Sustainability and Embodied Energy (and Carbon) in Buildingsi-b-c-i.ie/docs/conferences/2012/03 - Energy (and Carbon...McCaffrey M. (2011) ‘An I-O hybrid methodology for environmental

College of Engineering & Informatics

Sustainability and Embodied

Energy (and Carbon) in Buildings

Dr Jamie Goggins | Lecturer in Civil Engineering

Affiliations:

College of Engineering & Informatics, NUI Galway

Ryan Institute for Environment, Marine & Energy Research

IBCI Building Control Conference 2012 | Athlone, 28-29

March 2012


Energy in Buildings - Sustainability

• What is a sustainable solution?

• Sustainability – Embodied energy and embodied

carbon as indicators

• Why should embodied energy and embodied carbon

be considered?

• Material choice • Concrete and cements

• Steel

• Timber

• Case study

• Summary


Energy in buildings – What is a

sustainable solution?


Social

Economic Environmental

Bearable Equitable

Viable

Sustainable


Sustainable construction Main impacts of construction industry and buildings (Sev 2008)

Sev, A. 2008 How can the construction industry contribute to sustainable development? A

conceptual framework. Sustainable Development 17 (2009) 161-173

Environ

-mental

Social Economic

Raw material extraction and construction, related resource

depletion

● ●

Land use change, including clearing of existing fauna ● ● ●

Energy use and associated emissions of greenhouse gases ● ●

Other indoor and outdoor emissions ● ●

Aesthetic degradation ●

Water use and waste water generation ● ●

Increased transport needs, depending on site ● ● ●

Waste generation ● ●

Opportunities for corruption ● ●

Disruption of communities, including through inappropriate

design and materials

● ●

Health risks on worksites and for building occupants ● ●


Material choice

• Maximise • Minimise

Emissions

Waste

Fossil fuel use

Local impacts

Transport

Local employment

Fuel self-sufficiency

Resource recovery

Community benefits

Biodiversity


Material usage

Total material use of the man-kind in 2005 F. Krausmann et al. / Ecological Economics 68 (2009) 2696–2705


Structural Design

Lean design

Recycled materials

Renewable materials

Minimise waste

Design for long life

Holistic design


Sustainability – Embodied energy and

embodied carbon as indicators


What is embodied energy (EE) and embodied

carbon (EC)?

– Embodied energy (EE) is the energy

consumed over the duration of a

product’s life cycle

– Embodied carbon (EC) refers to the

CO2e consumed over the duration of a

product’s life cycle

– These refer to the energy and green

house gases required for the raw material

extraction, transportation, manufacture,

assembly, installation, disassembly,

deconstruction and/or decomposition for

any product or system.

– EE and EC are linked.

– Measure of sustainability

Carbon dioxide (CO2)

Methane (CH4)

Nitrous oxide (N2O)

Sulphur hexafluoride

(SF6)

HFCs

PFCs

CO2e

UNFCCC (1998). Kyoto protocol to the

United Nations framework convention on

climate change. http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/kpeng.pdf

1

25

298

http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/kpeng.pdf


Life Cycle Profiles Cradle to Gate, Cradle to Site & Cradle to Grave

• Production stage (raw material supply, transport, manufacturing of

products, and all upstream processes from cradle to gate).

• Construction process stage (transport to the building site and wastage

from building installation/construction only) including transport and

disposal of waste.

• Use stage: repair, replacement, maintenance and refurbishment

including transport and disposal of waste over the life cycle study year

period.

• Demolition: is expected to occur any time at or after the end of the

study period and is included within its environmental profile. It includes

transport and disposal of waste.

• Recycling/reuse: to take account of all or part of the product that is recycled or

reused at the end of its life

Cradle

Gate

Site

Grave

Cradle


EE and EC databases

• ICE database (http://people.bath.ac.uk/cj219/)

• GaBi database

• SIMAPRO

• Canadian Raw Material Database

• DEFRA – UK

• DIM1.0/ eVERdee

• Ecoinvent

• Boustead model

• worldsteel

* Many databases use process based analysis to determine intensities


EE and EC databases

– ICE database (http://people.bath.ac.uk/cj219/)

Embodied energy (MJ/kg) Embodied carbon (kgCO2e/kg)

Tim

be

r

Tim

be

r


Why should embodied energy and embodied

carbon be considered?


– xx

Dixit M. K., Fernández-Solís J. L., Lavy S. and Culp C. H. (2010). "Identification of parameters for

embodied energy measurement: A literature review." Energy and Buildings 42(8): 1238-1247.

Life Cycle Energy of a Building


Why is embodied energy (EE) and

embodied carbon (EC) important?

• The built environment is

responsible for 40% of European

energy consumption.

• The upcoming EPBD 2010 will

require all buildings to move

towards low energy standards.

• The EE/EC for a low energy

building’s total energy and carbon

over a full life cycle can be over

30% of the total consumed.

• Operational Energy vs. Embodied

Energy.


.

Policy & influence


Government white paper

• 25% increase in CO2 emissions in last 15 years

• 33% renewables by 2020

• 20% energy savings by 2020

• Green procurement

• We will revise and update existing social housing design guidelines to

ensure that all new capitally funded housing schemes are socially,

environmentally and economically sustainable, achieving energy efficiency

both at construction stage and during the lifetime of the scheme, e.g. by

climate sensitive design which takes account of the orientation,

Policy & influence

Energy efficiency

• Alternative energy systems

21. We are requiring developers of new buildings of

over 1,000m2 to investigate the feasibility of using

alternative energy systems.


SEAI strategic plan

• Minimising environmental impacts of materials in

25 years

Policy & influence

Construction industry review

• Using renewable materials

• Using low-embodied energy materials •

Building regulations

• Minimum standards •

EU directives and commission documents

• 2002/91/EC

• 2003/87/EC

• 2007/589/EC •


National Action Plan on Green Public Procurement (GPP) (Draft June 2011)

• The draft National Action Plan proposes seven priority product groups for which the public sector should seek to “green” their tendering processes on a national basis, including construction.

• Will provide a framework for the development of GPP in a consistent, progressive and coherent fashion.

• Will highlight existing best-practice procurement

• Will outline what further improvements can be made that would boost the percentage of GPP

Policy & influence


30%

66%

4%

LCA Carbon (%) - Semi-Detached

Bungalows - B2 Rating Embodied Carbon

(KgCO2e)

Operational Carbon

(KgCO2e)

Reoccuring

Embodied Carbon

(KgCO2e)

LCA (Carbon) of Buildings – NUIG Case Studies

19%

77%

4%

LCA Carbon (%) - 2 Storey - B3

Rating Embodied Carbon

(KgCO2e)

Operational Carbon

(KgCO2e)

Reoccuring

Embodied Carbon

(KgCO2e)

21%

75%

4%

LCA Carbon (%) - Apartment Block

- C1 Rating Embodied Carbon

(KgCO2e)

Operational Carbon

(KgCO2e)

Reoccuring

Embodied Carbon

(KgCO2e)

The above examples show

the various contributions of

EC, RC and OC to each case

study building’s overall

carbon footprint.


Sturgle Associates LLP Indicative Whole Life Carbon Emissions, RICS Research magazine, May 2010.

LCA (Carbon) of Buildings – other case studies

O’Loughlin, N. (2010), ‘Embodied CO2 of housing

construction in Ireland’, Architecture Ireland 247, pp70-71

A2 rated 3-bed

Semi-D A2 rated 2-bed

Apartment

Office Warehouse Supermarket House

Sturgle Associates LLP Indicative Whole Life Carbon Emissions, RICS Research magazine, May 2010.


Jones (2011)

Future GHG in electricity generation?

Jones, C. (2011), ‘Embodied Carbon: A Look Forward

Sustain Insight Article: Volume I’, Sustain, Jan 2011


Material choice


• Material choice can be very influential in the carbon

footprint outcome of any building.

• A product may have a low Operational Carbon (OC)

and high Embodied Carbon (EC) but may be required

to be changed frequently

Material Choice


LCA - Material Breakdown

Aggregate

Alluminium

Blocks Carpet

Concrete

Glass

Insulation

Lead

Mortar

Other

Paint

Plaster

Plastic

Sand

Slates

Steel

Tiles Timber

Vinyl Zinc

EC of Construction Materials (%)

Aggregate

Alluminium

Blocks

Carpet

Concrete

Glass

Insulation

Lead

Mortar

Other

Paint

Plaster

Plastic

Sand

Slates

Steel

Tiles

Timber

Vinyl

Semi-detached

Bungalows

Aggregate

Alluminium

Blocks Carpet

Concrete

Glass

Insulation

Lead

Mortar

Other

Paint

Plaster

Plastic

Sand

Slates

Steel

Tiles Timber

Vinyl

Zinc

EC of Construction Materials (%) Aggregate

Alluminium

Blocks

Carpet

Concrete

Glass

Insulation

Lead

Mortar

Other

Paint

Plaster

Plastic

Sand

Slates

Steel

Tiles

Timber

Vinyl

Zinc 2 Storey House

Sample case studies conducted by researchers at NUIG


Concrete and cements


Energy inputs to the concrete manufacturing

process (cradle to site)

•Concrete is the most widely used man made material by volume.

•It has an extremely energy intensive manufacturing process and

therefore, has high EE and EC.

.


Cement production.

BES 6001

Environmental

& Alternative

fuels:

Chipped tyres

Meat and

bonemeal

Secondary

liquid fuel

SRF – solid

recovered fuel CMI (2011)‘The foundation of our nation’

3

1 1

12

13

10


Cement production – energy flow.

Woodward R. (2011). Material and energy flow analysis of

the Irish construction sector. MSc thesis, CIT.


Cement production.

Direct energy intensity for CEM I

cement in Ireland for 2005

Direct GHG (CO2e) emissions for

CEM I cement in Ireland for 2005

4.25MJ/kg 0.89kgCO2/kg McCaffrey M. (2011) ‘An I-O hybrid methodology for environmental LCA of embodied energy and

carbon in Irish products and services – A study of reinforced concrete’, MEngSc thesis, NUI

Galway.

49%

11%

19%

14%

58%


Cement production – reduction in emissions.

CMI (2011)‘The foundation of our nation’

CMI member cement sales

Alternative fuel usage

0.75kgCO2/kg


GGBS.

* This may change in future – burden sharing with steel industry?

*

0.79 0.072


Clinker

NaturalNatural

calcinedSiliceous Calcareous

K S D b P Q V W T L LL

CEM IPortland

cementCEM I 95-100 - - - - - - - - - 0-5

CEM II/A-S 80-90 6-20 - - - - - - - - 0-5CEM II/B-S 65-79 21-35 - - - - - - - - 0-5

Portland-silica

fume cementCEM II/A-D 90-94 - 6-10 - - - - - - - 0-5

CEM II/A-P 80-94 - - 6-20 - - - - - - 0-5CEM II/B-P 65-79 - - 21-35 - - - - - - 0-5CEM II/A-Q 80-94 - - - 6-20 - - - - - 0-5CEM II/B-Q 65-79 - - - 21-35 - - - - - 0-5CEM II/A-V 80-94 - - - - 6-20 - - - - 0-5CEM II/B-V 65-79 - - - - 21-35 - - - - 0-5CEM II/A-W 80-94 - - - - - 6-20 - - - 0-5CEM II/B-W 65-79 - - - - - 21-35 - - - 0-5CEM II/A-T 80-94 - - - - - - 6-20 - - 0-5CEM II/B-T 65-79 - - - - - - 21-35 - - 0-5

CEM II/A-L 80-94 - - - - - - - 6-20 - 0-5CEM II/B-L 65-79 - - - - - - - 21- - 0-5CEM II/A-LL 80-94 - - - - - - - - 6-20 0-5CEM II/B-LL 65-79 - - - - - - - - 21- 0-5CEM II/A-M 80-94 0-5

CEM II/B-M 65-79 0-5

CEM III/A 35-64 36-65 - - - - - - - - 0-5CEM III/B 20-34 66-80 - - - - - - - - 0-5CEM III/C 5-19 81-95 - - - - - - - - 0-5CEM IV/A 65-89 - - - - 0-5CEM IV/B 45-64 - - - - 0-5

CEM V/A 40-64 18-30 - - - - - 0-5

CEM V/B 20-38 31-50 - - - - - 0-5

a) The values in the table refer to the sum of the main and minor additional constituents.b) The proportion of silica fume is limited to 10 %.

c) In Portland-composite cements CEM II/A-M and CEM II/B-M, in Pozzolanic cements CEM IV/A and CEM IV/B and in composite cements

CEM V/A and CEM V/B the main constituents other than clinker shall be declared by designation of the cement (For example see clause 8).

Blast-

furnace

slag

Silica

fume

Burnt

shale

CEM IV

CEM V

Pozzolanic

cement c

Composite

cement c

11-3536-55

18-30

31-50

6-20

21-35

Blastfurnace

cementCEM III

CEM II

Portland-slag

cement

Portland-

pozzolana

cement

Portland-fly ash

cement

Portland-burnt

shale cement

Portland-

limestone

cement

Portland-

composite

cement c

Main consituents

Composition (proportion by massa)

Notation of the 27 products

(types of common cement)

Main

typesMinor

additional

constituents

LimestoneFly ashPozzolans

Family of common cements EN 197-1.


Clinke

Natu

ral

Natural

calcined

Silice

ous

Calcar

eous

K S D b P Q V W T L LL

CEM IPortland

cementCEM I 95-100 - - - - - - - - - 0-5

CEM II/A-V 80-94 - - - - 6-20 - - - - 0-5

CEM II/B-V 65-79 - - - - 21-35 - - - - 0-5

CEM II/A-W 80-94 - - - - - 6-20 - - - 0-5

CEM II/B-W 65-79 - - - - - 21-35 - - - 0-5

CEM II/A-L 80-94 - - - - - - - 6-20 - 0-5

CEM II/B-L 65-79 - - - - - - - 21-35 - 0-5

CEM II/A-LL 80-94 - - - - - - - - 6-20 0-5

CEM II/B-LL 65-79 - - - - - - - - 21-35 0-5

CEM III/A 35-64 36-65 - - - - - - - - 0-5

CEM III/B 20-34 66-80 - - - - - - - - 0-5

CEM III/C 5-19 81-95 - - - - - - - - 0-5

c) In Portland-composite cements CEM II/A-M and CEM II/B-M, in Pozzolanic cements CEM IV/A and CEM IV/B and in

composite cements CEM V/A and CEM V/B the main constituents other than clinker shall be declared by designation of the

a) The values in the table refer to the sum of the main and minor additional constituents.b) The proportion of silica fume is limited to 10 %.

CEM IIIBlastfurnace

cement

Limestone

CEM II

Portland-fly ash

cement

Portland-

limestone

cement

Main

types

Notation of the 27 products

(types of common cement)

Composition (proportion by massa)

Main consituents

Min

or

ad

dit

ion

al

co

ns

titu

en

t

Blast-

furnace

slag

Silica

fume

Pozzolans Fly ashBurnt

shale

Family of common cements EN 197-1.


Cement production.

, CKD


Cement production.

Source: CEMBUREAU 2008

EU cements types


Steel


Iron and Steel making flow chart • Ref: Worldsteel (2008) (75% of world production)

(25% of world

production)

(66%) (3%) (6%) (25%)

Energy Intensity

(GJ/t): 26.4 – 41.6 19.8 – 31.2 28.3 – 30.9 9.1 – 12.5

(*Energy associated with mining is excluded).


Energy reduction in steel making

• Source: Worldsteel

Limit of current

technology?

Fe2O3 + 3CO -> 2Fe + 3CO2


End-of life fate of materials

• 77% crushed

• Landfill avoided

• Primary aggregates

saved

• ‘Downcycling’

• 99% recycled or reused

• Landfill avoided

• Primary steel saved

• ‘True recycling’

• 16% recycled??

• 80% landfill??

• Decomposition CO2 CH4

• Landfill gas capture (51%)

Concrete Steel Timber

Ref: Sansom M. (2011)


Recycling

• Content vs. Potential

• Why collection rate does make a difference

The water bottle example

Before drinking After drinking

Water 50 Cent

Bottle 50 Cent

Water 50 Cent

Bottle 50 Cent returned

Recycling Content

Cost = 50 Cent

Recycling Potential

Cost = 50 Cent


Recycling

• Content vs. Potential

• Why collection rate does make a difference

The water bottle example

Before drinking After drinking

Water 50 Cent

Bottle 50 Cent

Water 50 Cent

Bottle 50 Cent lost

Recycling Content

Cost = 50 Cent

Recycling Potential

Cost = 100 Cent


Databases

Different methods – UK Sections

Ref: Sansom M. (2011)


Different methods

• PAS 2050 – Recycled content approach

• Allocates full recycling benefits to input side

• No consideration of the benefits of recyclability

• Worldsteel – Substitution approach (Closed loop system

expansion)

• Creation of recyclable material is allocated the full

benefit of recycling at end-of-life

• ISO compliant

• Bath ICE – 50:50 method

• Allocates half of the benefits of using recycled

materials at start of life and half of the benefits of

creating recycled materials at end of life


Different methods

• Bath ICE – 50:50 method

• Approach represents a balance of:

• Accommodating the use of reused and recycled

materials and

• The design for reuse and recovery


Timber


Timber

Fertiliser

Pesticides

GHGs

Energy (sunlight) + H2O +

6CO2 → C6H12O6 + 6O2

Old forests release their stored

carbon slowly as they decay or

rapidly through wildfire Growing forests absorb carbon and release oxygen

Reforestation and

sustainable forest

management practices

ensure the carbon cycle

continues GHGs

CO2

GHGs

Sawmill (sawing,

planing, wood kiln

drying, transport)

Bioenergy is

produced from mill

and forest residues

Panel factory

(further

processing)

GHGs

GHGs

Wood products

store carbon Reuse

GHGs

GHGs

C6H12O6 + 6O2

→ 6CO2 + 6H2O


Timber •Renewable source

•Carbon sequestration

•Different methods of forest management affect the affect

of carbon sequestration in trees*

•Requires minimum amount of energy-based processing

*Source: Perez-Garcia et al, 2005


Timber


Embodied energy of timber

•Note: These values were difficult to estimate because timber has a high

data variability.

•These values exclude the energy content of the wooden product (the

Calorific Value (CV) from burning).

*Source: ICE database


Embodied carbon of timber

•Biogenic carbon storage and carbon sequestration are excluded from the

data.

•Data separates carbon dioxide emissions released from fossil fuels and

those from the burning of biomass fuel (i.e. timber off cuts).

*Source: ICE database


Timber National Action Plan on Green Public Procurement (GPP)

(Draft June 2011) •Implement the FLEGT Action Plan in Ireland (by 2011)

•Establish a Due Diligence for operators placing timber products on the

market for the first time (commencing 2013)

•By 2017, it will be mandatory that construction timber will be procured

only from verified legally logged sources and from independently verified

sustainable sources.


Material Choice – Case study


Material Choice - Case study

• A 3-storey office block located in Galway city in Ireland

• RC Flat slab

– 5 x 5 grid

– 7m x 5m bay

– 30MPa concrete mix

– Reinforcement: 130kg/m3

• A comparison is made using two mix designs:

– Mix design 1: 100% OPC

– Mix design 2: 50% OPC + 50% GGBS

• Cradle-to-site

Goggins J., Keane T., Kelly A. (2010) ’The assessment of

embodied energy in typical reinforced concrete building structures

in Ireland’, Energy and Buildings 42 (2010) 735–744.



Total 3,337GJ Total 2,705GJ

Mix design 1

(100% OPC)

Mix design 2

(50%OPC+50%GGBS)

Embodied Energy

Savings = 630GJ (i.e. 19%)

Equivalent to:

the energy used by 32.5 average homes in Ireland in one year



Total 285,391kgCO2e Total 412,792kgCO2e

Mix design 1

(100% OPC)

Mix design 2

(50%OPC+50%GGBS)

Embodied Carbon

Savings = 127 tonnes (i.e. 31%)

Equivalent to:

41 cars off the road for one year

absorption of CO2 by 15.9 acres of managed Irish forest for one year.


Summary


Summary

• Sustainability – Environmental, Economic, Social

• Public sector will be required to “green” their tendering

process on a national basis, which includes construction

• Embodied energy and/or embodied carbon can be used

as indicators in sustainability assessment

• Operational energy vs. embodied energy and carbon

assessment

• Material choice – need technical understanding


The benefits of carrying out an EE/EC

assessment

• Hot Spots in a product chain can be identified and

reduced;

• Stakeholders in any project will be able to make

informed decisions regarding the energy and carbon;

• Those decisions can then allow trade-offs between

cost analysis and carbon analysis to be made;

• Public awareness of energy intensive materials will

be highlighted thus allowing the actual sustainability of

products to be assessed;

• Companies developing sustainable products will be

able to highlight and market their products based on

energy and carbon savings.


Thank you for your attention!

Dr. Jamie Goggins, National University of Ireland, Galway

[email protected]

“ We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it

from our children”

Sustainability and Embodied Energy (and Carbon) in Buildingsi-b-c-i.ie/docs/conferences/2012/03 - Energy (and Carbon...McCaffrey M. (2011) ‘An I-O hybrid methodology for environmental

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