04.ER&LifeCycle Crawford 2017

Building Sustainability + Sustainable Buildings 2017
Embodied resources and a life cycle approach

Building Sustainability + Sustainable Buildings, 2017
A/Prof Robert Crawford
Overview
• Environmentally sustainable buildings

• Current focus
• Embodied resources (definition & quantification)
• A life cycle approach to sustainable buildings
• Case studies
• Future challenges
The University of Melbourne A/Prof Robert Crawford

1
Either Sustainable OR Not!

There are no degrees of sustainability
(FirstRate, Greenstar)
Building sustainably
• Resources consumed at or less than the rate at which they

can be replenished
• Damage to the environment at or less than the rate at

which it can naturally recover

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The current focus of ‘sustainable’ buildings
• Focus on operational stage (energy, water, waste)

• Passive design
• use/control of natural light, heating, cooling, ventilation
• Materials
• renewability
• local
• manufacturing processes
• durability/life
• thermal properties
The current focus of ‘sustainable’ buildings
• Still not well understood by building designers
• Often outsourced
• Still don’t make the best decisions (examples later)
• Reduced resource demand, but not necessarily to a

sustainable level
• Technology driven

4
Energy, water and other resources
Raw material Material Operation and

Construction Demolition
extraction manufacture maintenance
Waste Waste Waste Waste Waste

Reuse
Recycling
Embodied inputs (resources) &

outputs (waste/pollutants)
Embodied energy
what are embodied resources?

‘The resources (i.e. energy, water, raw materials) required
by all of the activities associated with a production
process and the share of resources used in making
equipment and other supporting functions (i.e. direct and
indirect).’
(after Treloar, 1994)

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What activities are included?
• raw material extraction and processing

• material/component manufacture
• construction
• transport
• banking
• insurance
• marketing
• communication services
• accommodation
• and…
What activities are included?
• manufacture of capital machinery and equipment

6
Energy demand across the residential building supply chain
50% of total Tier 5

energy req. of
Residential
building sector
40% Tier 4
ceramic
products
30% Tier 3
13 billion processes (potentially) at 5 stages upstream
20% Tier 2
direct energy
product flow
10% Tier 1
direct energy of
residential building
Tier 0 construction
Residential building
Industry sectors
Quantifying embodied resources
Step 1: specify materials (types, thicknesses and quantities)
Step 2: multiply individual material quantities by respective

material resource coefficients
(e.g. GJ of energy or kL of water per m3, m2 or t of material)

7
Embodied energy coefficients
Unit Embodied Unit Embodied

energy energy
(GJ/unit) (GJ/unit)
aluminium t 253 plastic t 163
bricks m2 0.560 expanded polystyrene insulation (50mm) m2 0.361
carpet – wool m2 0.741 aluminium, reflective foil m2 0.137
carpet – nylon m2 0.683 steel, decking m2 0.603
clear float glass (4mm) m2 1.73 steel, decking, colourbond m2 0.683
concrete roof tile (20mm) m2 0.251 steel, stainless t 445
concrete 15MPa m3 3.70 steel, structural t 85.3
concrete 20MPa m3 4.08 terracotta roof tile (20mm) m2 0.986
concrete 25MPa m3 4.67 tiles, ceramic m2 0.293
concrete 32MPa m3 5.46 timber – hardwood m3 21.3
fibre cement sheet (4.5mm) m2 0.235 timber – softwood m3 10.9
fibre cement sheet (6mm) m2 0.288 toughened glass (6mm) m2 3.66
fibreglass insulation R2.5 m2 0.217 vinyl flooring (2mm) m2 0.661
MDF/particleboard m3 30.4 water based paint m2 0.096
oil based paint m2 0.101
plasterboard (10mm) m2 0.207 Source: Crawford, R.H. (2011) Life Cycle Assessment in the
plasterboard (13mm) m2 0.232 Built Environment, Taylor and Francis, London.
Embodied resource coefficient databases
• New Zealand – (VUW)

http://www.victoria.ac.nz/cbpr/documents/pdfs/ee-co2_report_2003.pdf
• UK/US – (Boustead)
http://www.bousteadusa.com/
• US – (CMU)
http://www.eiolca.net/
• Australia – (Crawford)
see ‘Life Cycle Assessment in the Built Environment’ (2011)
• Inventory of Carbon and Energy – (Bath)

http://www.circularecology.com/embodied-energy-and-carbon-footprint-
database.html#.VgfImPmqqko

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Embodied energy coefficients of selected materials
300
250
200
253
150
100
50 27 85
20
2.1
0
Embodied energy (GJ/t)
Concrete Softwood timber Hardwood timber

Steel Aluminium
Rules of thumb for embodied resources
• Reused materials – up to 95% saving

• Recycled materials – up to 90% saving
• Recyclability potential – credit should go to subsequent use
• Road transport – 4 times more emissions intensive than
shipping
• Transportation – generally less than 5%

• On-site inputs – less than 5%
• Building structure – 40%

9
Energy embodied in buildings
• Typical embodied energy:

- 10 to 20 GJ/m2 GFA residential
- 20 to 30 GJ/m2 GFA commercial
• Where is most energy used?
Residential buildings: Commercial buildings:

– ceramic products 11.3% – steel 9.3%
– concrete 9.3% – concrete 8.7%
– metal products 8.2% – road transport 3%
Energy embodied in buildings
• Embodied energy in the average house:
• Average sized new house = 240 m2
• 15 GJ/m2 x 240 m2 = GJ of energy

10
The same amount of energy needed to drive around

Australia 35 times
Environmental effects from embodied energy
• Production of energy releases greenhouse gas emissions
• Emission of GHGs contributes to global warming
• On average, 60kg CO2 emissions released per GJ of energy produced
• Equates to 240t CO2 to construct an average house
• Over 200 times volume of average house
• 4.8 million balloons
source: sustainability victoria

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Water embodied in buildings
• Typical embodied water:

- 10-20 kL/m2 GFA residential
- 20-30 kL/m2 GFA commercial
- 5 to 10 times building volume
Important to assess resource demand

across the building life cycle

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A life cycle approach
why?
• ensures the multiple environmental and resource issues

across the entire life cycle of the building are identified
• helps to ensure reducing waste at one point does not

simply create more waste at another point in the life cycle
(e.g. single > double glazing)
Environmental Systems, September 2009
A life cycle approach
GJ GJ
• higher insulation levels Refurbish
• more durable materials
Operation
Embodied Embodied
Energy Energy
Building A Building B Building A Building B
Embodied Energy Life Cycle Energy

Building A appears the best choice Building B consumes less energy
overall

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‘…a truly holistic approach is needed in analysing

the life cycle energy use of buildings…’
(IPCC, 2007: 405)
Life cycle assessment framework
• Four phases
Goal and scope
• Iterative approach definition
Inventory analysis Interpretation
Impact assessment
Source: International Standard 14040 2006.
Phases of a life cycle assessment

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How do we optimise life cycle

embodied resource use?
Embodied Energy – Building Materials Science SRT153 Deakin University, April 2009
Optimising life cycle embodied resource use
• Reducing initial embodied resources is not always ideal

– e.g. low embodied energy materials
• Consider the life cycle implications of this on:

– recurring embodied resources (replacement)
– maintenance
– operational resources
• Life cycle embodied resource demand is affected by:

– material durability
– material service life

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Optimising life cycle embodied resource use
• Rationalise building designs

• Harvest/extract and use resources sustainably
‐ avoiding resource depletion
• Use resource efficient production processes

• Select materials for durability and long life
‐ design for building adaptability
• Use/specify renewable, recycled or recyclable materials

‐ timber, bamboo, bio-plastics
‐ design for disassembly
Comparing construction systems:

Life cycle energy of building assemblies
10
9
8
7 gradient
represents
6 operational
energy
GJ
5
4 quantum leaps indicate
maintenance or
3 material replacement
initial embodied energy
2
Elevated timber floor Concrete slab on ground
1
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Years

16
CH2 cooling system embodied energy
• predicted total cooling energy saving: 280 GJ/year (83%)
• PCM (in s/steel balls) contribute to some of this
• however, 23 t of s/steel = 10,190 GJ embodied energy
• 36 years energy payback
www.ch2.com.au
Case study passive house

17
Passive house life cycle energy, by end use
Crawford, R.H. and Stephan, A. (2013) The significance of embodied energy in certified Passive Houses, ICCBM 2013: International Conference on Construction and
Building Materials, Copenhagen, 13-14 June.
Passive house v standard house life cycle energy
Crawford, R.H. and Stephan, A. (2013) The significance of embodied energy in certified Passive Houses, ICCBM 2013: International Conference on Construction and
Building Materials, Copenhagen, 13-14 June.

18
Life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of a house
Life cycle emissions (t CO 2 -e) gg

500
42%
400
30%
300
23%
200
100
4.6%
0.5%
0
House House House House PV system
construction operation maintenance demolition & production
& disposal
refurbishment
Crawford, R.H. (2011) Towards a comprehensive approach to zero-emissions housing, Architectural Science Review, 54(4), 277-84.
Focus on construction processes needed too…
• Prefabrication
– less waste
– less site disturbance
– site dust/noise
– factory allows better control of pollution etc.

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Environmental benefits of prefabrication
Cross-laminated timber

20
Forte - Melbourne
Forte – Life cycle assessment
Source: FWPA, 2013.

21
Challenges for current and future practitioners
• Availability of materials
• Comparing and
selecting materials
• Access to reliable,
comprehensive and
independent data
• Is it sustainable?
Definitions
• Passive House
• Zero carbon
• Zero emissions
• Zero net carbon
• Zero net emissions
• Zero net CO2 emissions
• Nearly zero energy
• Net zero energy
• Net zero site energy
• Net zero source energy
• Net zero energy emissions
AUSZEH
• Carbon neutral
• Climate positive
Source: Riedy, C., Lederwasch, A., and lson, N., 2011, Defining zero emission
buildings – Review and recommendations: Final Report. Prepared for Sustainability
Victoria by the lnstitute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology, Sydney.

22
What should we be aiming for?
Zero net carbon buildings
Carbon positive life cycle buildings
Summary
• Focus is currently on improving operational performance

• Embodied resources can be more significant than operational
resources
• Must consider embodied resources – becoming more
important
• Most (all?) existing buildings are far from sustainable
• Consider all life cycle stages, inputs and outputs
• Systems improvement v systems innovation

23
Or is it easier to address
population growth?
Contact details:
Dr Robert Crawford
Associate Professor in Construction and Environmental Assessment
Melbourne School of Design
Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning
The University of Melbourne
E: rhcr@unimelb.edu.au
P: (03) 8344 8745
W: www.findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/researcher/person174016.html

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Building Sustainability + Sustainable Buildings 2017

Embodied resources and a life cycle approach

A/Prof Robert Crawford

• Environmentally sustainable buildings

The University of Melbourne A/Prof Robert Crawford

Either Sustainable OR Not!

• Resources consumed at or less than the rate at which they

• Damage to the environment at or less than the rate at

The University of Melbourne A/Prof Robert Crawford

The University of Melbourne A/Prof Robert Crawford

The current focus of ‘sustainable’ buildings

• Focus on operational stage (energy, water, waste)

The current focus of ‘sustainable’ buildings

• Still not well understood by building designers

• Still don’t make the best decisions (examples later)

• Reduced resource demand, but not necessarily to a

The University of Melbourne A/Prof Robert Crawford

Energy, water and other resources

Raw material Material Operation and

Waste Waste Waste Waste Waste

Embodied inputs (resources) &

what are embodied resources?

The University of Melbourne A/Prof Robert Crawford

What activities are included?

• raw material extraction and processing

What activities are included?

• manufacture of capital machinery and equipment

The University of Melbourne A/Prof Robert Crawford

Energy demand across the residential building supply chain

50% of total Tier 5

13 billion processes (potentially) at 5 stages upstream

Quantifying embodied resources

Step 1: specify materials (types, thicknesses and quantities)

Step 2: multiply individual material quantities by respective

The University of Melbourne A/Prof Robert Crawford

Embodied energy coefficients

Unit Embodied Unit Embodied

Embodied resource coefficient databases

• New Zealand – (VUW)

• Inventory of Carbon and Energy – (Bath)

The University of Melbourne A/Prof Robert Crawford

Embodied energy coefficients of selected materials

Concrete Softwood timber Hardwood timber

Rules of thumb for embodied resources

• Reused materials – up to 95% saving

• Transportation – generally less than 5%

The University of Melbourne A/Prof Robert Crawford

Energy embodied in buildings

• Typical embodied energy:

- 20 to 30 GJ/m2 GFA commercial

• Where is most energy used?

Residential buildings: Commercial buildings:

Energy embodied in buildings

• Embodied energy in the average house:

• Average sized new house = 240 m2

• 15 GJ/m2 x 240 m2 = GJ of energy

The University of Melbourne A/Prof Robert Crawford

The same amount of energy needed to drive around

Environmental effects from embodied energy

• Production of energy releases greenhouse gas emissions

• Emission of GHGs contributes to global warming

• On average, 60kg CO2 emissions released per GJ of energy produced

• Equates to 240t CO2 to construct an average house

04.ER&LifeCycle Crawford 2017

04.ER&LifeCycle Crawford 2017