APPENDIX 8-A. USER INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE LIFE-CYCLE COST
 

ANALYSIS SPREADSHEET 


TABLE OF CONTENTS
 

8-A.1 USER INSTRUCTIONS .......................................................................................8-A-1 


8-A.2 STARTUP..............................................................................................................8-A-1 


8-A.3 DESCRIPTION OF LIFE-CYCLE COST WORKSHEETS ................................8-A-1 


8-A.4 BASIC INSTRUCTIONS FOR OPERATING THE LIFE-CYCLE COST
 

SPREADSHEETS..................................................................................................8-A-3 


LIST OF TABLES 

Table 8-A.2.1 List of LCC Spreadsheets ..........................................................................8-A-1 


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APPENDIX 8-A. USER INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE LIFE-CYCLE COST ANALYSIS
 

SPREADSHEET 

8-A.1 USER INSTRUCTIONS 

The results obtained in this analysis can be examined and reproduced using the Microsoft 

Excel spreadsheets available on DOE's Home Appliances Rulemaking website: 

http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/. From that page, follow the links to 

the NOPR phase and then to Analytical Tools. 

8-A.2 STARTUP 

DOE’s spreadsheets enable users to perform Life-Cycle Cost (LCC) and Payback Period 

(PBP) analyses for each product class. A separate spreadsheet exists for each product class. 

Table 8-A.2.1 lists the LCC spreadsheets used in this rulemaking. 

Table 8-A.2.1 List of LCC Spreadsheets 

Filename Product Class 

LCC_RoomAir.xls Room Air Conditioners 

LCC_ClothesDryer.xls Clothes Dryers 

To examine the spreadsheets, DOE assumes that the user has access to a personal 

computer with a hardware configuration capable of running Windows NT/2000/XP. All LCC 

spreadsheets require Microsoft Excel 2000 or later installed under the Windows operating 

system. Because certain variables inside the spreadsheets are defined as distributions, the user’s 

computer requires a copy of Crystal Ball (a commercially available add-on program). 

8-A.3 DESCRIPTION OF LIFE-CYCLE COST WORKSHEETS 

For both of the products, DOE created one spreadsheet containing a collection of 

worksheets. Each worksheet represents a conceptual component within the LCC calculation. To 

facilitate navigability and identify how worksheets are related, each worksheet contains an area 

on the extreme left showing variables imported to and exported from the current worksheet. Each 

LCC spreadsheet contains the following worksheets: 

Summary The Summary worksheet contains LCC and PBP simulation results for 

each design option and product class. 

Statistics The Statistics worksheet contains statistics for each design option and 

product class. 

LCC & PB Calcs The LCC&PB Calcs contains the user interface used to manipulate 

energy price trend and start year inputs, and to run the Crystal Ball 

simulation. This worksheet also shows LCC calculation results for 

different efficiency levels for single Residential Energy Consumption 

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Rebuttable 

Payback 

Equipment (and 

Installation) Cost 

RECS Households 

CBECS Households 

Base Case Eff Dist 

(Per Cycle) Energy 

Use 

Energy Prices 

Energy Price 

Trends 

Survey (RECS) households and Commercial Buildings Energy 

Consumption Survey (CBECS) buildings, if applicable.1, 2 During a 

Crystal Ball simulation, the spreadsheet records the LCC and PBP 

values for every sampled household and building. 

The Rebuttable Payback worksheet contains the total and incremental 

manufacturer costs, retail prices, the installation costs, the repair and 

maintenance costs, energy use calculations, and the simple payback 

period calculations for each efficiency level. DOE clothes dryer and 

room air conditioner test procedures were used to calculate parameters 

used in energy use calculations. 

These worksheets calculates retail price values used as inputs in the 

LCC calculations in the Summary worksheet. DOE applied baseline and 

incremental markups to calculate final retail prices. DOE calculated the 

markups differently for replacement units and new units. In the Clothes 

Dryers LCC spreadsheet, installation costs were included in this 

worksheet. 

The RECS Households worksheet contains the RECS 2005 household 

data for each residential product class. During a Crystal Ball simulation, 

DOE uses these household characteristics to determine a number of 

variables used in the analysis. 

The CBECS Households worksheet contains the CBECS 2003 building 

data for each commercial product class. During a Crystal Ball 

simulation, DOE uses these building characteristics to determine a 

number of variables used in the analysis. This worksheet is found only 

in the Room Air Conditioners LCC spreadsheet. 

The Base Case EF worksheet determines the efficiency of the base case 

unit. 

The (Per Cycle) Energy Use worksheet calculates annual energy use by 

fuel type, depending on product class. The annual energy use 

calculations for each design option are inputs to the LCC&PB Calcs 

worksheet to calculate the annual operating cost of the LCC. 

The Energy Prices worksheet calculates energy prices, depending on a 

number of variables. 

The Energy Price Trends worksheet shows the future price trends of the 

different heating fuels. DOE used energy price data and forecasts from 

the EIA's Annual Energy Outlook 2009 for the period until 2030, and 

extrapolated beyond 2030.3 

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Discount Rate	 The Discount Rate worksheet contains the distributions of discount rates 

for replacement and new units. 

Lifetime	 The Lifetime worksheet contains the distribution of lifetimes for 

equipment of that product class. 

NIA Inputs	 The NIA Inputs worksheet contains intermediate inputs used for other 

DOE analyses. 

8-A.4	 BASIC INSTRUCTIONS FOR OPERATING THE LIFE-CYCLE 

COST SPREADSHEETS 

Basic instructions for operating the LCC spreadsheet are as follows: 

1. 	 Once the LCC spreadsheet has been downloaded, open the file using Excel. Click 

“Enable Macro” when prompted and then click on the tab for the LCC & PB Calcs 

worksheet. 

2. 	 Use Excel's View/Zoom commands at the top menu bar to change the size of the display 

to fit your monitor. 

3. 	 The user can change the parameters listed under USER OPTIONS on the LCC & PB 

Calcs worksheet. There are three drop-down boxes and one command button. The default 

parameters are: 

a.	 Energy Price Trend: Defaults to “AEO 2009 - Reference Case.” To change the 

input, use the drop-down menu and select the desired trend (Reference, Low, or 

High). 

b.	 Start Year: Defaults to “2014.” To change the value, use the drop-down menu and 

select the desired year. 

c.	 # of Trials: Defaults to “10,000.” To change the value, use the drop-down menu 

and select the desired number of trials (1,000, 2,000, 3,000, 5,000, or 10,000). 

4.	 To run the Crystal Ball simulation, click the “run” button (you must re-run after changing 

any parameters). The spreadsheet will then be minimized. You can monitor the progress 

of the simulation by watching the count of iterations in the left bottom corner of the 

screen. When the simulation is finished, the spreadsheet will re-open. 

5.	 Additional information can be found in the Statistics and Summary worksheets. 

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REFERENCES
 

1. 	 U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Information Administration, Residential Energy 

Consumption Survey: 2005 Public Use Data Files, 2005. 

<http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/recs/recspubuse05/pubuse05.html> 

2. 	 U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Information Administration, Commercial Buildings 

Energy Consumption Survey, 2003. <http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cbecs/> 

3. 	Energy Information Administration, Updated Annual Energy Outlook 2009 Reference 

Case Service Report, 2009. Washington, DC. Report No. DOE/EIA-0383(2009). 

<http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/> 

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