scholarly journals A LIFE CYCLE ENERGY COMPARISON OF THREE WORLD EXPO BUILDINGS

2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 151-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shanshan Shen ◽  
Brenda Vale ◽  
Robert Vale
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Embodied Energy ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Building Performance ◽  
Energy Flows ◽  
World Expo ◽  
Whole Life Cycle

Over the last hundred years the booming exhibition industry has promoted development, which in turn has led to environmental damage. The construction of exhibition buildings has been part of this phenomenon. At first sight improvement in energy efficiency techniques would seem to offset the increased energy demand from both exhibitions and exhibition buildings. However, whether energy efficiency technologies truly help to improve building performance to the point where a building is ‘environmentally friendly’ throughout its whole life-cycle is uncertain. This research is part of investigating whether energy efficiency technologies are really the easiest means to lower costs and energy requirements when the whole useful life of an exhibition building is considered. This article investigates the energy use of three case study buildings based on their operating and embodied energy flows. The results suggest that modern technologies for making exhibition buildings more sustainable may not be as effective as the simpler strategies used over 100 years ago. This suggests a different approach may be needed for sustainable development in the twenty first century.

Assessment of the Life Cycle Energy Efficiency of a Primary School Building in Turkey

2019 ◽  
Vol 887 ◽  
pp. 335-343
Author(s):  
Nazanin Moazzen ◽  
Mustafa Erkan Karaguler ◽  
Touraj Ashrafian
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Embodied Energy

Energy efficiency has become a crucial part of human life, which has an adverse impact on the social and economic development of any country. In Turkey, it is a critical issue especially in the construction sector due to increase in the dependency on the fuel demands. The energy consumption, which is used during the life cycle of a building, is a huge amount affected by the energy demand for material and building construction, HVAC and lighting systems, maintenance, equipment, and demolition. In general, the Life Cycle Energy (LCE) needs of the building can be summarised as the operational and embodied energy together with the energy use for demolition and recycling processes.Besides, schools alone are responsible for about 15% of the total energy consumption of the commercial building sector. To reduce the energy use and CO2 emission, the operational and embodied energy of the buildings must be minimised. Overall, it seems that choosing proper architectural measures for the envelope and using low emitting material can be a logical step for reducing operational and embodied energy consumptions.This paper is concentrated on the operating and embodied energy consumptions resulting from the application of different architectural measures through the building envelope. It proposes an educational building with low CO2 emission and proper energy performance in Turkey. To illustrate the method of the approach, this contribution illustrates a case study, which was performed on a representative schoold building in Istanbul, Turkey. Energy used for HVAC and lighting in the operating phase and the energy used for the manufacture of the materials are the most significant parts of embodied energy in the LCE analyses. This case study building’s primary energy consumption was calculated with the help of dynamic simulation tools, EnergyPlus and DesignBuilder. Then, different architectural energy efficiency measures were applied to the envelope of the case study building. Then, the influence of proposed actions on LCE consumption and Life Cycle CO2 (LCCO2) emissions were assessed according to the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method.

Zero Energy Houses and Embodied Energy: Regulatory and Design Considerations

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patxi Hernandez ◽  
Paul Kenny
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Construction Materials ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Embodied Energy ◽  
Base Case ◽  
Life Cycle Approach ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Zero Energy Buildings

Building energy performance regulations and standards around the world are evolving aiming to reduce the energy use in buildings. As we move towards zero energy buildings, the embodied energy of construction materials and energy systems becomes more important, as it represents a high percentage of the overall life cycle energy use of a building. However, this issue is still ignored by many regulations and certification methods, as happens with the European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), which focuses on the energy used in operation. This paper analyses a typical house designed to comply with Irish building regulations, calculating its energy use for heating and how water with the Irish national calculation tool, which uses a methodology in line with the EPBD. A range of measures to reduce the energy performance in use of this typical house are proposed, calculating the reduced energy demand and moving towards a zero energy demand building. A life-cycle approach is added to the analysis, taking into account the differential embodied energy of the implemented measures in relation to the typical house base-case, annualizing the differential embodied energy and re-calculating the overall energy use. The paper discusses how a simplified approach for accounting embodied energy of materials could be useful in a goal to achieve the lowest life-cycle energy use in buildings, and concludes with a note on how accounting for embodied energy is a key element when moving towards zero energy buildings.

scholarly journals A Life Cycle Cost Analysis of Structural Insulated Panels for Residential Buildings in a Hot and Arid Climate

Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 255
Author(s):  
Muataz Dhaif ◽  
André Stephan
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Life Cycle Cost ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Structural Insulated Panels ◽  
Operational Energy

In hot and humid climatic conditions, cooling tends to dominate building thermal energy use. Cooling loads can be reduced through the adoption of efficient building envelope materials, such as Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs). This study quantifies the life cycle cost and operational energy of a representative case-study house in Bahrain using SIPs and hollow concrete blocks (HCBs) for the envelope over a period of 50 years. Operational energy is calculated using a dynamic energy simulation tool, operational costs are calculated based on the energy demand and local tariff rates, and construction costs are estimated using market prices and quotations. The life cycle cost is quantified using the Net Present Cost technique. Results show that SIPs yield a 20.6% reduction in cooling energy use compared to HCBs. For SIP costs of 12 and 17 USD/m², the SIP house was cheaper throughout, or had a higher capital cost than the HCB house (breaking even in year 33), respectively. We propose policy recommendations with respect to material pricing, electricity tariffs, and energy efficiency, to improve the operational energy efficiency of houses in Bahrain and similar countries along the Arabian Peninsula.

scholarly journals Energy flows in lowland soybean production system in Brazil

2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (8) ◽  
pp. 1395-1400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Carolina da Silva Andrea ◽  
Thiago Libório Romanelli ◽  
José Paulo Molin
Keyword(s):  
Production System ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Irrigation Management ◽  
Northern Region ◽  
Embodied Energy ◽  
Soybean Production ◽  
Energy Flows ◽  
Lowland Area

ABSTRACT: Soybean is the main product of Brazilian agribusiness, both production and income. Considering the increase in food and energy demand and the search for more sustainable production systems, this study aimed to analyze inputs and energy use of a possible area of expansion of soybean production: a system under sub irrigation management located in a lowland area of Cerrado biome, northern region of Brazil. Its environmental performance was compared to other Brazilian locations among them traditionally soybean producers. The evaluation and comparison was made through material and energy flow tools in order to determine the inputs embodied per area, as well as energy demand, availability and efficiency in the analyzed production system. Energy demand (IE) and energy availability (OE) of the analyzed production system were 7.6 and 57.1 GJ ha-1, respectively. Energy balance (EB) was 49,5 GJ ha-1, energy return over investment (EROI) was 7.5 and embodied energy in grains (EE) was 2,2 MJ kg-1, respectively. Highest energy consumption was due to the use of fertilizers, fuel and herbicide. The system is energy efficient, since it provides more energy than demands, and efficient when compared to usual production systems in other regions, however it is highly dependent on non-renewable energy.

scholarly journals A Comprehensive Framework for Standardising System Boundary Definition in Life Cycle Energy Assessments

Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 230
Author(s):  
Hossein Omrany ◽  
Veronica Soebarto ◽  
Jian Zuo ◽  
Ruidong Chang
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Embodied Energy ◽  
Building Energy Efficiency ◽  
System Boundary ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Energy Assessment ◽  
Boundary Definition ◽  
Comprehensive Framework

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.

scholarly journals Strategies to Improve the Energy Performance of Buildings: A Review of Their Life Cycle Impact

Buildings ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadia MIRABELLA ◽  
Martin RÖCK ◽  
Marcella Ruschi Mendes SAADE ◽  
Carolin SPIRINCKX ◽  
Marc BOSMANS ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Embodied Energy ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Operational Energy

Globally, the building sector is responsible for more than 40% of energy use and it contributes approximately 30% of the global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. This high contribution stimulates research and policies to reduce the operational energy use and related GHG emissions of buildings. However, the environmental impacts of buildings can extend wide beyond the operational phase, and the portion of impacts related to the embodied energy of the building becomes relatively more important in low energy buildings. Therefore, the goal of the research is gaining insights into the environmental impacts of various building strategies for energy efficiency requirements compared to the life cycle environmental impacts of the whole building. The goal is to detect and investigate existing trade-offs in current approaches and solutions proposed by the research community. A literature review is driven by six fundamental and specific research questions (RQs), and performed based on two main tasks: (i) selection of literature studies, and (ii) critical analysis of the selected studies in line with the RQs. A final sample of 59 papers and 178 case studies has been collected, and key criteria are systematically analysed in a matrix. The study reveals that the high heterogeneity of the case studies makes it difficult to compare these in a straightforward way, but it allows to provide an overview of current methodological challenges and research gaps. Furthermore, the most complete studies provide valuable insights in the environmental benefits of the identified energy performance strategies over the building life cycle, but also shows the risk of burden shifting if only operational energy use is focused on, or when a limited number of environmental impact categories are assessed.

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 Energy Use Efficiency Past-to-Future Evaluation: An International Comparison

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (19) ◽  
pp. 3804 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chia-Nan Wang ◽  
Thi-Duong Nguyen ◽  
Min-Chun Yu
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
The United States ◽  
Total Energy Consumption ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Status ◽  
Energy Efficiency Evaluation

Despite the many benefits that energy consumption brings to the economy, consuming energy also leads nations to expend more resources on environmental pollution. Therefore, energy efficiency has been proposed as a solution to improve national economic competitiveness and sustainability. However, the growth in energy demand is accelerating while policy efforts to boost energy efficiency are slowing. To solve this problem, the efficiency gains in countries where energy consumption efficiency is of the greatest concern such as China, India, the United States, and Europe, especially, emerging economies, is central. Additionally, governments must take greater policy actions. Therefore, this paper studied 25 countries from Asia, the Americas, and Europe to develop a method combining the grey method (GM) and data envelopment analysis (DEA) slack-based measure model (SMB) to measure and forecast the energy efficiency, so that detailed energy efficiency evaluation can be made from the past to the future; moreover, this method can be extended to more countries around the world. The results of this study reveal that European countries have a higher energy efficiency than countries in Americas (except the United States) and Asian countries. Our findings also show that an excess of total energy consumption is the main reason causing the energy inefficiency in most countries. This study contributes to policymaking and strategy makers by sharing the understanding of the status of energy efficiency and providing insights for the future.

scholarly journals Application of Life Cycle Energy Assessment in Residential Buildings: A Critical Review of Recent Trends

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hossein Omrany ◽  
Veronica Soebarto ◽  
Ehsan Sharifi ◽  
Ali Soltani
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Current Trend ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Embodied Energy ◽  
System Boundary ◽  
Energy Assessment ◽  
Boundary Definition

Residential buildings are responsible for a considerable portion of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. Correspondingly, many attempts have been made across the world to minimize energy consumption in this sector via regulations and building codes. The focus of these regulations has mainly been on reducing operational energy use, whereas the impacts of buildings’ embodied energy are frequently excluded. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in analyzing the energy performance of buildings via a life cycle energy assessment (LCEA) approach. The increasing amount of research has however caused the issue of a variation in results presented by LCEA studies, in which apparently similar case studies exhibited different results. This paper aims to identify the main sources of variation in LCEA studies by critically analyzing 26 studies representing 86 cases in 12 countries. The findings indicate that the current trend of LCEA application in residential buildings suffers from significant inaccuracy accruing from incomplete definitions of the system boundary, in tandem with the lack of consensus on measurements of operational and embodied energies. The findings call for a comprehensive framework through which system boundary definition for calculations of embodied and operational energies can be standardized.

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