Methods for Comparing Design Alternatives

In Methods for Comparing Design Alternatives, you'll learn ...

• The purpose and value of formal methods for comparing engineering design alternatives in project decision-making.
• The range of qualitative and quantitative approaches available for evaluating technical, economic, and sustainability criteria.
• The structured use of multi-criteria scoring to support transparent and defensible engineering decisions.
• How economic and sustainability metrics influence the selection of preferred engineering alternatives.

Overview

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Credit: 2 CPD

Length: 33 pages

During design, it is common to compare different options for layouts, materials, equipment, and technologies. Often it is not clear which alternative is best. To tackle this challenge, methodologies have been developed to compare and select an alternative that best meets the unique needs of the project.

This course reviews approaches to comparing design alternatives for engineering projects. Topics include advantages tables, qualitative comparisons, quantitative comparisons, multi-criteria scoring, lifecycle costs, return on investment (ROI), payback periods, and sustainability analysis. Example problems are provided to show how to apply these comparison methods.

Specific Knowledge or Skill Obtained

This course teaches the following specific knowledge and skills:

• Methods for comparing design alternatives.
• The benefits of different comparison methods.
• The steps for performing multi-criteria scoring.
• Tools for making financial assessments and comparisons.
• Sustainability comparisons.
• The triple bottom line as it relates to selecting criteria.
• How to compare scores and select a path forward.

Certificate of Completion

You will be able to immediately print a certificate of completion after passing a multiple-choice quiz consisting of 15 questions. CPD credits are not awarded until the course is completed and quiz is passed.