and Wastewater Projects: Lessons from European Experience - Governing the Nexus: Water, Soil and Waste Resources Considering Global Change - page 132

cash flows (Termes-Rif et al. 2013 , p. 469 ff.). Such instruments of cost accounting

like DCF are part of the internal reporting and aim to assess internal processes and
to support the various steering tasks of management. This type of reporting is not
bound to legislative requirements, and can be shaped according to the speci

é

c goals

to ful l the required steering tasks and decision-making processes (e.g. Damodaran

1996 ; Stahl 2006 ; Horngren 2013 ;W ring 2013 ). On national level, there

are relevant standards as well. The German DIN 18960 (operational costs in
structural engineering) is used for buildings above ground. Additionally, costs for
construction, rehabilitation, reconstruction and demolition and disposal are con-
sidered in DIN 276-1:2006-11. These standards, though, do not cover infrastruc-
tural systems such as water and wastewater management. Relevant in this context
are, however, recommendations of the German Working Group on Water Issues
(LAWA) of the Federal States and the Federal Government represented by the
Federal Environment Ministry. These recommendations are published by the
German Association of Water Management, Waste Water and Waste (DWA) in
their

ö he and D ö

(DWA 2008 , 2012 ). In
Sect. 4 , these recommendations are discussed more in depth.
When transferring the concept of LCC to water and wastewater management,
one should be aware that those costs required for the construction of water networks
and systems should be considered. Additionally, costs for operation, maintenance,
renewal and disposal must be incorporated into investment decisions. Conse-
quently, Burr and Fonseca ( 2013 , p. XI) stress that

“ guidelines for dynamic comparative cost methods ”

life-cycle costs comprise
capital expenditure; minor operation and maintenance expenditure; capital main-
tenance expenditure; expenditure on direct support (sometimes known as post-
construction support); expenditure on indirect support and the cost of capital.

“

This
consideration of operation costs is particularly relevant as the rigidity of water
systems leads to long-term (economic) impacts.

”

4 Applications of LCC: Experiences and Limits

The tasks of infrastructure planning are diverse. Correspondingly, the fields of

application of LCC are diverse as well. Strategic planning of existing infrastructure
assets can be differentiated from new infrastructure development projects. A third
group of projects deals with the transformation of existing structures where different
perspectives are taken. The cost of sprawl criticism led to approaches that address
costs of infrastructure in the future by means of settlement development, and
positively affect these. Further projects focus on the adaptation of existing infra-
structures concerning new demand as a consequence of modi cations in settlement

structures due to demographic change, climate change or shifting societal condi-
tions. The following examples pick up some of the mentioned points.