Technology advances of the last few decades, in such areas as computing and construction materials, have inspired many attempts to improve the construction process. Many of these attempts focus on reducing costs and improving functionality, such as life cycle cost analysis and value engineering, while others, such as design-build, focus on specific phases of the life cycle. Other factors such as declining productivity, the quantity of construction and demolition waste produced, rising construction costs and the current phase of redevelopment and reconstruction for much of the nation's infrastructure also motivate scrutiny of life cycle planning practices.