In the construction industry, the management of knowledge is becoming an increasingly important element for success. The successful management of knowledge helps general contractors to better compete which ultimately leads to more contracts and potentially greater prots. The Life Cycle Costing assessment presented here is a small step in understanding the complex decision of investing in BIM from general contractor's perspective. This assessment has identified the cost components for BIM and has allocated the cost for a typical project.

There is no ’typical’ production process for Legally Autonomous Adults (LAD). However, some very general inputs and flows can be assumed: Physical, mental, emotional, and social or cultural inputs are provided by primary caregivers throughout the process. LADs in Arizona in the 21st century are produced in small batches. Inputs tend to be provided by consistent sources according to unique values, and the production process does not actually stop cold at the factory gate, but continues on into the next phase.

Sometimes, due to externalities like substance dependence or domestic violence, the original production process either deprives the product of essential inputs or adds toxic inputs, causing damage. The damage can carry forward into the next phases, or even be so severe that the production process is terminated. When there is a risk of such damage, then the product – the child – is removed from his original production system, taken into the custody of a state-run institution (Child Protective Services), and placed in foster care.

LADs who have experienced a foster care intervention as part of their production process are less likely to have that obligatory property of Legal Autonomy, and more likely to have obligatory properties that are detrimental to society at large. Omitting other variables, they have higher rates of incarceration, homelessness, and substance abuse than LADs who have not been in out-of-home foster care. The financial and societal costs of those dependencies are imposed on the same stakeholders whose efforts and contributions make the foster care system possible.

CPS removal triggers a system expansion that expends energy and resources in an attempt to compensate for the missing inputs and to mitigate the toxic inputs, if any, that the child’s family was adding. In a material production system, it seems illogical to construct a complex system expansion which predictably results in products lacking their most important obligatory property. That contradiction was the impetus for this paper.

The goal of this life cycle analysis is to visualize that system expansion. Then, the project seeks to quantify and compare the difference between this system expansion and the generalized original process, in units of dollars per LAD. Finally, the project assesses the statistical impacts of the system expansion on LADs, and describes further impacts of these LADs on society at large.

Healthcare infection control has led to increased utilization of disposable medical devices, which has subsequently led to increased adverse environmental effects attributed to healthcare and its supply chain. In dental practice, the dental bur is a commonly used instrument that can either be reused or used once and then disposed. To evaluate the disparities in environmental impacts of disposable and reusable dental burs, a comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) was performed. The comparative LCA evaluated a reusable dental bur (specifically, a 2.00mm Internal Irrigation Pilot Drill) reused 30 instances versus 30 identical burs used as disposables.

The LCA methodology was performed using framework described by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14040 series. Sensitivity analyses were performed with respect to ultrasonic and autoclave loading. Findings from this research showed that when the ultrasonic and autoclave are loaded optimally, reusable burs had 40% less of an environmental impact than burs used on a disposable basis. When the ultrasonic and autoclave were loaded to 66% capacity, there was an environmental breakeven point between disposable and reusable burs. Eutrophication, carcinogenic impacts, non-carcinogenic impacts, and acidification were limited when cleaning equipment (i.e., ultrasonic and autoclave) were optimally loaded. Additionally, the bur’s packaging materials contributed more negative environmental impacts than the production and use of the bur itself. Therefore, less materially-intensive packaging should be used. Specifically, the glass fiber reinforced plastic casing should be substituted for a material with a reduced environmental footprint.

This paper’s intent is to explore the environmental gap analysis tool, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), as it pertains to the decision-making process.

As LCA is more frequently utilized as a measurement of environmental impact, it is prudent
to understand the historical and potential impact that LCA has had or can have on its inclusion in public policy domain - specifically as it intersects the anticipatory governance framework and the supporting decision-making precautionary principle framework. For that purpose, LCA will be examined in partnership with the Precautionary Principle in order to establish practical
application.

LCA and Precautionary Principle have been used together in multiple functions. In two
case studies, the California Green Chemistry Initiative and in Nanotechnology uncertainty, there is a notion that these practices can create value for one another when addressing complex issues.

The recommendations presented in this paper are ones that recognize the current
dynamics of the LCA field along with the different sectors of decision makers. For effective
catalytic initiatives, adoptions of these recommendations are best initially leveraged by
government entities to lead by example. The proposed recommendations are summarized into
the following categories and explored in further detail later in the paper:
       1. Improvement in data sharing capabilities for LCA purposes.
       2. Common consensus on standards and technical aspects of LCA structure.
       3. Increased investment of resource allocation for LCA use and development.