Significance of embodied energy as a measure of sustainable construction

Abstract

Total energy consumption of a domestic building, which has a direct impact on its carbon foot print, is a combination of, both, embodied energy and operational energy. Although enough emphasis has been given to the conservation of operational energy component there seems only little attention has been given to the estimation of embodied energy component. For example, in Australian domestic industry, it would take about 30 years of operational energy consumption to break-even with the embodied energy of the building at the time of occupancy. Considering that current domestic building stock generally having 50 years life expectancy, that amounts to, approximately, one third of the total energy consumed by a domestic building during its life cycle. Ability to account for embodied energy consumption in building materials and construction processes, accurately, has therefore became a priority research area during last decade. This paper presents research outcomes of embodied energy of domestic buildings, in Australian context, currently underway at the RMIT University. This paper, which is an outcome of the research in to the embodied energy component of such buildings, discusses the current practices of domestic construction, and strategies to estimate and minimise the embodied energy component of domestic building construction. The major outcome of this research is to provide tools for the designers, developers and owners to optimise embodied energy within budgetary constraints.