Pay Now or Pay Later: Controlling Cost of Ownership from Design Throughout the Service Life of Public Buildings

Buildings and other public facilities can have very long and productive service lives, providing efficient shelter and serving a wide range of activities. To do so, however, these facilities must be managed effectively, in a manner consistent with key design decisions. A variety of political and technical obstacles to effective management raise the public’s total cost of ownership for these facilities, particularly when actions to deal with short-term government budget deficits have long-term, high-cost consequences. This book identifies obstacles to controlling the costs of ownership and suggests ways these obstacles can be overcome.