A new version of Autocase for Buildings is in beta testing and over the next few posts we’ll share some of the features you can expect to see come October. We have grown a lot of plants in our office this year. Blessed with large windows facing south and west we have...
Economics
Coming Soon … Thermal Comfort Benefits
A new version of Autocase for Buildings is in beta testing and over the next few posts we’ll share some of the features you can expect to see come October. Midsummer in most offices is a battle over control of the thermostat. Shawls and sweaters are draped over...
Triple Bottom Line Cost Benefit Analysis of Green Infrastructure/Low Impact Development (GI/LID) in Phoenix, AZ
The City of Phoenix Green Infrastructure Cost-Benefit Study is now available online. You can access the report here. Given the importance of heat stress in Phoenix, instead of using historical temperatures Autocase incorporated future climate change in to its...
The Top 10 Traps: Common Mistakes to Avoid When Running Triple Bottom Line – Cost Benefit Analysis (TBL-CBA)
Before we created the Autocase family of TBL-CBA software, our team of economists, along with engineers and architects conducted numerous custom assessments as consultants. Our collective knowledge is now reflected in Autocase, but, we have to admit, there were some...
TBL-CBA Traps #10: Mixing Nominal and Real
Number 10 in our TBL-CBA traps series (and the last one). 10. Mixing Nominal and Real All the costs, benefits and discount rate should be either in nominal (current year) dollars or real (constant) dollars. Don’t mix real dollars and nominal discount rates or vice...
TBL-CBA Trap #9: Ignoring the Vast Collection of Ecosystem Services Research
Number 9 in our TBL-CBA traps series. 9. Ignoring the Vast Collection of Ecosystem Services Research A lot of smart people have spent a lot of time over the last two decades putting values on ecosystem goods and services (e.g. clean air, fresh water, habitat...
TBL-CBA Trap #8: Muddying the Waters between Impacts and Benefits
Number 8 in our TBL-CBA traps series. 8. Muddying the Waters between Impacts and Benefits Impact analysis captures the overall output and income resulting from a project i.e. “400 local jobs created” or “an increase of $3M in GDP”. But this is not cost-benefit...
TBL-CBA Trap #7: Tolerating False Precision
Number 7 in our TBL-CBA traps series. 7. Tolerating False Precision The results are in - the Net Present Value is $101.234567 million (exactly) - let’s go! But wait…what if the risk associated with that number is +/- $200 million? How do you feel now? Is the...
TBL-CBA Trap #6: Assuming it is Difficult and Expensive
Number 6 in our TBL-CBA traps series. 6. Assuming it is Difficult and Expensive With standardized inputs, methodology and outputs, cost-effective automation of TBL-CBA is possible. While there will be people who will feel better paying $50,000-250,000 for a...
The fingerprint of climate change is now clearer—and it’s sticking around
Climate attribution scientists using “fingerprint studies” are now able to detect man-made climate change. Not so long ago, this kind of analysis would have been impossible but climate scientists are now able to separate out the natural from the man-made influence....
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