Typical layouts of high-rise apartments and embodied energy of building materials in developing countries - a case study in Indonesia

Abstract

As a typical developing country, Indonesia is the only Southeast Asian country in the G20 nations. The country is undergoing rapid urbanization, and cities must be expanded vertically to accommodate this urbanization rate within constrained horizontal spaces. Although this helped address the housing shortage issue, it caused significant environmental impacts. Owing to structural requirements, high-rise buildings often need more building materials than low-rise and medium-rise buildings. In other words, tall apartment buildings consume more energy and emit more CO2. This study applies the qualitative and quantitative methods to classify the standard design of high-rise apartments, then assessing environmental impacts of building materials in major cities in Indonesia. Findings of the study may be applied to develop low-carbon apartments and achieve sustainable development in developing countries, specially Vietnam.