Application of Target Costing Principles in Publically Funded Green Buildings

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to propose a Target Costing principles-based frame work for publically funded Green Buildings. Target Costing, a concept from manufacturing, includes a variety of principles and techniques, all of which have the same ultimate goal: to control costs and to increase value to bring the most satisfaction to the end users. This study investigates the current practice when programming and designing the Hunt Library, a LEED-Silver certified and publically funded building at North Carolina State University (NCSU), and proposes some improvements to this practice based upon the fundamentals of Target Costing. The feasibility of the proposed framework was examined in this research through interviews with key project participants, e.g., owner representatives, user groups, design team, and construction manager. The results from this research were gathered to create a Green Building specific Target Costing application framework which includes a flow chart, and a list of barriers and solutions.