We present a method for estimating the construction costs of plant tissues from measurements of heat of combustion, ash content, and organic nitrogen content. The method predicts glucose equivalents, and amount of glucose required to provide carbon skeletons and reductant to synthesize a quantity of organic product. Glucose equivalents have previously been calculated from the elemental composition of tissue. We define construction cost as the amount of glucose required to provide carbon skeletons, reductant and ATP for synthesizing the organic compounds in a tissue via standard biochemical pathways. The fraction of the total construction cost of a compound or tissue (excluding costs of transporting compounds) that is reflected in its glucose equivalents is the biosynthetic efficiency (EB). This quantity varies between 0.84 and 0.95 for tissues with a wide range of compositions. Using the new method, total construction cost can be estimated to .+-. 6% of the value obtained from biochemical pathway analysis. Construction costs of leaves of three chaparral species were estimated using the proposed method and compared to previously published values, derived using different methods. Agreement among methods was generally good. Differences were probably due to a combination of inaccuracy in the estimated biosynthetic efficiency and technical difficulties with biochemical analysis, one of the older methods of determining construction cost.