Embodied energy analysis of building materials: An improved IO-based hybrid method using sectoral disaggregation

Energy ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 124 ◽  
pp. 46-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manish K. Dixit
Keyword(s):  
Hybrid Method ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Energy Analysis ◽  
Embodied Energy

scholarly journals Integration of Emergy Analysis with Building Information Modeling

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7990
Author(s):  
Suman Paneru ◽  
Forough Foroutan Jahromi ◽  
Mohsen Hatami ◽  
Wilfred Roudebush ◽  
Idris Jeelani
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Building Information Modeling ◽  
Energy Analysis ◽  
Information Modeling ◽  
Environmental Cost ◽  
Emergy Analysis ◽  
Modeling Tools ◽  
Building Information

Traditional energy analysis in Building Information Modeling (BIM) only accounts for the energy requirements of building operations during a portion of the occupancy phase of the building’s life cycle and as such is unable to quantify the true impact of buildings on the environment. Specifically, the typical energy analysis in BIM does not account for the energy associated with resource formation, recycling, and demolition. Therefore, a comprehensive method is required to analyze the true environmental impact of buildings. Emergy analysis can offer a holistic approach to account for the environmental cost of activities involved in building construction and operation in all its life cycle phases from resource formation to demolition. As such, the integration of emergy analysis with BIM can result in the development of a holistic sustainability performance tool. Therefore, this study aimed at developing a comprehensive framework for the integration of emergy analysis with existing Building Information Modeling tools. The proposed framework was validated using a case study involving a test building element of 8’ × 8’ composite wall. The case study demonstrated the successful integration of emergy analysis with Revit®2021 using the inbuilt features of Revit and external tools such as MS Excel. The framework developed in this study will help in accurately determining the environmental cost of the buildings, which will help in selecting environment-friendly building materials and systems. In addition, the integration of emergy into BIM will allow a comparison of various built environment alternatives enabling designers to make sustainable decisions during the design phase.

scholarly journals A Building Life-Cycle Embodied Performance Index—The Relationship between Embodied Energy, Embodied Carbon and Environmental Impact

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1905 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming Hu
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Embodied Energy ◽  
Building Performance ◽  
Impact Categories ◽  
Embodied Carbon ◽  
Unexplored Area ◽  
Environmental Impact Categories ◽  
Building Life Cycle

Knowledge and research tying the environmental impact and embodied energy together is a largely unexplored area in the building industry. The aim of this study is to investigate the practicality of using the ratio between embodied energy and embodied carbon to measure the building’s impact. This study is based on life-cycle assessment and proposes a new measure: life-cycle embodied performance (LCEP), in order to evaluate building performance. In this project, eight buildings located in the same climate zone with similar construction types are studied to test the proposed method. For each case, the embodied energy intensities and embodied carbon coefficients are calculated, and four environmental impact categories are quantified. The following observations can be drawn from the findings: (a) the ozone depletion potential could be used as an indicator to predict the value of LCEP; (b) the use of embodied energy and embodied carbon independently from each other could lead to incomplete assessments; and (c) the exterior wall system is a common significant factor influencing embodied energy and embodied carbon. The results lead to several conclusions: firstly, the proposed LCEP ratio, between embodied energy and embodied carbon, can serve as a genuine indicator of embodied performance. Secondly, environmental impact categories are not dependent on embodied energy, nor embodied carbon. Rather, they are proportional to LCEP. Lastly, among the different building materials studied, metal and concrete express the highest contribution towards embodied energy and embodied carbon.

scholarly journals Embodied Energy and CO2 Emissions of Widely Used Building Materials: The Ethiopian Context

Buildings ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Woubishet Zewdu Taffese ◽  
Kassahun Admassu Abegaz
Keyword(s):  
Co2 Emissions ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Construction Materials ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Embodied Energy ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Coarse Aggregates ◽  
Human Habitat ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Concrete Blocks

Buildings use a wide range of construction materials, and the manufacturing of each material consumes energy and emits CO2. Several studies have already been conducted to evaluate the embodied energy and the related CO2 emissions of building materials, which are mainly based on case studies from developed countries. There is a considerable gap in cases of developing countries regarding assessment of embodied energy and CO2 emissions of these building materials. This study identified the top five most used construction materials (cement, sand, coarse aggregates, hollow concrete blocks, and reinforcement bars), which are also prime sources of waste generation during construction in the Ethiopian building construction sector. Then, what followed was the evaluation of the embodied energies and CO2 emissions of these materials by examining five commercial and public buildings within the cradle-to-site lifecycle boundary. The evaluation results demonstrated that cement, hollow concrete blocks (HCB), and reinforcement bars (rebars) are the major consumers of energy and major CO2 emitters. Cumulatively, they were responsible for 94% of the embodied energy and 98% of the CO2 emissions. The waste part of the construction materials has inflated the embodied energy and the subsequent CO2 emissions considerably. The study also recommended several strategies for the reduction of embodied energy and the related CO2 emissions. The research delivers critical insights into embodied energy and CO2 emissions of the five most used building materials in the Ethiopian construction industry, as there are no prior studies on this theme. This might be a cause to arouse awareness and interest among the policy makers and the wider public to clearly understand the importance of research on this crucial issue to develop national energy and CO2 descriptors for construction materials, in order to take care of our naturally endowed, but yet fragile, human habitat.

scholarly journals Frost Resilience of Stabilized Earth Building Materials

Geosciences ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan W. Rempel ◽  
Alexandra R. Rempel
Keyword(s):  
Building Materials ◽  
Thermal Stresses ◽  
Fiber Type ◽  
Damage Index ◽  
Material Design ◽  
Ambient Air ◽  
Frost Damage ◽  
Embodied Energy ◽  
Surface Erosion ◽  
Air Temperatures

Earth-based building materials are increasingly valued in green design for their low embodied energy, humidity-buffering ability, and thermal stability. These materials perform well in warm dry climates, but greater understanding of long-term durability is needed for successful adoption in colder and/or wetter climates. The presence of stabilizers dramatically improves resistance to surface erosion from wind and rain, compared to unstabilized adobe and cob counterparts, and the influences of soil composition, fiber type, and diverse binders, on rain and wind surface erosion have been investigated in detail. Frost and freeze-thaw resistance, however, have been less well-studied, despite strong interest in stabilized earth materials in northern North America, Europe, and Asia. In particular, recent studies have relied on a widespread misunderstanding of the mechanism by which frost damage occurs in porous materials that will impede efforts to create valid models for material design and improvement. In addition, the influence of radiative thermal stresses on wall surfaces has been overlooked in favor of focus on ambient air temperatures. Here, we apply contemporary understanding of cracking by segregated ice growth to develop a macroscopic damage index that enables comparison between performance of different materials subject to different weather patterns. An examination of predicted damage patterns for two stabilized earth building materials and two conventional materials in twelve cities over two time periods reveals the dominant factors that govern frost vulnerability. We find that the frost resilience of earth building materials is comparable to that of the conventional materials we examined, and that assessments that neglect expected variations in water content by assuming full saturation are likely to yield misleading results. Over recent years, increased winter temperatures in several cities we examined predict reduced material vulnerability to frost damage, but we also find that accompanying increases in humidity levels have made some cities much more vulnerable.

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