Critical decisions, such as equipment selection, have often been made without owner input. With collaborative delivery, balancing initial capital expenditure and total life cycle costs becomes more transparent with the ultimate goal of delivering best long-term value. While a completed project within budget and on schedule is the end goal, real success begins with equipment selection. Behind the scenes, collaborative delivery teams reshape a single procurement task into multiple exercises of reducing costs and compressing the project timeline.
Aerobic granular sludge (AGS) is an example of an innovative technology solution that has allowed collaborative delivery teams to secure work with a strong alternative approach that ultimately leads to the best long-term value for the owner. Following are some observations we have made on the benefits of leveraging technologies like AGS as a strong alternative to conventional treatment options in collaborative delivery projects.
Collaboration as a Competitive Advantage
Collaborative delivery teams can secure a competitive advantage by using innovative technologies to drive capital cost efficiency and lowest life cycle costs. Supplier collaboration can also be a core strategic asset, offering expertise to mitigate process, schedule, and cost risk throughout the design and construction process. Suppliers of innovative treatment processes can serve as vital partners on projects, allowing progressive contractors and engineers to benefit from the technical resources they bring to the table. We have found that this type of collaboration has allowed for efficient implementation of innovative technologies that offer greater operability and optimized equipment and life cycle costs to the end client, which are not always apparent in traditional design-bid-build projects.
Benefits of Innovative Technologies
Innovative technologies like AGS have shifted the industry, maximizing treatment in a given space. In addition to distinctive performance, maintenance requirements are minimized, power consumption is optimized, and reliance on chemical addition is reduced, saving on operational expenses. Membrane bioreactor (MBR) is another innovative technology that offers superior effluent quality, all while maintaining a small footprint. As a whole, innovative approaches are highly efficient and sustainable systems, providing robust process stability and long-term financial savings.
Maintainability Trade-offs
Prioritizing high maintainability is a tactical investment that minimizes downtime and fosters long-term system reliability. While designing around conventional systems may appear to offer the easiest path up front, this approach frequently leads to higher capital costs and increased long-term maintenance efforts. Well-known conventional technologies provide familiarity and the comfort of experience but often lack modular flexibility for future plant expansions and typically demand larger footprints. These maintainability trade-offs lead to innovative technologies being more adaptable alternatives when compared to conventional systems.
Comprehensive Technology Evaluation
On a recent construction management at-risk (CMAR) project, five different technologies were evaluated for a greenfield wastewater treatment plant designed to meet future biological nutrient removal requirements. While the equipment costs for the innovative technology were the highest among the five, overall capital costs, annual operations and maintenance costs, and the 20-year net present value (NPV) were lower than all other options. The innovative technology offered 28% capital cost savings and 18% annual O&M cost savings compared to the next best option. With the lowest NPV, this option proved to be the best choice for the facility.
De-Risking Capital Projects Through Early Equipment Alignment
By performing thorough up-front equipment evaluations, owners can feel confident that equipment selection is not simply defaulted to the lowest equipment costs. Collaborative delivery models provide the opportunity for these critical assessments to occur, ensuring that the most valuable technology is selected for a project. Early equipment alignment mitigates the risk of compromising maintainability, preventing last-minute equipment selection decisions from creating long-term operability burdens.
Innovative technologies have transformed the industry, offering systems that minimize footprint, power consumption, and maintenance requirements, all while sustaining advanced treatment. With collaborative delivery projects using innovative technologies, life cycle costs can be significantly reduced and owners can have confidence they are receiving strong value.