CostLab

 

The most comprehensive online tool
for facility benchmarking, budgeting,
and capital planning.

• Benchmark operating costs to find savings opportunities

• Keep budgets up to date with in depth market research

• Mitigate risk by developing a customized capital plan

 

Free 7-Day Trial

Test-drive every CostLab feature.
No credit card required.


 

Example Clients

 

 

"Through a collaborative effort a definitive capital plan for our campus buildings was established. It would have been IMPOSSIBLE to create this plan internally, so we are most appreciative and grateful for what CBRE Business Analytics was able to provide us."

- Ken Cornwell, Visa Global Corporate Real Estate

CostLab Plans

 

Plan Customer Support Cost Library Building Wizard Project Builder Advanced Model Calibration Mass Data Export Capital Planning  
Executive ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ View
Executive Plan
Expert ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ View
Expert Plan
Pro ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✗ View
Pro Plan
Basic ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ View
Basic Plan
Library ✓ ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ View
Library Plan

CostLab Features

Automatic Updates

Up-to-date market information is essential to accurately measure facility costs. CBRE Business Analytics provides the most current and reliable data. We update ALL of our data to current market rates including: utility rates, labor rates and benefits, equipment material costs, and building replacement values. These changes are automatically included in your cost estimates. Periodically we also provide new features, reports, and revisions to our cost algorithms to make developing your budgets quicker and more accurate.

Capital Planning

Aging facilities and limited budget can make it difficult to decide which equipment to replace. CostLab takes a data-driven approach to prioritize capital spending to best mitigate risk to your portfolio. Our new Capital Planning feature can objectively tell you where to spend your money first based on your budget or funding scenarios. CostLab uses careful statistical modeling to calculate the probability of failure for each piece of equipment in your inventory. We then anticipate the impact of equipment failure on the individual asset and your portfolio as a whole. Finally, CostLab automatically prioritizes critical risk equipment to be replaced first based upon your budget. CostLab’s new capital planning model provides an actionable level of detail. The below table is an example of the output that allows you to manage individual pieces of equipment, and ensure the best stewardship of your portfolio.

Cost Library

The Cost Library is the most comprehensive M&R and operations cost database available. Cost Library provides a dynamic view of all the data in the CBRE Business Analytics database. Browse the cost profiles and library data for labor rates, utility rates, inflation rates, maintenance tasks, operations details, recapitalization assumptions, national indexes, and more.

Customized Models

A common approach to budgeting and benchmarking is to draw conclusions from a survey of similar facilities. Provided by many industry sources, survey results can be an intuitive and compelling point of reference. Yet such benchmarks have a fundamental limitation. Surveys tell us what was spent rather than what should have been spent. They represent prevailing practices among peers, which are not necessarily the right practices. CostLab provides the ability to customize facility cost models with criteria specific to your facilities including: year built, asset size, type, and location. Further detail about the structural and mechanical make-up of your assets, the levels of service for operations requirements, and additional details can be incorporated. Only CostLab provides estimates for your full chart of accounts to give users the most accurate and comprehensive operating budgets and capital plans.

Deferred Maintenance

An accurate view of your total deferred maintenace is necessary to mitigate risk in your portfolio. CostLab itemizes deferred maintenance for individual pieces of equipment to provide actionable recommendations. A core strength of the system is that it does not require costly inspections to estimate facility condition. Deferred cost reports show DM and FCI estimates rolled up for your entire portfolio, or for an individual asset.

Global Comparison

How much should it cost to operate your facility in New York, Chicago, or London? Easily compare operating costs for over 400+ different locations and 75+ different asset types around the world. CostLab generates objective and transparent estimates based on equipment-level analysis for your buildings and locations, all from the global standard for facility costs.

Maintenance and Repair Projects

The Projects page is utilized by our clients primarily for two reasons: 1) to validate contractor bids are reasonable; and 2) to estimate in-house resources required to complete projects. You can easily group maintenance and repair tasks into a single project, and estimate material, labor, and equipment requirements.

Online Access

Gone are the days of outdated Excel spreadsheets to forecast facilty OpEx and CapEx requirements. All memebers of your team can access CostLab through any web browser with your laptop, tablet, or smartphone. Everyone is always working on the most current budget. Your facilities data is centralized, not scattered across various spreadsheets. CostLab security protects your information and manages appropriate user access.

Cost Library

The Cost Library provides a dynamic view of all the data in our comprehensive database. Browse the cost profiles and library data for labor rates, utility rates, inflation rates, maintenance tasks, operations details, recapitalization assumptions, or national indexes.

Building Wizard

Building Wizard Answer seven questions to quickly generate a tailored cost estimate down to the component level for your facilities. To provide further detail, answer questions about the structural and mechanical make-up of your asset, the levels of service for operations, key recapitalization assumptions, and additional asset details. View CostLab pricing and comparison.

Project Builder

The Projects page provides an easy way to group maintenance and repair tasks into a project, and estimate their material, labor, and equipment requirements. Easily add M&R Tasks to your project by navigating to the component using a building system tree organized by uniformat, and entering the quantity next to the task.

Advanced Model Calibration

Advanced Model Calibration Fully customize your building models with the information you know by adding and editing the equipment within each asset. Calibration can also be applied to Labor and Utility rates, M&R Tasks, Operation Tasks and Inflation rates leading to more accurate OpEx and CapEx estimates. *CostLab Pro, Expert, and Executive Feature View CostLab pricing and comparison.

Mass Data Export

Easily export large amounts of asset-level data at once including annual costs, average costs, Cost by Task per Year, Deferred Costs, and Inventory for all of your folders and assets. Use these organized, complete, and highly detailed Excel exports of your portfolio to support long term capital planning and your specific budget priorities. *CostLab Pro, Expert, and Executive Feature.

Capital Planning

Aging facilities and limited budget make it difficult to decide which equipment to replace. Take a data-driven approach to prioritize capital spending to mitigate risk to your portfolio. Our new Capital Planning feature can objectively tell you where to spend your money first based on your budget. *CostLab Expert and Executive Feature.

CostLab Tutorials

 

Watch Five-Minute Videos Covering CostLab's Top Features

CostLab is the most comprehensive online facility cost tool available. Powered by our industry-leading data, CostLab provides detailed Operations estimates and Maintenance & Repair forecasts for any facility around the world. Whether you are benchmarking costs for your entire portfolio or creating a detailed M&R project, CostLab provides accurate estimates in minutes.

Create a Building

Create building models and introduces you to the Assets section.

 

Create a Project

Create projects and introduces you to​ the Projects section.

 

Tour the Cost Library

Quick tour of the data in the Cost Library.

 

Tour the Reports

Tour of the results from your building model.

 

Vantage Analytics

We build advantage for our clients by deploying truly integrated analytics solutions that bring tools, people and processes together to elevate data for smarter and more informed decisions.

Business Intelligence Architecture

Designed to accommodate virtually all data sources, combining data from internal, external, and third party sources.
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research

Integrated Reporting

Data is transformed to create reports and visual dashboards used to analyze and answer business-critical decisions.
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Contact Us

 

[email protected]