Full Life Cycle Services in Olympia, WA

In commercial construction, life cycle refers to a building/facility over the complete course of its life. As with animals, buildings go through different life stages, from early design and conceptualization, through decades of use, and ending in demolition. In construction, it is more effective in the long-term to consider the building’s full life cycle rather than focus only on the immediate cost of construction. This is known as the full life cycle or “cradle-to-grave” approach.

Sunset Air offers full life cycle assessment and other services as an alternative to standard construction methods in Olympia, WA. Our engineering team is experienced and qualified to make your facility a success during all phases of its life. We’re certified to provide a wide range of commercial services to South Puget Sound and Southwest Washington, and we are experts at integrating different phases of commercial building project management.

Arrange for commercial services with our qualified team today! Contact us today to schedule services in the South Puget Sound and Southwest Washington Areas.

The Stages of a Building’s Life Cycle

The full life cycle of a building can be divided into four stages:

• Conceptualize: Once a project is deemed feasible, the building begins in the planning stage to develop ideas and construct models visualizing the project’s future.
• Engineer: The engineering takes the concepts and models and evaluates the mechanical systems to ensure constructability, cost-effectiveness, and sustainability.
• Build: The building now comes to life as construction gets underway to realize the designs.
• Use and Maintenance: This is the longest phase, covering around 98% of the building’s existence as an operating facility. Regular maintenance, including repairs and refurbishments, extend the use phase for as long as possible while keeping the building productive and cost-effective.
• Demolition: Like all products, a building has a finite lifetime. How long it takes for it to reach that point depends on construction, use, maintenance, and how rapidly it becomes outdated. Eventually, the building will be dismantled and its waste recycled and reused.

Life Cycle Assessment

By using a life cycle assessment (LCA), we can provide you with a comprehensive view of the project construction that quantifies the environmental impact through all its stages. We’ll evaluate energy, materials, waste, pollutants, and other factors to make the assessment. The results of the LCA will identify many places where we can improve energy efficiency and reduce a facility’s environmental impact. We can use an LCA to help obtain LEED certification for a project, which is a mark of quality and achievement in green building.

The Benefits of the Full Life Cycle Approach

The conventional construction model doesn’t take in the "big picture" of the complete lifespan of a building. It misses numerous opportunities to improve productivity, increase longevity, and reduce energy expenditure and waste. Another benefit is that it provides a customer with a better cost estimate: whole-life costs that account for the total energy consumed from conceptualization to demolition.

Thanks to the technology available to us today, we can use the full life cycle approach better than ever. At Sunset Air, we’ve kept current with commercial construction developments since we started in business in 1976. Allow us to provide you with full life cycle services in Olympia, WA and make your project a success from beginning to end.