Concrete is the most widely used building material in the world. There is now approximately 2 tonnes of concrete for each person on the planet earth. The small amount of embodied energy (carbon) in one tonne of concrete, when multiplied by the huge amount of concrete used, results in concrete being the material that contains the greatest amount of carbon in the world. Justification for higher embodied energy in buildings A higher embodied energy level in buildings can be justified if it contributes to lower operational energy over the life of the building. For example, large amounts of thermal mass, high in embodied energy, can significantly reduce cooling and heating needs in well designed and insulated passive solar buildings, particularly In climates with greater cooling or heating requirements and significant day/night temperature variations (like Canberra and region). (1) As the operational energy of a building over its life cycle far exceeds its embodied energy, using the high thermal mass of concrete to virtually eliminate heating and cooling energy requirements results in saving lots of energy that creates a carbon neutral outcome over the life of the building. How to reduce the impact of embodied energy The single most important factor in reducing the impact of embodied energy (EE) is to design long life, durable and adaptable buildings. Buildings should aim to use materials that have lower EE. (1) The choice of construction material should depend on all of the benefits…
Read More
