Gama, E C M and Sloan, S C W B (2010) Environmental sustainability in the construction industry in developing countries: A study of embodied energy of low-cost housing. In: Egbu, C (ed.) Proceedings of 26th Annual ARCOM Conference, 6-8 September 2010, Leeds, UK.
Abstract
The embodied energy (EE) of a residential building is estimated at 20-40% of operation energy over its total usable life. However, this varies from one context to the other due to the primary energy used, technological advancement of a particular context and the methods used for the inventory analysis. Despite the lack of monetary value, EE analysis (EEA) is recommended for the selection of building materials at the design stage in terms of environmental loads. However, little attention has been paid to this area in developing countries, particularly, the Sub-Saharan Africa. Due to the increasing demand of building materials deemed to rise with urbanization in this region, the acceleration of environmental impacts is also inevitable. Therefore, data based tools are required to complement the existing policy and regulatory frameworks. In this study, EE of masonry and roof components of low-cost housing in Malawi will be assessed. The process based-hybrid energy analysis is employed to evaluate energy and the greenhouse gases related to the manufacturing, transportation of building materials and the assembling and maintenance of the entire residential building. This paper in particular, presents part of the conceptual framework of the study focusing on EE analysis especially the methods used and the associated problems based the literature review. So far, it is noted that the inventory analysis stage, which involves the evaluation of energy requirements, is the essential part of the EEA because of the various methods employed. Although the existing methods are sufficient relative to the available data, there is an urgency to increase the process data sets to enhance the reliability of the existing methods. Therefore, in addition to enhancing knowledge and understanding of life-cycle thinking to the construction stakeholders and decision makers in the selection of building materials, this study will also contribute to such data.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | embodied energy; environmental impact; housing; hybrid-analysis; sustainability |
| Index terms: | building material, energy analysis, environmental impact, design stage, construction industry, conceptual framework, roof, greenhouse gas, embodied energy, Malawi, acceleration, housing, environmental sustainability, developing country, residential building, urbanization, inventory, primary energy, Sub-Saharan Africa, literature review, low-cost housing, energy requirement |
| Subjects: | theoretical framing, physical geography and landforms, design practice, inventory management, Geography, health safety and environment, development economics, housing and residential development, project controls, engineering analysis, industry analysis, construction type, environmental impact, climate science, urban planning, building materials, professional practice, data analysis and analytics, energy systems |
| Topics: | Supply Chain Management, International Construction, Urban Studies, Design Practice, Time Control, Geographical Context, Research Practice, Health and Safety, Governance, Sustainability, Construction Technology |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here