The construction cost of an infrastructure project is only about twenty percent of its total life-cycle cost. The rest is operation, maintenance and renewal. This simple ratio dismantles the assumption that "sustainability is expensive."
Low-carbon materials, sound hydraulic design, energy recovery — each raises the initial outlay slightly but produces far greater savings during operation. The data TÜMAŞ has gathered across its water and environmental projects over the past decade confirms this trend unambiguously.
The real question facing decision-makers is not budget but horizon. Viewed over ten years, sustainable design looks costly. Viewed over thirty years, the costly option is the one that is not sustainable.
