Using Excel's Forecast Sheet Feature for Construction & Life Cycle Parameters
Sustainability requires that we think and act in terms of a circular economy. ...yes massive inertia and complexity of the construction industry means that the way is very long. One step at a time would however make it happen.
We can begin with the Life Cycle Costing of Buildings. This requires us to update both our knowledge base and skill sets. Many iterative cycles would be required for maturity but this should not deter us in making a small beginning. Specially when we have such intuitive features like forecasting sheet readily available in the newer version of Excel that industry uses day in and day out.
Construction industry generates lots of data most of which is not used. What is usually used is for litigation and contract administration actions. Much of it is picked and chosen to make or break a case. With new data analysis features, making good use of Construction and maintenance data is easy. Appropriate databases may automatically be made to provide useful insights into life cycle costing .The updated Indian GFR rule 136 "while designing the projects etc, principles of Life Cycle cost may also be considered" is suggestive. But for construction industry, that is the writing on the wall.
The example with downloadable workbook below attempts to convince and show you how we can start moving towards utilizing construction and maintenance data to our advantage.
Problem Statement/ Opportunity: We want an intuition into the turnover pattern of a construction program and forecast it accordingly. The construction turnover is typically constrained by many parameters seasonality of which are usually known to on-ground supervisors. These relate to local labour movements, customs and may also relate to weather etc. Quantification however may be tricky.The example (Download workbook by clicking here) illustrates how this can be handled.
The data consists of a Construction Program turnover (It can also be turnover of a construction organization). From the data tab choose the forecast sheet option.
One can set seasonality manually as in figure below.
The example illustrates as to how your data can be accounted for complex parameters in your projections. Yes, ingenuity would be required to organize and setup construction and maintenance data to milk it for the life cycle costing parameters.
Very useful time series data is locked up in Registers of buildings, Register of Repairs and Register of Special Repairs of government properties. The first step is contextual digitization. The built environment is a very complex system of systems. Useful insights would require expert judgement even when the database is adequately detailed. Quest for perfection should not deter us in making a beginning.
We can begin with the Life Cycle Costing of Buildings. This requires us to update both our knowledge base and skill sets. Many iterative cycles would be required for maturity but this should not deter us in making a small beginning. Specially when we have such intuitive features like forecasting sheet readily available in the newer version of Excel that industry uses day in and day out.
Construction industry generates lots of data most of which is not used. What is usually used is for litigation and contract administration actions. Much of it is picked and chosen to make or break a case. With new data analysis features, making good use of Construction and maintenance data is easy. Appropriate databases may automatically be made to provide useful insights into life cycle costing .The updated Indian GFR rule 136 "while designing the projects etc, principles of Life Cycle cost may also be considered" is suggestive. But for construction industry, that is the writing on the wall.
The example with downloadable workbook below attempts to convince and show you how we can start moving towards utilizing construction and maintenance data to our advantage.
Problem Statement/ Opportunity: We want an intuition into the turnover pattern of a construction program and forecast it accordingly. The construction turnover is typically constrained by many parameters seasonality of which are usually known to on-ground supervisors. These relate to local labour movements, customs and may also relate to weather etc. Quantification however may be tricky.The example (Download workbook by clicking here) illustrates how this can be handled.
The data consists of a Construction Program turnover (It can also be turnover of a construction organization). From the data tab choose the forecast sheet option.
One can set seasonality manually as in figure below.
Excel can also detect and suggest seasonality.
The example illustrates as to how your data can be accounted for complex parameters in your projections. Yes, ingenuity would be required to organize and setup construction and maintenance data to milk it for the life cycle costing parameters.
Very useful time series data is locked up in Registers of buildings, Register of Repairs and Register of Special Repairs of government properties. The first step is contextual digitization. The built environment is a very complex system of systems. Useful insights would require expert judgement even when the database is adequately detailed. Quest for perfection should not deter us in making a beginning.
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