Design strategies for buildings with low embodied energy

LupíšekAntonín,; NehasilováMarie,; MančíkŠtěpán,; Zelezna, Julie; RůžičkaJan,; FialaCtislav,; TywoniakJan,; HájekPetr,

doi:10.1680/jensu.15.00050

Cited by 15 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 10 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Modern wood-based construction systems have excellent thermal and technical properties, contributing to the efficiency of use in terms of savings on heating [56,57]. A further advantage of these structures is the minimization of so-called wet processes during construction, thus not causing undesirable errors due to the built-in moisture in the structures [58][59][60], which ultimately accelerates the use of the building immediately after it is completed. The main benefit of these types of construction is the use of wood as a renewable raw material, whereby the construction of such types of construction is less environmentally damaging and contributes to sustainability [61].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Houses Based on Wood as an Ecological and Sustainable Housing Alternative—Case Study

Švajlenka

Kozlovská

2018

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Sustainability of cities is currently a much-debated topic. The trend in Central Europe we witness nowadays is that people are going back from the impersonal and restrictive conditions of tower blocks to the more natural and relaxed conditions of family houses. New approaches to urbanization in the context of the sustainability of cities can be characterized by their use of innovative technologies and energetically efficient and ecologically acceptable construction materials. Companies have substantially responded to this trend, meeting the demand by offering a wide range of solutions. Alongside the traditional and long-established construction materials (brick, concrete), including wood, companies are introducing modern, innovative, and viable construction alternatives. Modern methods of construction (MMC), to which modern houses based on wood belong, promote the idea and application of environmentally and energetically efficient constructions. Just as the construction process itself significantly contributes to the depletion of natural resources, the production of construction materials contributes to significant environmental pollution and greenhouse emissions (particularly CO 2 ). Sustainability assessments of construction projects increasingly involve the use of methodologies which assess sustainability criteria throughout a product's Life-cycle. For our analysis of suburban housing clusters designed to serve as family houses, we chose an actual family house construction completed using a modern construction system based on wood. For the sake of comparing the modern construction method, we created an alternative model of a construction based on a traditional masonry construction system. The main objective of this contribution is to analyze selected variants of constructions in terms of environmental and economic sustainability characteristics, as part of a broader assessment of permanent sustainability, by applying the life-cycle assessment (LCA) and life-cycle cost (LCC) methodologies within specified assessment boundaries. A partial objective of this contribution is to point towards the ways of applying the LCA and LCC assessment methodologies, such as in the decision-making processes involved in alternative investment strategies for the construction of urban clusters in the context of sustainability.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Houses Based on Wood as an Ecological and Sustainable Housing Alternative—Case Study

Švajlenka

Kozlovská

2018

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Embodied greenhouse gas emissions ('embodied carbon') emissions already make up as much as 90% of whole-life GHG emissions on some projects (Sturgis and Roberts, 2010), constitute a growing share across all project types (Ibn-Mohammed et al, 2013) and are responsible for almost a quarter of annual built environment emissions (see Figure 1). These embodied carbon emissions can be addressed through a wide range of mitigation strategies (Lupíšek et al 2016;Pomponi and Moncaster, 2016), such as improvement in the efficiency of structural designs (Cullen et al, 2011;Moynihan and Allwood, 2014), the use of alternative building materials (Cabeza et al, 2013;Giesekam et al, 2014;Giesekam et al, 2016c) or the adoption of circular economy approaches that encourage increased reuse and recycling of materials, components and structures (Densley Tingley and Davison, 2011;.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Briefing: Embodied carbon dioxide assessment in buildings: guidance and gaps

Giesekam

Pomponi

2018

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Engineering

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The construction industry, through its activities and supply chains as well as the operation of the assets that it creates, is a major contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions. Embodied carbon dioxide emissions associated with the construction of new assets constitute a growing share of whole-life emissions across all project types and make up nearly a quarter of all annual emissions from the UK built environment. Yet these embodied emissions are still rarely assessed in practice, owing to the perceived difficulty and lack of supporting guidance for practitioners conducting an assessment. This briefing paper retraces recent advances in the field of embodied carbon dioxide assessment and highlights existing and forthcoming practical guidance that could support more widespread assessment. The paper constitutes a where-to rather than a how-to, directing assessors towards appropriate resources, of which there are many. Although the paper does highlight some remaining gaps in the field and identifies corresponding research priorities, recent additions to the body of guidance are generally sufficient to support more widespread assessment. Now, the industry must demonstrate its commitment to tackling climate change by using this guidance to drive deeper carbon dioxide reduction.

show abstract

“…There is also a whole host of matters which may result in a situation where a construction, after a certain period of time, becomes unsuitable in terms of hygiene of health risks. This is caused mainly by a combination of different factors, such as underestimating the material or construction solutions applied, or its incorrect use, which, due to excessively high humidity in both the exterior and interior of the construction, causes growth of microorganisms on the surfaces or inside constructions that may subsequently threaten the internal environment of buildings [3][4][5][6][7][8]. As a result, microbial pests appear in the internal structures, e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%