Construction costs vary based on factors such as when the project is taking place, where it is taking place, availability of materials, whether or not trade unions are involved, and the level of risk that a builder must assume to pursue the project.

While there are many generic resources available to acquire cost data such as RS Means, for this project, we were able to acquire data put together from comparable projects, both in California, estimated within 1-2 years ago, and in a University Setting. One being a performance arts building and the other being a Chemistry building addition.
The costs for various scopes were determined in industry by a general contractor who gathered price proposals from subcontractors that bid on the job and used their in house cost data to fill in any scope of work that may have been missing but requested from the owner.

The prices proposed were then related to the overall building gross square foot or area of impact to produce a unit rate such as a $/sf for various scopes. 

Using unit pricing from 3 different projects and adjusting for differences in our own, coupled with quantity take off efforts from our proposed design and existing As-Builts, we were able to come up with a cost estimate which covers the main components being proposed for upgrade below.