A study on embodied energy of an educational building | |
| Author | Wipa Loengbudnark |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.ET-13-03 |
| Subject(s) | Building--Energy consumption Embodied energy |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering in Energy |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | Building sector accounts for 40% of the world’s primary energy consumption. Energy consumption of buildings during their whole lifetime consists of embodied energy, operating energy and demolition energy. Currently, most efforts focus on reducing operating energy through energy conservation and energy efficiency measures, since operating energy has the largest share of energy use in buildings over its lifespan. To gain further reduction, embodied energy and demolition energy should be concerned. There are a number of methods that can be used to evaluate embodied energy; energy analysis, exergy analysis, emergy analysis. Emergy analysis is concerned with quantifying the relationship between built environment and biosphere. In case of building, it quantifies all the natural resources consumed over its lifetime and differs from energy and exergy analysis which quantify only energy. This research aimed to estimate the initial embodied energy of a building (educational institution) using emergy analysis method. The evaluation results were analyzed to know the share of emergy of each material and also which building element the materials contributed to. Factors related the characteristic of the building were linked with the results to show in form of indicators. The results show that emergy per useable area is 7.13E+15 sej/m2, while emergy per educated student is 1.53E+15 sej/student. Alternative materials and construction technique, stabilized earth construction, was also evaluated. The results indicate that the emergy per m2 of the stabilized earth building is 38% less than of the reinforced concrete building. |
| Year | 2013 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Energy and Climate Change (Former title: Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Change (DEECC)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Energy Technology (ET) |
| Chairperson(s) | Kumar, Sivanappan; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Mohanty, B.;Salam, Abdul P.; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Royal Thai Government Fellowship; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2013 |