The document discusses embodied energy in sustainable building materials, defining it as the total primary energy consumed throughout a material's life cycle, including extraction, manufacturing, and transport. It emphasizes the importance of selecting materials with low embodied energy and provides guidelines for reducing energy consumption in construction through durability, local sourcing, and recycling practices. The document also highlights the environmental impact of the building industry, noting that buildings account for 30-40% of global energy use and are significant contributors to CO2 emissions and waste.

1. LOW EMBODIED ENERGY SUSTAINABLE
BUILDING MATERIALS AND
TECHNOLOGIES
Presented by
Aiman
Sarah
Nazia
Sufyan
Hamzah

2. What is Embodied energy ?
The embodied energy (carbon) of a building material can be
taken as the total primary energy consumed (carbon
released) over its life cycle.
This would normally include (at least) extraction,
manufacturing and transportation.

3. Types of embodied energy
· Initial embodied energy; and
· Recurring embodied energy
The initial embodied energy in buildings
represents the non-renewable energy
consumed in the acquisition of raw
materials, their processing,
manufacturing, transportation to site, and
construction. This initial embodied energy has
two components:
Direct energy the energy used to transport
building products to the site, and then to
construct the building; and
Indirect energy the energy used to acquire,
process, and manufacture the building materials,
including any transportation related to these
activities.

4. RECURRING EMBODIED ENERGY
The recurring embodied energy in buildings
represents the non-renewable energy consumed to
maintain, repair, restore, refurbish or replace
materials, components or systems during the life
of the building.

5. How is embodied energy measured?
Embodied energy is measured as the quantity of non-
renewable energy per unit of building material, component
or system.
It is expressed in megajoules (MJ) or gigajoules (GJ) per
unit weight (kg or tonne) or area (m2) but the process of
calculating embodied energy is complex and involves
numerous sources of data.

6. UNITS OF MEASUREMENT
 Standard Unit for Embodied Energy: MJ/ kg material
 Standard Unit for Carbon emissions: Kg CO2/ kg material
Functional units:
MJ/ m3 material
Kg CO2/ m3
material

7. Energy consumption in buildings occurs in five phases.
• The first phase corresponds to the manufacturing of building materials and
components, which is termed as embodied energy.
• The second and third phases correspond to the energy used to transport
materials from production plants to the building site and the energy used in
the actual construction of the building, which is respectively referred to as grey
energy and induced energy.

8. • Fourthly, energy is consumed at the
operational phase, which corresponds
to the running of the building when it is
occupied.
• Finally, energy is consumed in the
demolition process of buildings as
well as in the recycling of their parts,
when this is promoted.

9. CRADLE-TO-GATE
is an assessment of a partial product life cycle from resource extraction (cradle) to the factory gate
- Energy inputs from:
• Extraction of raw materials
• Transportation to factory
• Manufacture of product / components
• Assembly of product / system
• Transportation to site / point of sale
• Installation / construction
• Maintenance
• Replacement
• Disposal / re-purposing / recycling

10. PROCESS 01

11. 02

12. 03

13. Certified wood is the only product that can carry the added value of chain-of-
custody certification—which confirms that it came from sustainably managed,
third-party certified forests. Similar to tracking packages, chain-of-custody tracks
forest products through all phases of ownership, processing and transportation,
from the forest of origin to the end consumer. The chain-of-custody system is
verified through an independent third-party audit. The result is that buyers know
their building materials are coming from forests managed in accordance with strict
sustainable forest management certification standards—and not from controversial
sources such as illegal logging.
The concrete and steel industries have no third-party sustainability certification or
chain-of-custody certification. However, progress is being made in responsible
procurement. In particular, some steel companies are reportedly encouraging
suppliers to adopt responsible practices and/or management systems certified to
ISO standards. In certain cases, companies dedicate online resources to screening
potential suppliers and to promoting and monitoring the performance of existing
vendors. Steel is often imported from developing countries and the absence of a
third-party certification program makes it impossible to accurately assess the
environmental and social impacts of steel products.
Photos: naturallywood.com
Sources: Photos: naturallywood.com Manufacturing Timber importer Chain of
Custody certificate Chain of Custody certificate Chain of Custody certificate
Tracking
 
 
Certified Forest
Forest Management certificate
Certified Logs
Chain of Custody certificate
Manufacturing
Chain of Custody certificate
Timber importer
Chain of Custody certificate Chain of Custody certificate
Sawmill
Chain of Custody certificate

14. EMBODIED ENERGY CHAIN

15. ENERGY USE

16. ENERGY USE

17. How much embodied energy is typically
found in buildings?

18. Embodied energy depends on:
• efficiency of the individual manufacturing process
• the fuels used in the manufacture of the materials
• the distances materials are transported
• the amount of recycled product used.

19. When selecting building materials, the
embodied energy should be considered with
respect to:
1. the durability of building materials
2. how easily materials can be separated
3. use of locally sourced materials
4. use of recycled materials
5. specifying standard sizes of materials
6. avoiding waste
7. selecting materials that are manufactured using
renewable energy sources.

20.  Buildings account for 30 to
40% of total global energy usage.
(United Nations Environmental
Programme)
 The construction sector is
responsible for :
 40% of the consumed
resources
 40% of CO2 emissions
 40% of waste (construction and
demolition) (UNCHS/ Habitat)
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF THE BUILDING
INDUSTRY
Cities take about 2 % of the land surface but consume 75 % of the world’s natural
resources.

26. Guidelines for reducing embodied energy
1. Design for long life and adaptability, using durable
low maintenance materials.
2. Ensure materials can be easily separated.
3. Modify or refurbish instead of demolishing or adding.
4. Ensure construction wastes and materials from
demolition of existing buildings are reused or
recycled.
5. Use locally sourced materials (including materials salvaged
on site) to reduce transport.
6. Select low embodied energy materials (which may
include materials with a high recycled content),
preferably based on supplier-specific data.

27. 1. Avoid wasteful material use. For example, specify standard
sizes wherever possible (windows, door, panels) to avoid using
additional materials as fillers. Some energy intensive finishes,
such as paints, often have high wastage levels so try to buy only
as much as you need.
2. Ensure offcuts are recycled and use only sufficient
structural materials to ensure stability and meet
construction standards.
3. Select materials that can be reused or recycled easily at the end
of their lives using existing recycling systems.
4. Give preference to materials that have been
manufactured using renewable energy sources.
5. Use efficient building envelope design and fittings to minimise
materials (e.g. an energy efficient building envelope can
downsize or eliminate the need for heaters and coolers, water-
efficient taps can allow downsizing of water pipes).
Guidelines for reducing embodied energy

28. REUSE AND RECYCLING
Reuse of building materials commonly saves about 95% of embodied energy that would
otherwise be wasted. However, some materials such as bricks and roof tiles may be damaged
when reused.

31. Construction technique for low embodied energy

32. Architect: ANUPAMA KUNDOO

34. COMPARISON OF MATERIALS AND
TECHNIQUES
CSEB (Compressed Stabilised Earth Block) MASONRY WALLS

35. COMPARISON OF MATERIALS AND
TECHNIQUES
CONVENTIONAL COUNTRY FIRED BRICK WALLS

36. COMPARISON OF MATERIALS AND
TECHNIQUES
CONVENTIONAL REINFORCED CONCRETE WALLS

37. COMPARISON OF MATERIALS AND
TECHNIQUES
CSEB VAULTING

38. COMPARISON OF MATERIALS AND
TECHNIQUES
FERROCEMENT CHANNELS

39. COMPARISON OF MATERIALS AND
TECHNIQUES
CONVENTIONAL RCC SLAB

40. EXPLORATION

41. Thank You
FOR MORE MATERIAL
: http://media.cannondesign.com/uploads/files/MaterialLife-9-6.pdf
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Gabrielle Rossit
416.915.0121 (Toronto)
grossit@cannondesign.com
Marion Lawson
312.960.8382 (Chicago)
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