CFaR Report: Measuring Current Practices of Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Principles

A newly published CFaR report examines a single facility component—flooring—and identifies the importance of Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and its implications in the education market.

The report describes TCO and the current market implications to demonstrate how it applies to flooring so facilities management can feel confident in the selection and standardization around high-performance products. Multiple graphs are used to explain how the application of these tools can be easily understood and used in facility planning decisions.

Based on a survey of more than 340 facilities managers, planners, and architects across the United States and Canada, this report reviews the external factors affecting flooring conditions, reasons to maintain flooring to protect facility occupants, and applies the total cost of ownership of a well-maintained flooring system compared to choosing perceived cheaper methods of reduced maintenance and evaluation of different product performance levels. The study concludes with a recommended method to evaluate flooring considering initial, maintenance, renewal, and end-of-life costs. The recommended method can be applied easily and used to support expenditures for new or replacement flooring and demonstrate the total cost of ownership in decision making.

Principal Investigators:
Theodore J. (Ted) Weidner, Ph.D., PE, RA, DBIA, CEFP, APPA Fellow, Purdue University
Jonathan Stanley, Tarkett
With early contributions from Jeffrey L. Campbell, Ph.D., Brigham Young University (retired)