Embodied Energy in Buildings Materials of Middle-Class Residential House: A Case Study

Author(s):  
Hend rino ◽  
Mohd Zin Bin Kandar ◽  
I Nengah Tela ◽  
Boy Yendra Tamin
Author(s):  
Atiq U. Zaman ◽  
Juliet Arnott ◽  
Kate Mclntyre ◽  
Jonathon Hannon

This study analyses the case study of a deconstruction project called the ‘Whole House Reuse’ (WHR) which aimed, firstly, to harvest materials from a residential house, secondly, to produce new products using the recovered materials, and thirdly, to organize exhibition for the local public to promote awareness on resource conservation and sustainable deconstruction practices. The study applies characterization of recovered materials through deconstruction. In addition to the material recovery, the study assesses the embodied energy saving and greenhouse gas emission abatement of the deconstruction project. Around twelve tonnes of various construction materials were harvested through a systematic deconstruction approach, most which would otherwise be disposed to landfill in the traditional demolition approach. The study estimates that the recovered materials could potentially save around 502,158MJ of embodied energy and prevent carbon emission of around 27,029kg (CO2e). Deconstruction could eventually contribute to New Zealand’s national emission reduction targets. In addition, the project successfully engages local communities and designers to produce 400 new products using the recovered materials and exhibited to the local people. The study concludes that there is a huge prospect in regard to resource recovery, emission reduction, employment and small business opportunities using deconstruction of the old house. The socio-cultural importance of the WHR project is definitely immense; however, the greater benefits of such projects are often ignored and remain unreported to wider audiences as most of the external and environmental costs have not been considered in the traditional linear economy. It is acknowledged that under a favourable market condition and with appropriate support from local communities and authorities, deconstruction could contribute significantly to resource conservation and environmental protection despite its requirement of labour intensive efforts.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 3430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atiq Zaman ◽  
Juliet Arnott ◽  
Kate Mclntyre ◽  
Jonathon Hannon

This study analyzes the case study of a deconstruction project called the ‘Whole House Reuse’ (WHR) which aimed, firstly, to harvest materials from a residential house, secondly, to produce new products using the recovered materials, and thirdly, to organize exhibition for the local public to promote awareness on resource conservation and sustainable deconstruction practices. The study applies characterization of recovered materials through deconstruction. In addition to the material recovery, the study assesses the embodied energy saving and greenhouse gas emissions abatement of the deconstruction project. Around twelve tons of various construction materials were harvested through a systematic deconstruction approach, most of which would otherwise be disposed to landfill in the traditional demolition approach. The study estimates that the recovered materials could potentially save around 502,158 MJ of embodied energy and prevent carbon emissions of around 27,029 kg (CO2e). The deconstruction could eventually contribute to New Zealand’s national emission reduction targets. In addition, the project successfully engages local communities and designers to produce 400 new products using the recovered materials and exhibits them to the local people. The study concludes that there is a huge prospect in regard to resource recovery, emission reduction, employment, and small business opportunities using deconstruction of the old house. The sociocultural importance of the WHR project is definitely immense; however, the greater benefits of such projects are often ignored and remain unreported to wider audiences as most of the external and environmental costs are not considered in the traditional linear economy. It is acknowledged that under a favorable market condition and with appropriate support from local communities and authorities, deconstruction could contribute significantly to resource conservation and environmental protection despite its requirement of labor-intensive efforts.


Author(s):  
Sarah Webb ◽  
Anna Cristina Pertierra

In the Philippines, socioeconomic relations that result from deeply uneven market engagements have long made consumption a moral affair. Ecoconscious lifestyles and consumer practices remain largely the domain of elite and middle-class Filipinos, and as such, engagement with sustainable and environmentally friendly consumption may be seen not only as a marker of class distinction but also as a critique of urban and rural poor livelihood practices deemed to be environmentally detrimental. Focusing on a case study from Palawan Island, the chapter discusses some dilemmas that have arisen as the application of “eco” to tourism practices has become widespread and attractive to middle-class Filipinos with steadily growing spending power. The relevance of class to considering dilemmas of political consumerism is not unique to the Philippines, and these issues provide an opportunity to critically reflect on who benefits from political consumerism.


Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 230
Author(s):  
Hossein Omrany ◽  
Veronica Soebarto ◽  
Jian Zuo ◽  
Ruidong Chang

This paper aims to propose a comprehensive framework for a clear description of system boundary conditions in life cycle energy assessment (LCEA) analysis in order to promote the incorporation of embodied energy impacts into building energy-efficiency regulations (BEERs). The proposed framework was developed based on an extensive review of 66 studies representing 243 case studies in over 15 countries. The framework consists of six distinctive dimensions, i.e., temporal, physical, methodological, hypothetical, spatial, and functional. These dimensions encapsulate 15 components collectively. The proposed framework possesses two key characteristics; first, its application facilitates defining the conditions of a system boundary within a transparent context. This consequently leads to increasing reliability of obtained LCEA results for decision-making purposes since any particular conditions (e.g., truncation or assumption) considered in establishing the boundaries of a system under study can be revealed. Second, the use of a framework can also provide a meaningful basis for cross comparing cases within a global context. This characteristic can further result in identifying best practices for the design of buildings with low life cycle energy use performance. Furthermore, this paper applies the proposed framework to analyse the LCEA performance of a case study in Adelaide, Australia. Thereafter, the framework is utilised to cross compare the achieved LCEA results with a case study retrieved from literature in order to demonstrate the framework’s capacity for cross comparison. The results indicate the capability of the framework for maintaining transparency in establishing a system boundary in an LCEA analysis, as well as a standardised basis for cross comparing cases. This study also offers recommendations for policy makers in the building sector to incorporate embodied energy into BEERs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 4078
Author(s):  
María Rocío Ruiz-Pérez ◽  
María Desirée Alba-Rodríguez ◽  
Cristina Rivero-Camacho ◽  
Jaime Solís-Guzmán ◽  
Madelyn Marrero

Urbanization projects, understood as those supplying basic services for cities, such as drinking water, sewers, communication services, power, and lighting, are normally short-term extremely scattered actions, and it can be difficult to track their environmental impact. The present article’s main contribution is to employ the project budgets of public urbanization work to provide an instrument for environmental improvement, thereby helping public procurement, including sustainability criteria. Two urban projects in Seville, Spain are studied: the first substitutes existing services, and the second also includes gardens and playgrounds in the street margins. The methodology finds the construction elements that must be controlled in each project from the perspective of three indicators: carbon, water footprints, and embodied energy. The main impacts found are due to only four construction units: concrete, aggregates, asphalt, and ceramic pipes for the sewer system, that represent 70% or more of the total impact in all indicators studied. The public developer can focus procurement on those few elements in order to exert a lower impact and to significantly reduce the environmental burden of urbanization projects.


Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 1647 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis Gomes ◽  
Filipe Sousa ◽  
Tiago Pinto ◽  
Zita Vale

Smart home devices currently available on the market can be used for remote monitoring and control. Energy management systems can take advantage of this and deploy solutions that can be implemented in our homes. One of the big enablers is smart plugs that allow the control of electrical resources while providing a retrofitting solution, hence avoiding the need for replacing the electrical devices. However, current so-called smart plugs lack the ability to understand the environment they are in, or the electrical appliance/resource they are controlling. This paper applies environment awareness smart plugs (EnAPlugs) able to provide enough data for energy management systems or act on its own, via a multi-agent approach. A case study is presented, which shows the application of the proposed approach in a house where 17 EnAPlugs are deployed. Results show the ability to shared knowledge and perform individual resource optimizations. This paper evidences that by integrating artificial intelligence on devices, energy advantages can be observed and used in favor of users, providing comfort and savings.


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