EMBODIED ENERGY ASSESSMENT FOR BUILDING MATERIALS

Abstract

Buildings use various building materials, which have a unique initial embodied energy. Initial embodied energy is the energy required for extraction of raw materials, transportation of these raw materials to the manufacturing unit and the energy required for the manufacturing of the material. Building materials like concrete, cement, clay bricks, etc., which is used in larger quantities in a building, requires large amount of energy during their production process. In this study, a process based approach is used for computing initial embodied energy of common building materials. The initial embodied energy of common and alternative building materials were found out from data collected from various building material manufacturing industries. The study proposes various alternative building materials with low initial embodied energy for a sustainable future.