Carbon
Dioxide Emissions – Construction Industry View1
A survey was carried out CIRIA to find the
construction industries views on the issues of Energy use during building
occupation, Embodied energy in materials, Energy use during the construction
phase.
The topic of Energy Efficiency “Energy and Carbon
Dioxide during operation” was considered to be a significantly more important
issue, scoring (5.9) than either “Embodied Energy” (4.9) or “Energy use in
construction”(4.9). (See Table 1.). This is due to the fact that more is
known about the operational phase of buildings in terms of Energy and Carbon
Dioxide Emissions than the other two stages and there is much complexity and
ambuigity involved in the information available to professionals, see section on
Environmental Lifecycle of
Buildings, although in the future the topic of embodied energy may become
more significant in energy these terms as more research into these areas is
carried out and energy efficiency during the use phase increases.
The amount of available information scored 4.0
overall.
Table 1: Energy use and Carbon Dioxide
emissions – results from the industry survey.
|
|
A Importance |
B Amount of Available
Information |
C Usefulness of available
Information |
|
Embodied Energy
and CO2 in Materials |
4.9 |
3.3 |
3.5 |
|
Energy in CO2
during Construction |
4.9 |
3.1 |
3.3 |
|
Energy and CO2
during Operation and Occupation |
5.6 |
4.2 |
4.1 |
Each of the categories in the table will be explained
in the following section allowing with CIRIA1 recommendations for
improvements in these areas.
Energy use During Operation and Occupation of
Buildings
Progress has been made in this area and guidance is
available from organisations such as CIRIA,
BSRIA, BRE,
CIH and CIC.
The DETR’s Energy
Efficiency Best Practice Program and Environmental
Technology BEST Practice Programme, produce numerous good practice guides
on energy conservation in a variety of building types.
Action
·
More research and better feedback of the success (including
human productivity aspects) of building using natural lighting and ventilation
should be encouraged.
·
Data on the energy efficiency of appliances should be made
more widely available.
·
The financial benefits of energy conservation technologies
and measures should be better promoted, and more training provided for building
managers in energy management.
Embodied Energy in Materials
Embodied Energy is the amount of energy utilised,
including that used in manufacturing and transport. In producing a specific
quantity of specific material.
This is an area of great research interest because it
is important in understanding lifecycle environmental costs.
Action
·
A simple guide should be produced for designers and clients
on how to take embodied energy into account in decision-making.
·
More information should be gathered on the embodied energy
of materials and products, and the trade-offs in respect of durability that are
made when choosing alternatives with low embodied energy.
Energy Usage During Construction
Some guidance is available on this issue, but more
work is needed if contractors are going to make significant reductions in
energy use.
Action
·
Manufacturers should provide information on the energy
efficiency of, and emissions from, construction equipment.
·
Opportunities for energy reduction in the construction
phase, including the use of alternative materials or techniques, need to be
identified.
·
Increased update of energy audits of construction sites.
Enough
is known of improving the energy efficiency of buildings in use for action to
be taken now. However, this has never been an issue of great concern to the
industry, partly because energy has been relatively cheap in relation to
construction costs. There need to be more incentives to make buildings more
energy-efficient, particularly by retrofitting and during refurbishment.