REVIEW ON THE TOOLS USED IN THE LIFE CYCLE COST ANALYSIS

Life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) is part of the life cycle evaluation methods, highlighting the overall economic cost of a specific product, service or system. The life cycle costs are the sum of the direct, indirect, recurring, nonrecurring and other related costs incurred or estimated to be incurred during the useful life span. This method can be a powerful technique enabling to make the most cost-effective decisions at different life cycle stages. An integrated life cycle evaluation study could combine more methods: Life cycle assessment (ISO 14040:2006), Life cycle cost analysis and social Life cycle assessment. So far, several specific instruments had been developed, IT tools and methods for LCCA method, alone or combined with LCA or other methods. The objective of this study was to present a review of the software instruments used in the Life cycle cost analysis. The LCCA method can be used in particular to model different scenarios. It allows the simulation of several analysis alternatives by resizing the volume of costs from key points.