Assessing the impact of energy management initiatives on the energy usage during the construction phase of an educational building project in Ireland

The construction industry is estimated to account for 40% of annual global energy use and 30% of annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has suggested the construction sector as best placed to improve its energy performance in order to help Ireland to meet the European Union (EU) GHG reduction target of 20% by 2020. An action research (AR) approach was used to explore the construction phase energy reduction opportunities on a selected case study in the West of Ireland. The participating contractor’s current onsite energy management practices were benchmarked to inform the implementation of a series of quick-win measures at a cost of €706.04. The resultant savings of €19 853.03 represented 17.5% of the total expenditure on energy usage on site (€113 397) and resulted in an estimated saving of 5.5% of the assumed project profit (€358 800). A set of key performance indicators (KPIs) were calculated for both phases of the project with a 75% reduction in the cost of electricity per floor area from phase 1 to phase 2. The findings suggest that improving site energy use provides scope for the contractor to increase profit margins, improve resource efficiency and reduce environmental impacts.