2134/6570
Fiona Hamilton-MacLaren
Fiona
Hamilton-MacLaren
Dennis Loveday
Dennis
Loveday
Monjur Mourshed
Monjur
Mourshed
The calculation of embodied energy in new build UK housing
Loughborough University
2010
Climate change
CO2 emissions
Embodied energy
New build housing
Built Environment and Design not elsewhere classified
2010-08-12 15:52:02
Conference contribution
https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/conference_contribution/The_calculation_of_embodied_energy_in_new_build_UK_housing/9436604
Reducing CO2 emissions to mitigate the impacts of climate change is now an
international imperative. The built environment is responsible for nearly half of all
CO2 emissions in the UK. Therefore, the reduction of carbon emissions from the
products and processes involved in a building’s lifecycle are of paramount importance
in meeting national and global emissions reduction targets. The energy used and
consequent carbon emissions associated with construction materials and processes are
usually calculated using the concept of embodied energy, albeit with significant
variations in methodology. In general, the embodied energy of a building is
considered to account for less than one-fifth of its whole-life energy use. However, as
energy efficiency for new-build improves towards the zero carbon target in 2016, the
embodied energy will assume an increasingly greater proportion, approaching 100%
of the lifetime energy use and emissions. The research reported here is aimed at
achieving a better understanding of the aspects of embodied energy of new-build UK
houses (in particular, the focus is on the accuracy of various calculation procedures)
that are often simplified to a few building types via a generalised and frequently non-
UK, representation of the construction process. The need for a more standardised
calculation method for embodied energy and resulting CO2 emissions is therefore
discussed. Although considered in relation to the house building industry, this
research is also applicable to the wider construction industry, as well as
manufacturing.