Embodied energy of common and alternative building materials and technologies

Abstract

Considerable amount of energy is spent in the manufacturing processes and transportation of various building materials. Conservation of energy becomes important in the context of limiting of green house gases emission into the atmosphere and reducing costs of materials. The paper is focused around some issues pertaining to embodied energy in buildings particularly in the Indian context. Energy consumption in the production of basic building materials (such as cement, steel, etc.) and different types of materials used for construction has been discussed. Energy spent in transportation of various building materials is presented. A comparison of energy in different types of masonry has been made. Energy in different types of alternative roofing systems has been discussed and compared with the energy of conventional reinforced concrete (RC) slab roof. Total embodied energy of a multi-storeyed building, a load bearing brickwork building and a soil–cement block building using alternative building materials has been compared. It has been shown that total embodied energy of load bearing masonry buildings can be reduced by 50% when energy efficient/alternative building materials are used.