Bhardwaj, S.; Francis, A. and Soman, R. P. (2026) Scenario-based energy and environmental assessment for climate-responsive and low-carbon building design. Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, pp. 1-22. ISSN 2046-6099
Abstract
Purpose – This study aims to generate evidence-based guidance for climate-responsive residential building design by comparing the energy and carbon performance of alternative wall-envelope materials across diverse climatic contexts. Design/methodology/approach – A residential prototype was modelled as a case study and assessed for embodied carbon, cradle-to-grave environmental impacts and operational energy demand under projected future climate scenarios for the 2020s, 2050s and 2080s, incorporating anticipated changes in the electricity supply mix. Wall material alternatives were subsequently prioritised using a multi-criteria performance comparison. Findings – Adobe bricks, AAC blocks and fly ash bricks demonstrated the highest overall efficiency across embodied carbon, operational energy and life-cycle impact parameters. Climate-aligned grid decarbonisation could reduce operational carbon emissions by up to 39%. In contrast, neglecting climate change results in an underestimation of electricity consumption by 9% over a 75-year building life-cycle. Originality/value – This study evaluates wall material performance by combining future climate-responsive energy simulation with life-cycle environmental assessment in a scenario-based analysis. The results across multiple Indian climatic zones provide context-specific insights for low-carbon residential design.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | building information modelling; embodied carbon; life cycle assessment; multi-criteria decision-making; operational carbon analysis |
| Index terms: | environmental impact, operational carbon, evidence, residential building, prototype, low-carbon building, climate change, electricity consumption, efficiency, life cycle assessment, energy simulation, methodology, energy demand, building information modelling, embodied carbon, fly ash, multi-criteria decision-making, case study, environmental assessment |
| Subjects: | information systems, research methods, climate science, environmental impact, energy systems, modelling and simulation, evaluation and assessment methods, construction type, data collection methods, performance management, decision analysis, design practice, building materials |
| Topics: | Digital Applications, Construction Materials, Research Practice, Quality Management, Risk Management, Engineering Principles, Construction Technology, Design Practice, Sustainability |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
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