Pinky Devi, L and Palaniappan, S (2019) Life cycle energy analysis of a low-cost house in India. International Journal of Construction Education and Research, 15(4), pp. 256-275. ISSN 1557-8771
Abstract
There is tremendous focus in the construction industry to quantify and minimize energy footprint, carbon footprint, material footprint and water footprint and undertake initiatives toward a sustainable built environment. The Economically Weaker Section (EWS)-type residential buildings represent 82% of India’s total housing shortage. It is aimed to meet this housing need by 2022 through the scheme ‘Housing for All’. There is huge demand for materials and energy at the aggregate level and the need for conserving them during the planning, design, construction and operation of residential buildings. This article presents a case study on life cycle energy analysis of a residential building constructed for EWS community in Southern India. Cement, brick and rebar represent more than 3/4th of the total embodied energy of building materials. The structural frame and the building envelope are identified as major hotspots of the total initial embodied energy. The life cycle energy is found to be 0.46 GJ/m2/year for 50 years’ service life. The influence of operation energy and the building service life on the relative significance of construction energy is evaluated. The construction energy represents 29–62% of the life cycle energy for 50 years’ service life.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | embodied energy; life cycle energy analysis; low-cost house; operation energy; residential building |
| Index terms: | built environment, building material, rebar, embodied energy, structural frame, building envelope, India, construction industry, case study, carbon footprint, residential building, service life, building service, aggregate, housing need, housing, life cycle energy |
| Subjects: | housing and residential development, asset management, Geography, architectural elements, environmental impact, materials science, construction type, industry analysis, infrastructure and transport systems, energy systems, building materials, engineering systems, data collection methods |
| Topics: | Construction Technology, Construction Materials, Research Practice, Business Strategy, Urban Studies, Design Practice, Sustainability, Engineering Principles, Geographical Context |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
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