Performance Evaluation of a Sustainable Prefabricated System Using Small-Scale Experimental Model Technique

Abstract

The increasing urban population requires rapid housing construction. Rising global temperatures have led to more space cooling options inside buildings. There is a need to design new-age buildings with a sustainable, thermal comfort, and energy-efficiency approach. The present work integrates this approach into the design of prefabricated elements. Locally available co-fired ash, along with other sustainable alternates, are used in developing these elements. This study involves a performance evaluation and feasibility assessment of the proposed prefabricated system. A small-scale model house of one-third size is constructed using these elements for the purpose of functional evaluation. An average temperature variation of approximately 4 °C is observed upon comparison with the fly-ash brick model during the peak summer season. During energy assessment, a 12% and 52% decrease in embodied energy and peak cooling loads were observed. The time study resulted in 20% time savings over the conventional technique. The proposed system also includes a solar photo-voltaic panel, which compensates for 30% of the energy demand and reduces approximately 42% of the energy cost. Thus, the developed prefabricated system is found suitable for non-load bearing as well as functional applications. The performed studies determined the system to be sustainable, lightweight, quick, as well as energy efficient.

Life Cycle Assessment of a Sustainable Prefabricated Housing System: A Cradle-to-Site Approach Based on a Small-Scale Experimental Model

“…The environmental implication of the proposed prefabricated system is to be evaluated. The application of various sustainable alternates into the proposed mix designs have proved the system to be lightweight, energy efficient, and thermally insulated [34]. Hence, this study investigates the environmental effects during their production phase to on-site erection phase.…”

“…A sustainable prefabricated system was designed with an energy-efficiency approach. The end products were evaluated for their properties and functionality with the help of a small-scale experimental model [33,34]. This system involves sustainable alternates as raw materials, and hence, there is a need to find out its contribution towards the emissions.…”