Appraisal of vernacular building materials and alternative technoligies for roofing and terracing options of embodied energy in buildings

Abstract

Nearly two million residential building are built annually in India apart from the offices, commercial and industrial buildings with demand and supply which is increasing year by year. It is essential to conserve the conventional energy by developing energy efficient buildings. Environmental quality and conservation of fossil fuels may become important in the context of limiting of GHGs emission and also reducing cost of materials. The most important stages from point of view of energy intensity: (a) Raw material acquisition; (b) Preparation & Manufacturing ;(c) Transportation But this paper broadly considered to analyze the first two parts as the third part of transportation energy vary from location to location, however it has been emphasized in the literature that 1 MJ/ tonne /km (diesel) for transporting materials can be integrated for location specific analysis. Besides, Energy estimates given in the literature for various materials such as the Cement 5.85MJ/kg, lime 5.62MJ/kg, LP 2.33MJ/kg (lime 30%, Pozzolana 60% and 10%calcined gypsum), steel 42MJ/kg, Al 236.8MJ/kg, Glass 25.8Mj/kg, Burnt clay brick 4.25MJ, Hollow block 12.3- 15MJ, etc have been considered for energy appraisal. It is focused on some issues pertaining to Embodied Energy savings by identifying a few appropriate options for important building components and a comparison of energy in different types of roof and terracing has been made. Energy in different options of alternative systems have been discussed and compared with the energy consumed in conventional specifications to appreciate the consumption of energy in various materials for selection of appropriate materials with reference to energy savings and sustainable development. © 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd.