Southern Environmental Consulting (SEC), Inc. designs plans and specifications for asbestos abatement (removal) projects in public, private, and government buildings. Currently, SEC must conduct an air test before allowing the occupancy of a building after the asbestos has been removed. SEC subcontracts air-test samples to a laboratory for analysis by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). To offset the cost of TEM analysis, SEC charges its clients $100 more than the subcontractor's fee. The only expenses in this system are the costs of shipping the air-test samples to the subcontractor and the labor involved in shipping the samples. With the growth of the business, SEC must consider either continuing to subcontract the TEM analysis to outside companies or developing its own TEM laboratory. Because of the passage of the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) by the U.S. Congress, SEC expects about 1,000 air-sample tests per year over eight years. The firm's MARR is known to be 15%. Click the icon to view the description of alternatives. Click the icon to view the interest factors for discrete compounding when MARR = 15% per year