Low Embodied Energy Materials in Sustainable Design

Low embodied energy materials in
sustainable design
Bachelor of Architectural Technology and Construction

Management
7th Semester dissertation
Written by: Lazar Petrov Petrov (123953)
Via University College

28th of November 2011
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Trip to China October 2010
Lazar Petrov Petrov

(123953)
Jesper Saxgren
28.11.2011
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No part of this publication may be reproduced without the prior permission of the
author(s).
NOTE: This dissertation was compiled as part of the 7th Semester Architectural
Technology and Construction Management degree course.
No responsibility is taken for any advice, instruction or conclusion given
within.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Jesper Saxgren for his guidance during the
process of writing and the advices he gave me.
Abstract
This dissertations topic is Low embodied energy materials in
sustainable design. The goal of the dissertation is to give an overall idea
of what low embodied energy is and define several low embodied energy
materials. As the resources of raw energy and building materials are
running low, we have to find new solutions to the problem. The reduction
of the building industrys energy consumption is of great importance and
low embodied energy is the key to a great success in solving that issue.
The dissertation describes methods of estimating low embodied energy,
such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). It also provides information on the
usage of low embodied energy materials and life cycle assessments as
helpful tools in decreasing the negative impact on local and global eco
systems, by lowering the emissions of CO2. The dissertation also includes
a comparison between building materials with low embodied energy, as a
result of which the material with the lowest embodied energy is timber. It
also reflects on the great significance in the differentiation between
renewable and nonrenewable resources and their importance to the
environment.
Key words: embodied energy, embodied energy materials, energy
consumption, life cycle assessment, nonrenewable resources, raw
materials
Contents:
1. Introduction ................................................................................. 1
1.1 Background information ...................................................................... 1
1.2 Relevance for the chosen topic ............................................................ 1
1.3 Problem statement and research questions: .......................................... 2
1.4 Delimitation ...................................................................................... 2
1.5 Methodology...................................................................................... 2
2. The global problem of vanishing raw materials.................................. 3

3.What is low embodied energy? ........................................................ 4
4.How do we calculate the embodied energy of a certain material? ......... 7
5.How would it help to lower the energy consumption in the building
industry? ......................................................................................... 8
6.How can we use a Life-cycle assessment as a tool to define low
embodied energy materials? ............................................................ 13
7.What can we define as low embodied energy materials? ................... 18
7.1 Low embodied energy materials ......................................................... 18
7.2Stones in comparison with other low embodied energy materials ............ 19
8.Conclusion .................................................................................. 27
List of figures
List of references
List of figures:
Figure 1. Initial embodied energy into an office building .................................. 6
Figure 2. Embodied energy statistics of concrete ............................................ 7
Figure 3. The global usage of energy resources .............................................. 8
Figure 4. Illustrating positioning of recycling factories ..................................... 9
Figure 5. Illustrating the usage of non-renewable energy resources for
transportation of raw materials in Norway ................................................... 11
Figure 6. Showing the main flow of the LCA. ................................................ 14
Figure 7. Illustrating the flow of materials to produce a concrete element........ 15
Figure 8. Illustrating examples of the usage of stone in buildings in the past and
an example of the life span of limestone constructions. ................................. 20
Figure 9. Embodied energy comparison ....................................................... 23
Figure 10. Weight of materials per cubic meter ............................................ 24
Figure 11. Plan of a small building used as an example for wall construction
comparison.............................................................................................. 27
Figure 12. Showing the results of mindless cutting of forests and replanting of
forests .................................................................................................... 26
Low embodied energy materials in sustainable design
1. Introduction
1.1 Background information
This dissertation was written as a part of the final semester of the
education as Bachelor of Architectural Technology and Construction
Management.
The dissertation briefly explains about low embodied energy and its
usage in sustainable design. It provides information on materials with low
embodied energy and it presents methods of defining them. The
dissertation gives an overview of how low embodied energy can help in
the decrease of the building industrys energy consumption.
In addition the dissertation gives information on the main idea of an
Life cycle assessment and how it could be used as a tool to define low
embodied energy and low embodied energy materials. It also includes a
comparison between different low embodied energy materials and their
impact on the environment.
1.2 Relevance for the chosen topic

In the modern world, architecture has a greater focus on preserving
the environment and its resources. Knowing that most of the nonrenewable energy sources are running out makes us think of new
solutions and ways to lower the energy and raw material consumptions.
The most common thing that architects and engineers are trying to
improve is the energy consumption of the building after it is built. The
energy consumed in the process of building a house takes huge amounts
of recourses therefore through a Life Cycle Assessment we can find a
solution to our problem and the most suitable materials for a certain
building.
Preserving the environment could be done in many ways and in my
belief low embodied energy materials are a great solution to the global
problem. The amounts of energy used to produce new materials, to
transport them and put them on the site, could rapidly be reduced. A
reduction of CO2 ignitions could be reached as well.
VIA University College, Horsens, Denmark, November 2011
Through an online research and thorough investigation of the

problem I hope to give the reader a good overview of the usage of low
embodied energy materials and its future. The research would be a great
help for me in my future career as a constructing architect.
1.3 Problem statement and research questions:

What is the impact of the building industry on the environment?
How can low embodied energy help solving the building industrys issues
in concern of energy consumption and the extinction of raw and
nonrenewable building and energy resources?
Research questions:
1. What is embodied energy?
2. What would help to lower the energy consumption in the building
industry?
3. How can we use a Life-cycle assessment as a tool to define low
embodied energy materials?
4. What can we define as low embodied energy materials?
5. What makes low embodied energy materials better than regular
materials?
1.4 Delimitation
This dissertation provides information on low embodied energy and
methods of estimating and assessing low embodied energy materials in
the building industry. It doesnt provide exact formulas on the calculation
of embodied energy and it couldnt be used as a basis of such calculations.
1.5 Methodology
Both empirical quantitative and qualitative research methodologies
were used to analyze facts and data on low embodied energy. All the data
in the report is secondary, provided by books and articles, or information
found on the internet. Some of the information found in the dissertation is
based on my own personal logical explanation.
2. The global problem of vanishing raw materials

Nowadays investigations show very pessimistic results. Scientists
state that the earths resources on certain building materials and raw
materials are running low. One of the most important and world-moving
energy resources is oil. It is well known that the resources of oil are
running low and we should be very careful in how we as responsible
human beings use the vanishing material.
Many people think that oil is not a big part of the building sector. On
the contrary ,scientists have proven that huge amounts of oil has been
used in the construction sphere for different purposes, for example
producing prefabricated elements or using heavy machinery,
transportation, erection on site and etc. Therefore, in order to preserve
the raw material resources not only of oil but other building materials as
well, we have to think of new and more durable solutions to the given
problem.
One way of decreasing the consumption of raw materials is by
thorough planning of the building process on site. A research in
Scandinavia proves that 10 percent of the total waste in the building
industry is actually produced on site. Therefore, by planning the process
of the building we can make sure that all the products come in the right
cut and will fit fast and easy to the building without the need to use extra
machinery or materials, which will prevent the waste of building materials
and oil.
Another way of decreasing the raw material consumption is by
prolonging the lifespan of the materials used. Of course a product that will
last 60 years will harm the environment twice as less if we compare it to a
product that will last only 30 years. Why? Simply because, the product
with a longer lifespan will need only maintenance in a period of 60 years,
where on the other hand the less lasting product will have to be renewed
which leads to the usage of new raw materials and energy resources, or
energy used to recycle or renew the existing ones. However the life span
of a material can be defined from different factors:
1.
2.
3.
4.
The physical and chemical structure of the material itself

Construction and execution
The local environment and climatic conditions
Maintenance and management of the building material
The best way of finding the life span of a material is through a research of
the material in a real life situation with specific local climate properties,
which takes a lot of time meaning that we are investigating or looking for
a material with a long life span.
A third solution to the problem would be recycling the already
created materials. A great improvement in harming the environment can
be reached by recycling material rather than creating new once. The
pollution levels are drastically lowered by prolonging the life span of an
existing material. Therefore, such recyclable products have a big
advantage when we get to compare them to the green labeled products
that dont allow recycling. The recycling possibilities depend on the
company executing the demolition process of a building. A research shows
that the smaller complicity levels that the material has the easier it is to
recycle it. Recycling can however be separated in three different spheres:
1. Re-use
2. Recycling
3. Energy recovery
In order to make the materials suitable for re-use they have to be
simplified or standardized. For example Germany has a rich market on
variable materials reaching up to 300 000 products, both different in
design and composition, which would not be compatible if reused.
All the above stated factors would be vital in defining whether a
material has low embodied energy or not.
3. What is low embodied energy?
Embodied energy is hard to be defined by simply one sentence. The
formula of how to calculate it could vary as well. However The University
of Bath and in particular Sustainable Energy Research Team (SERT) has
done a research where they calculate the Embodied Energy and Embodied
Carbon of specific construction materials. While doing a research on low
embodied energy, one should not consider only the energy used but also
the amounts of CO2 released. It is extremely important to consider the
Carbon emissions, because they are a great factor that harms the
environment.
They define the term Embodied Energy as:
The total primary energy consumed during the life time of a product,
ideally the boundaries would be set from the extraction of raw materials
(inc fuels) to the end of the products lifetime (including energy from;
manufacturing, transport, energy to manufacture capital equipment,
heating & lighting of factory...etc), this boundary condition is known as
Cradle to Grave. It has become common practice to specify the
embodied energy as Cradle to Gate, which includes all energy (in
primary form) until the product leaves the factory gate. The final
boundary condition is Cradle to Site, which includes all energy consumed
until the product has reached the point of use (i.e. building site).
www.bath.ac.uk/mech-eng/sert/embodied/ October 2011
Embodied energy has been researched for decades and its main goal
is to define the connection between construction materials, the process of
building and after coming impact on the environment. The embodied
energy itself can be separated in two different categories:
1. Initial embodied energy
2. Recurring embodied energy
Where the Initial embodied energy represents the energy used in
extracting raw materials, their manufacturing and their processing. On the
other hand a big part of the initial embodied energy is consumed due to
transportation to site and constructing the building. Therefore, the Initial
embodied energy could be divided in two sub chapters, which would be
Direct and Indirect energy. The direct energy is used for transportation
and etc. and the indirect energy is used to acquire, process and
manufacture the building materials. Where the indirect energy includes
the one used for transportation related to the listed activities. The
Recurring embodied energy is actually the energy used during the life
cycle of the building, used to maintain repair and restore or replace
materials. A building becomes more energy-efficient, when the embodied
energy of the building is decreasing due to the long lifespan. There are
buildings that claim to be zero energy but still havent considered the
energy used on the construction process itself and the maintenance after
words. That is a very common mistake in the building industry to define a
building with and energy class zero or passive when the amounts of
energy used for the production is of great significance. Architects have
thought for decades that since the building is designed so that the tenants
would use small or no amounts of energy to heat, light or ventilate the
building, it could be defined as a zero energy building.
The main construction structures for housing and office buildings

would be designed from wood, steel or concrete. A research done by
Raymond J. Cole and Paul C. Kernan compares three different
constructions in one and the same building made exactly of the above
stated materials forming the envelope, structure and services of the
building. The results show that the biggest part of the buildings initial
(non-renewable) embodied energy is taken from the main structure of the
building and it takes up to 74% of the total initial embodied energy, which
has an average 4.82 GJ/m2. The finishes of the construction represent
only 13% percent of the Total Initial embodied energy and are considered
to have the highest increase in recovering embodied energy. An
interesting relationship is revealed by the research of recurring embodied
energy. Firstly the structures of the building does not recur embodied
energy, but after 25 years the building recurs 57 per cent of the initial
embodied energy and by the 100th year of the buildings existence the
recurred embodied energy reaches up to 325 per cent, which comes to
prove that the life span of a building plays a significant role in defining the
energy efficiency of a building. The longer the building lives, the more
valuable is the initial (non-renewable) embodied energy. This relationship
could also be defined as differential durability. Differential durability is a
term used to describe how the useful service life of building components,
such as structure, envelope, finishes and services, differs - both between
components, and within the materials, assemblies and systems comprising
the components.
10th Canadian Conference on Building Science and Technology Ottawa,
May 2005
This chart shows only the results
from Cradle to site without including
the maintanence and renovation of
the building in the future, which is a
big part of the embodied energy of a
building knowing that nowadays
constructions have a very long life
span. The longer the building lives,
the lower the embodied energy of
the buidling is.
Figure1 Initial embodied energy into an office

building
4. How do we calculate the embodied energy of a certain

material?
The university of Bath in the United Kingdom has done a research
on the most common and vital materials for a building. The only problem
is that they have done the calcucalations only from cradle to gate, which
means that if we want to have a complete embodied energy analysis of a
material we have to finish the rest on our own. Of course the calculation is
not done further, because in different cases different methods of
constructing will be used and the amounts of embodied energy will be
different. If we want to finish the calculation we have to have in mind the
total amount of embodied energy used from the Gate to the Site and
afterwords from the Site to the Grave.
The method that has been used to deffine the embodied energy of
the materials is as follows; the energy used for producing a kilogram of a
certain material is calculated in MJ/kg ,the CO2 emisions are calculated
and measured in tCO2(tones of carbon dioxide per kg of product),
afterwards the tCO2 has to be converted to MJ (1 kgCO2 = 10.204 MJ). It
is not very usefull if we convert the MJ to CO2 simply because different
types of energy sources produce different amouts of emisions.
For example the calculation of the embodied energy of concrete as a
material can be a very complex process with a lot of variables and no
certain value of Embodied Energy per kilo can be defined. There are too
many various types of concrete and some of them are being analyzed in
the following chart.
Figure 2. Embodied energy statistics of Concrete; Inventory of carbon and

energy version 2.0 2011
In this table (Table. 1) the authors have described the average of
124 records of concrete analysis which gives us a total number of 2.92
MJ/kg., however the difference between the minimum and the maximum
values is devastating - going from 0.07 MJ/kg up to 92.50 MJ/kg. This is
only to prove that there are forms of the certain material that are a great
harm of the environment and in my personal opinion would not be

considered sustainable. As the table shows there is a significant diference
between pre-casted and in situ-casted concrete. The maximum
EE(Embodied Energy) of precasted concred reaches 3.80 MJ/kg when the
concrete in general can reach up to 92.5 MJ/kg. That comes only to prove
that the usage of prefabricated concrete elements for the construction of a
building would be a much more sustainable solution in terms of embodied
energy and carbon emissions than in situ-casted concrete. But when it
comes to a more detailed investigation or a comparison between a Precast
RC 40/50 MPa with general concrete with strength of 40/50Mpa. The
results show that the EE of the pre-casted concrete is bigger than the
regular concrete and that would be normal knowing that it consumes more
energy to be produced. However if the precast and general concrete are
delivered to the one and the same site and from one and the same
factory, than it would be most logical to use prefabricated concrete
elements in order to lower the EE of the building. The embodied energy
analysis allows us to compare different materials not only the derivatives
of a certain raw material.
5. How would it help to lower the energy consumption in the
building industry?
As the world is moving really fast into developing new technologies
Figure 3. The global usage of energy resources (www.wikipedia.org) Oct. 2011
and building up the surface of the earth so rapidly the resources are
running low. The most common problem of the world and the most
recently discussed topic is how to save energy. There are many
researches done on providing new sources of energy such as wind, water
or solar power. The temperature of the earth is used as a source of
heating up buildings and etc., but there are different methods that could
be used in the search of lowering the energy consumption. If we lower the
energy consumption for domestic purposes it would be only a small part of
the worlds in total. Therefore, we have to think globally. We have to think
of new solutions to lower the energy consumption in the industry zone.
Most of the electricity is produced from non-renewable resources such as
oil, coal and nuclear power and they have a low efficiency degree from
0.25 to 0.30 (25% to 30%) the rest of the energy is lost. On the other
hand electricity produced due to the power of water has an efficiency
coefficient of 0.6 which is not very impressive but still is better than the
stated above. It is best to avoid the usage of raw materials to produce
energy a better solution would be to produce energy is rotary power (wind
and water).
Low embodied energy analysis would be a great solution to the
world known problem and the construction sector. A big part of the energy
consumption can be reduced by planning and predicting the process of
constructing a building and all the activities in connection with that. For
example a research on where would it be
most appropriate to get the materials for
the construction can lead us to lowering the
embodied energy of the building in means
of transportation. It would be even better if
we manage to establish factories for
manufacturing of raw materials close to the
resource location and still not too far from
the city or the area where the specific
construction or building is build. In the
United Kingdom scientist state that most of
the prefabricated concrete elements have to
travel an average of 150 km to reach their
destination.
Another efficient way to drastically
lower the energy consumption is by using
raw materials located on the site instead of
using manufactured materials from a
Figure 4.Illustrating positioning of recycling

factories
factory located away from the area of building. For example a great choice
of material will be using stones found on the site while digging the
foundation of a building and manufacture them on site by hand or by the
usage of very low-consuming energy equipment. Canadian scientists
calculated that the embodied energy of stones is 0.79 MJ/kg, which is
almost three times less the embodied energy of bricks (2.5MJ/kg), which
leads to the conclusion that stones could be a great material to be used
instead of bricks for example. But if we get to compare oven burned bricks
to sun burned bricks the once that are made into a factory may contain a
higher embodied energy but still have a smaller embodied energy in a life
span of 150 years (as it is stated that nowadays bricks can last for that
long).Furthermore a raw material as stones could be used as
reinforcement while laying the foundation of a building.
The great amounts of construction waste in the world are reaching a
disturbing level and many manufacturers are starting to use the waste
into producing new materials that could be as efficient as the once
manufactured from raw materials. This process could be defined as
recycling materials and it allows us to lower the energy consumption in
the construction industry drastically. In China, more specifically Beijing 40
million tones of construction waste are thrown away every year. Most of
the waste is piled up or covered under domestic waste. The construction
waste is not that toxic and harmful to the environment, but if all those
tones of waste are instead recycled or reused this would be a great help of
the environment and planet earth. Most of the constructions in China are
made out of concrete or bricks and they could be
A big part of the waste is also reinforcement used in concrete and is
extremely easy to recycle or reuse into new buildings. In this way we
could save energy and lower the embodied energy of a lot of buildings and
also prolong the life span of raw material resources. A great example of
recycling materials is the recycling of bricks. Scientists say that seven
recycled bricks are equal to 1 liter of oil. Metals such as steel have a
rather high embodied energy, but if recycled we can save from 40 up to
90 per cent of the energy used for extracting ore. Recycling also has its
disadvantages, it has to be done in a local facility or in other words a
factory close to the demolished building, if the construction waste has to
be transported to distanced location the consumption of energy for oil
changes everything (see Picture 1.).
The more we ignore the problem the harder it becomes to save the
environment. The more we use non-renewable resources and increase the
energy consumption the harder the future will be. If we lower the energy
10
consumption by using materials with lower embodied energy we could

save the non-renewable resources or at least use them as less as possible
and then use them on more important occasions or in more drastic needs.
The primary consumption of energy in producing materials is
actually the energy needed to manufacture the building product. When
calculating the primary energy consumption the most important factor is
the combustion value, which is the amount of energy produced by the
certain material if burned as fuel and it is mainly included in the primary
consumption energy calculation if the product is highly valuable as an
energy source. If we dont include the combustion value this can lead to
wrong results. The primary energy consumption is around 80% of the
total energy input in a material and is separated as it follows:
The energy used in the extraction of raw materials and the

production process are defined as the direct energy consumption.
Of course this depends on the type of machinery used during the
process of extraction and the machinerys energy consumption.
During the process of manufacturing the energy consumed is called
secondary energy consumption, which refers to the energy used
for heating, ventilating or maintenance of the given factory.
Last but not least is the energy consumed for transportation
The following table shows how much and what type of energy is used in
Norway for the transportation of one tone of raw materials per year.
Type of transport
MJ/ton/km
Diesel: road transport

1,6
Diesel: sea transport
0,6
Diesel: rail transport
0,6
Electric: rail transport
0,2
Figure 5. Illustrating the usage of non-renewable energy resources for
transportation of raw materials in Norway
The energy consumption during building, use and demolition is also a big
part of the total energy consumption of the construction process.
The transportation of manufactured products to the building

site is about 20 per cent of the total amount of energy used for the
building process. Transportation of heavy materials should be done
on local basis. A bad example of energy consumption is the
transportation of lightweight concrete elements from Norway to
11
Korea which uses almost three times more energy/m3 than the
production of the product itself.
The energy consumption used for the building process on site has
increased in comparison with the past. In search of a faster way to
build and due to mechanization of some process the energy
consumption has increased drastically. For example in the past
construction processes were about to start during spring so the main
structure of the building would dry out and the construction process
can continue. Nowadays most of the in-situ casted concrete is dried
thanks to machines such as industrial fans or heaters. An important
factor is also the choice of material for the main construction if we
have to compare a concrete wall (in-situ) and a wooden wall (insitu), then of course the wooden wall will need less time and energy
to dry.
The energy consumption during maintenance strictly depends on

the materials used into the construction, they should either be
renovated or replaced. Renovation would be found in processes such
as repainting or impregnating finishes of the faade or simply just
removing the old covering and replacing it with a new one (which is
more time and energy consuming but still an acceptable solution).
Last but not least the demolition process and the energy consumed
in it. Statistics show that this is almost 10 per cent of the
construction total energy consumption, but it depends on the
materials used.
So now that we know the major energy consuming processes in the

life span of a material we know the areas where we should focus to lower
the energy consumption. If that analysis is done for every major material
used into a construction and we estimate the embodied energy of not only
the materials but the whole building, we would be able to save the
environment and hopefully prevent the extinction of certain raw energy
material resources such as oil for instance, knowing that the source of
power in the transportation and construction of buildings is petrol. If we
take transportation for example an average truck loaded with materials
will be consuming an average of 30 to 35 liters of diesel fuel per 100 km
(0.35l/km, 1l=38.6 MJ => 110.4MJ/km).
12
6. How can we use a Life-cycle assessment as a tool to

define low embodied energy materials?
6.1What is a Life-cycle assessment (LCA).
A life-cycle assessment is defined as (LCA, also known as lifecycle analysis, ecobalance, and cradle-to-grave analysis) a
technique to assess environmental impacts associated with all the stages
of a product's life from-cradle-to-grave (i.e., from raw material extraction
through materials processing, manufacture, distribution, use, repair and
maintenance, and disposal or recycling).
/www.wikipedia.org October 2011/
The main idea of a LCA will be to compare the environmental effects
of products and services in order to improve different processes and in the
same time provide a solid basis for sustainable decisions. The term life
cycle refers to the process of extracting, manufacturing, transporting and
establishing steps needed for the product to exist. LCA is a complex
assessment and it can be used in various occasions, for example the
production of a simple product and its environmental impact and the
construction of a new power plant. In the early years of its existence LCA
has been used only to define the environmental impact of small products,
but since we could use it to define the sub-products of a major product
with a much higher importance, we could use it for bigger projects. The
small products are defined as conventional and the major once as
unconventional.
Therefore we have two different types of LCAs: Attributional and
Consequential. The Attributional LCA is to describe the environmental
affect on or from a product or process, while the Consequential LCA is to
determine future changes in the environment if we make certain
decisions. Basically the ALCA is based on facts and already absorbed
knowledge and on the other side the CLCA is to predict future changes
based on guesses and experiments. Usually the difference between the
two LCAs can be found or stated in the Goal and scope part of the given
process. All Life-Cycle assessments are under the supervision of ISO and a
part of the ISO 14000 environmental management standards. Every LCA
is structured in four different phases:
13
Goal and scope
Life Cycle inventory
Life cycle impact

assessment
Interpretation
Figure 6. showing the main flow of the LCA
The Goal and scope phase of the study is basically the beginning
of the LCA, where one should state in what method and to whom the
results should be given. According to the ISO standards the goal and
scope of the assessment have to be distinctly described and consistent
with the intended application. The Goal and scope document is used as a
guide to give us the readers further information on the following:
The function unit, giving us a definition of the studied subject in a
precise manner and provides us with information about the
quantities the system produces, providing a reference to which the
inputs and outputs can be related. For example the usage of energy
in the manufacturing of a concrete element.
The boundaries of the system. For example finishing the process of
a life cycle assessment of a concrete element will be done from
cradle to gate, knowing that the destination of the element is
unknown.
Assumptions and limitations.
The allocation methods used to separate the environmental load of a
process when different products and functions are used in the same
process.
The impact categories chosen. For example the energy consumption
or the CO2 emissions.
The second part of the life cycle assessment is the Life Cycle
Inventory (LCI) and its main function is creating an inventory flow of
products from and to nature for a certain product system. The flows
usually include inputs of water, energy, raw materials and outputs to air,
land and water. For further development of the inventory we could
construct a model of the flow of the system and incorporate the inputs
14
and outputs. The easiest way to depict the flow is by creating a chart
describing the steps taken in the product system. The chart gives us the
exact way the product system will work, step by step, and can set out the
boundaries of the system and the LCA. The data (input and output) for the
flow model is collected for all the steps to be taken. For more precise
model data could be collected from the supply chain (e.g. the company
supplying with raw materials for the production of concrete elements,
their energy consumption and other material consumptions).
The data used in the inventory flow must be related to the unit defined in
Figure 7. Illustrating the flow of materials to produce a concrete element www.google.com November 2011
15
the Goal and scope section of the LCA. The LCI provides information
about all the inputs and outputs in the form of elementary flow and the
effect of those flows to the environment. The number of those flows
depends on the product systems complicity and its boundaries. In case of
lack of data, questionnaires can be sent to competent organs, such as
other producers of the same product or producers of the sub-materials
needed to manufacture a certain product.
Chart 3 illustrates the flow of the production of concrete elements
and provides us information of the main components (steel, lumber,
cement and aggregate suppliers) used in the process. It also shows us the
steps taken in the process. So by having this data we can start the life
cycle assessment of the process and get the total amount of embodied
energy needed to produce one element. The producers of raw materials
could provide us with the information on the embodied energy of their
products and the energy used to transport them to the factory where the
elements are produced. The next steps would be the calculation of the
amount of energy used for every single activity in the process. This way
the process of calculating the embodied energy of a concrete element
could be done from cradle to gate
Life cycle impact assessment follows the inventory analysis. This
past of the LCA is where we evaluate the potential environmental impact
of the process and products based on the flow model. The main elements
in the life cycle impact assessment are:
The categories of impact have to be selected, as well as the
category indicators and the characterization models.
The classification stage, where the inventory parameters are sorted
and assigned to specific impact categories.
The impact measurement, where we characterize the categorized
life cycle impact flows, using one of many different possibilities of
life cycle impact assessment. All the assessments have to be done
in equivalent units so that they can be added together in the end to
get the total overall impact.
The life cycle interpretation is where we systematically identify,
quantify, check and evaluate the information from the results of the life
cycle inventory and/or impact assessment. Here we also summarize the
results of the previous phases. The basic idea of the interpretation is to
provide conclusions and recommendations for the given study. The
interpretation should include:
16
Identification of significant issues based on the results of the

previous phases of the life cycle assessment.
The completeness, sensitivity and consistency checks are being
controlled and evaluated.
Conclusions, limitations and recommendations are given
The interpretation determines the level of confidence in the final results
and connects them in a fair and accurate manner. The results of the life
cycle assessment are not very simple so the choices of solutions to the
problem can be more than one. The final choice is made according to the
Goal and scope of the life cycle assessment, as we make sure the results
of the LCA meet the goals set in the beginning.
In a world where we are looking for sustainable solutions to prevent
harming the environment the LCA could be used as a great tool to define
the best choices of materials, constructions and even ways of building.
The process Cradle to cradle or Open loop Production is going to help
improve buildings and if followed will allow us to reach a smaller human
impact on the environment. If we use a life cycle assessment to assume
the energy consumed for the process of building and finding the best ways
of constructing, give the building a lower embodied energy and follow the
regulations in sizing materials (so that they are easily recyclable) we
would significantly help the environment. The life cycle assessment can
give us great results on the embodied energy of different materials and
even better it can provides with information on how those materials
actually harm the environment. Due to some life cycle energy analysis
new ways of energy recovery has been established. The disposal of
materials can be used as an energy resource, where the waste is being
burned and used for electricity production. That is of course done in
special facilities that are equipped with filtering systems so that they lower
the emissions and prevent harming the environment. That is great form of
recovering energy and on the other hand we can stop waste land-filling
(collecting garbage in open garbage depots) and greatly reduce the
energy consumption and green house gas emissions.
Critics disagree with the fact that LCA is replacing cost analysis with
energy efficiency analysis. But in such an advanced world, knowing all the
problems we have with the environment such as the global warming, we
should focus mainly on the impact of humanity on the environment and
less on the money we spend. LCA can also lead us to preserving the low
amounts of raw nonrenewable energy resources left.
17
The life cycle assessment is a tool that can help us determine the
difference between, for example certain wall constructions in a certain
area, and lead us to the best choice of materials in long life span.
7. What can we define as low embodied energy materials?
7.1 Low embodied energy materials

There are many factors that need to be considered when we are
defining low embodied energy materials. Mainly in consideration is taken
the energy used to produce the certain material, the energy used to
deliver it and build with it on site and the energy used to maintain it after
words.
In the past many of the products used into a construction were
found and manufactured on site. Such materials as stone, timber and mud
have been the most common to be used in building structure. Nowadays
these materials are to be replaced by concrete, steel and bricks. The
newly developed techniques of building, consume greater amounts of
energy due to the usage of heavy machinery. In the past most of the
construction materials were manufactured by hand or used in a raw form,
which means no energy was used to build a house.
A material with low embodied energy can be defined by the
following factors:
How far the materials have to travel (local materials are better)
The amount of raw materials used.
How difficult it is to actually manufacture the product (the more
complex the process is the more energy is being used)
The size of the building should be connected with the needs it has
to fulfill the waste of space leads to higher usage of energy due to
extra materials needed.
How much waste do you have during production and if the waste
could be reused
Recycling possibilities of the given material
The usage of renewable resources is desirable (if possible)
Efficiently design the building so the use of energy and materials is
lowered
The most common types of low embodied energy building materials
are:
18
Mud bricks
Stabilized earth
Air dried timber
Concrete blocks
Precast concrete
Recycled materials that dont require the usage of raw materials as
they are already manufactured once
7.2 Stones in comparison with other low embodied energy materials

To the above stated materials we could include stones. Stones have
been compared in a metaphorical way with the bone structure of our
planet and scientists give them three different categories:
Igneous stones. These are rocks that we can find on the surface or
not deep below the surface of the earth. They are considered to be
the hardest stones such as granites, syenites and dolerites.
Sedimentary stones. They are composed of grains and are combined
with organic materials such as corals for instance. In this group we
can find sandstone, slate and limestone. Limestone is one of the
most popular in the ancient times and has been used construct
many historical buildings such as the pyramids and the Greek
Pantheon.
Metamorphic stones. Formed by exertion of pressure and the action
of high temperatures former igneous or sedimentary rock types are
being transformed into another structure. Examples of these rocktypes are crystalline, slate and quartzite.
According to Asher Shadmon of the HABITAD center in Naibori:
Stone is the building material of the future. We are on our way into a
new stone age. The resources are limitless and evenly spread over the
whole globe. Extraction does not require a lot of energy and does not
pollute. And most important of all is that the material is durable (1983)
The ecology of building materials
Stone has been used into buildings since the Stone Age and,
through the Middle Ages until nowadays. In the past stones were used to
construct all of the building structure: foundation, walls and roof as well.
But stones physical properties dont allow it to span in long distances
19
because of its low tensile capacity. On the other hand stones can be used
in high buildings, knowing that it has great compressive capacity therefore
is a perfect material for load bearing walls. In the Middle Ages stones has
been used in the foundation and ground floor walls of the house and the
rest was made of bricks. Stone walls have a special characteristic of
preserving and protecting from heat. A thick stone wall, thanks to the
density of the material, can keep the building cool during the summer and
worm during the winter, as the wall construction slowly heats up and
slowly cools down.
Figure 8. Illustrating examples of the usage of stone in buildings in the

past and an example of the life span of limestone constructions.
Nowadays crushed stones are used in the reinforcement of concrete,
for the production of tiles and slabs, but no longer for the construction of
walls and etc. The U-value of Limestone is 1.70 W/m2K which is only 0.11
over the U-value of high density concrete. That means that it could be
used into modern-time constructions as a substitute of concrete and since
it takes less energy to produce stone blocks and it could be put by hand
on the building site, that directly means that stone could be considered as
a material with a lower embodied energy than concrete. The density of
stone gives it
Stone blocks could also be compared to bricks according to their
function. Clay bricks go through a long process of manufacturing from raw
clay until we get to the product or the result that we are looking for. The
clay has to be extracted from the ground and that process is using great
amounts of energy, after words it has to be formed in the shape of the
brick also due to the help of machinery that uses energy and later on it
has to be burned and that means additional energy. Last but not least
comes the energy used to transporting the bricks to the site knowing that
they cant be produced on the site. On the other hand we have stone
20
blocks that are extracted and shaped. If being lucky we could find suitable
stone resources on the building site while digging the foundation or etc.
Another low embodied energy material is the mud brick. The soft
mud method is the most common, as it is the most economical. It starts
with the raw clay, preferably in a mix with 25-30% sand to reduce
shrinkage. The clay is first ground and mixed with water to the desired
consistency. The clay is then pressed into steel moulds with
a hydraulic press. The shaped clay is then fired ("burned") at 900-1000 C
to achieve strength
www.wikipedia.org November 2011
However a common method of producing mud bricks is to naturally
burn them using only the sun, that method is of course only suitable for
countries where the climate allows that process to succeed. Mud bricks
have a lower embodied energy than the fabricated bricks simply because
they are not being burned, but they have a much shorter life span,
therefore mud brick constructions need to be renewed more often and
that leads to additional usage of energy. Stone blocks on the other side
have e very long life span if we consider structures made of stone in the
ancient times that are still standing. While bricks and concrete
significantly pollute the environment in the process of manufacturing,
stone blocks dont need to be exposed to high temperature therefore in
the process no gasses are released that can harm the environment. Stone
blocks are mainly produced due to a mechanical process that can be
supplied by energy from water-, wind-, and hand-power resources.
The weight of stone however requires the transportation of the
material to be done in short distances, but that could be applied also to
the transportation of bricks and concrete.
If stones are being extracted in large quantities the landscape of the
region changes and that leads to altered groundwater conditions and it
can harm local ecosystems. However there is a method of extracting
granite called the gloryhole which involves drilling a rock in vertical axes
from the top. By drilling that vertical tunnel there is a cone formed in the
inside of the rock, meaning that the whole gets wider the deeper it goes.
Due to this method the external appearance of the landscape is not/or
less disturbed and in lowers the harm on the local ecosystem.
By extracting stones there is a small possibility of radon being
released in the air and that could harm a local neighborhood, but with the
extraction of limestone, marble and sandstone the risk of causing
21
radiation is significantly low or minimal. A great advantage of stone is that

most of its products such as pressed blocks are easily recyclable. Crushed
stone has a potential for recycle when concrete is re-used. These recycled
products are usually valuable and suitable to be reused.
It is known that stone blocks are best to be used in foundations but
they can also be used in wall structures. Limestone and sandstone decay
in the same way as concrete when exposed to aggressive air pollution.
They have a great load carrying capability.
Using stone constructions does take us back in time, but with new
technologies the stone structure can be improved, insulation from water
and frost could make the construction last as long as concrete. Thermal
insulation can help stone structures to reach the modern time
requirements for thermal loss in connection with energy consumption.
Knowing that the embodied energy of the product is low and all the above
stated factors make it a sustainable material.
There are examples of pure lime mortar keeping its functional properties
for 2000 or 3000 years, on the other hand there are examples of Portland
cement mortars that have crumbled within 10 years. Some concrete
buildings can stay undamaged for over 100 years. That is only to prove
that the life span of a construction depends on the materials used and the
way that we use them. Of great importance is the environment of the
buildings location.
All the above stated materials (bricks, concrete and stone) are
qualified as materials with low embodied energy but still the resources
needed for them to be produced are non renewable. The most popular
renewable construction material is timber. Even though a lot of forests
have to be cut down for the production of timber, new trees are planted in
the same place and in time natures balance will be stabilized. Timber is a
material suitable for recycling.
Green building minimizes the impact or "environmental footprint" of
a building. Wood is the only major building material that is renewable and
uses the suns energy to renew itself in a continuous sustainable cycle.
Studies show manufacturing wood uses less energy and results in less air
and water pollution than steel and concrete
www.wikipedia.org November 2011
Of course not all kinds of timber could be used in the construction
field. Therefore, timber is divided into two categories softwood and
22
hardwood. Softwood is mainly used into constructions while hardwood on

the other side is used for the manufacturing of furniture.
Softwood can be divided in terms of production method: air dried
and kiln dried wood. Air drying depends a lot on the climate of the timber
factory location. In areas with high humidity the process will be difficult to
dry and the other way around. The wooden plates are put onto stacks in a
cool, dry and shady place. An important factor in air drying is the
appearance of a constant air flow. Air drying wood is a process that
consumes zero energy.
Kiln drying on the other side is a process where manufacturers
expose wood to heat so that the water in its structure will evaporate faster
that if air dried. That process provides a better quality control of the
material and if controlled properly the occurrence of defects could be
minimized. If the temperature used in the drying process is above 60
degrees Celsius the wood is being protected from insects (such as
termites).
According to the University of Bath sawn softwood has an average of
5.5MJ/kg embodied energy (a result of 33 research cases). These results
also include 4.2 MJ of bio energy used in the production.
The following table shows a comparison between different materials and
their embodied energy (all values are from the Inventory of Carbon &
Energy (ICE) Version 2.0).
Material
Embodied energy MJ/kg

Mminimum
Maximum
Average
Lime stone
0,03
2,45
1,24
Softwood
0,3
13
6,65
Prefabricated concrete
1,2
3,8
2,5
0,63
3,2
Clay bricks
Figure 9. Embodied energy comparison
The comparison between the embodied energy of the above stated

materials is done only from cradle to gate. Surprisingly the softwood
average embodied energy has the highest value. But on the other side it
23
is from a renewable resource and it also has a lower weight, which means
less energy will be used for transportation.
If we get to compare a wall structure made from the above stated
materials the weight of a timber construction is significantly lower than a
stone, concrete or brick construction. The embodied energy of a 5m2
timber construction will be much smaller than the embodied energy of a
5m2 concrete construction, because of the different density of the
materials (a cubic meter of wood has a smaller weight than a cubic meter
of concrete).
Material
Weight kg/m
Lime stone
Softwood (pine,dry)
Prefabricated concrete
Clay bricks
2611
750
2370
2402
Figure 10. Weight of materials per cubic meter

According to table 4, softwood has the smallest weight per cubic
meter. If we combine the information of both tables 3 and 4 a cubic meter
of softwood will have an embodied energy of 4988 MJ/m3, when a cubic
meter of prefabricated concrete will have an embodied energy of 5925
MJ/m3.
Comparison of concrete, stone, bricks and wood in a construction example
can give us some more information on which of the materials is with the
lowest embodied energy. If we have a building of 20m2 with a height of
Figure 11. Plan of a small building used as an example

for wall construction comparison.
24
2.5m and the load-bearing wall layer is 150mm the material used for that
layer will have a volume of 6.98 7 if it is made out of bricks, stone or
concrete. If the construction is wooden and the cutting list is as it follows:
1. 32 vertical studs (0.2m x 0.06m x 2.5m) = 0.96m3
2. 4 horizontal boards (5m x 0.2m x 0.06m) = 0.24m3
3. 4 horizontal boards (4m x 0.2m x 0.06m) = 0.192m3
The total amount of wooden material used will be 1.392m3 1.4m3. Then
the embodied energy of the wooden construction from cradle to gate
would be 6943.3 MJ. For concrete it would be 16590MJ, for lime stone
blocks it would be 18277MJ and for clay bricks it would be 16814MJ.
Therefore the best solution of a construction in that case would be wooden
construction. Anyway that is only a rough calculation from cradle to gate.
If we assume all the factories producing stone, concrete, bricks and
timber are located in the same place and the distance to the building site
is 50 km. we can calculate the energy used by the transporting company
and compare. If a truck can take only 2 concrete elements of a size
0.15mX2.5mX5m that means it has to make two roundtrips, which means
that the distance will be doubled up to 200km and if as we previously
estimated that a loaded truck will use 110.4MJ/km, that means that for
200km the truck will spend 22080MJ. Bricks, stones and timber can be
delivered in only one round trip because of them being more compact
than the concrete elements. Since this is a rough estimation we will
assume that the energy used by the trucks transporting bricks and stones
will be twice as less as 11040MJ. We cant say the same thing about the
truck transporting the timber material, knowing that the weight of the
shipment is almost three times less than the other three. Respectively we
assume that the timber transporting truck will use only half of the energy
=> 5520MJ.
So from cradle to site the concrete elements have used 28670MJ,
the stone blocks have used 29347MJ, the bricks have used 27881MJ,
while the timber material has been delivered using only 12463MJ.
When delivered on the site the concrete elements have to be
erected with a crane. 4 concrete elements could be erected in 2 hours. If
the crane is operating for 2 hours it will use an average of 20 liters of
diesel fuel, which will be approximately 772MJ. The wooden brick and
stone construction is laid by hand and will not consume any important
amounts of energy. So the final results of the rough embodied energy
25
calculation are as it follows concrete 29442MJ, stone blocks 29347MJ,

bricks 27881MJ and wood 12463MJ.
In conclusion of the rough estimation many factors lead the result
that wood would be the winner in the competition, knowing that it has the
lowest embodied energy, the least amount of energy used to transport
and no energy to be mounted on site. Wood is also the only material
which is made of a renewable recourse. From those four materials in that
case the best choice will be wood. Of course every case is different from
the others.
Wood is a renewable recourse but we still have to consider that the
abuse of the world forests is also harming the environment. Cutting down
great amounts of trees harms the local ecosystems and even though the
ecosystem can be stabilized it needs time for that. It is a well known fact
that the forests are the lounges of the Earth and by preserving the forests
we are helping mankind and lowering the CO2 emissions, knowing that
Figure 12 Showing the results of mindless cutting of forests
plants are CO2 filters. A great problem is the deforestation of the world,
therefore every single time a forest is cut down by human usage the same
people have to be responsible for the restoration of the forest. Wood
production fields have been established in the world where forests are
literally manufactured in order to be cut down and then planted again.
26
8. Conclusion
As the world is rapidly developing new technologies and in the same
time there is a great negative human impact on the environment we need
to find new ways of preserving the planet Earth and its resources. The
main problem in concern of energy is the constant abuse and the
extinction of energy resources. Of course there are new method and
systems invented to create energy such as wind and water power. In the
search of new methods scientists have also find it important not only to
find innovative solutions but also to lower the amounts of energy used.
Here comes the term low embodied energy. In the construction sphere
low embodied energy can refer to many parts, but one of the most
important once is the embodied energy of the materials used in nowadays
constructions. As new standards are established all over the world
concerning the energy consumption of a building, constructing companies
have to start thinking about the energy consumption of the building during
the construction phase. Life cycle assessments are used to predict how
much energy, financial and human resources would be used for the
construction of a particular project. Thanks to the Life cycle assessment
we could also estimate the embodied energy of a building and the process
of that is also called Cradle to grave. Cradle to grave is a process where
constructing companies calculate the energy used to extract, manufacture
and build certain constructions made out of certain materials. It is a fact
that life cycle assessment depends on many factors such as planning of
the building process, transportation, the execution phase, future
maintenance and possible recycling of the used materials. Cradle to grave
is a great process that through a complex and time consuming process
can estimate the embodied energy of a building from the extraction of raw
materials until their recycling. Nowadays modern technologies of building
allow us to use various materials. The most common to be defined as low
embodied energy materials are: pre-casted concrete elements, bricks,
timber, mud bricks and stone. Some of those materials have been used in
the past in great amounts but nowadays have been defined as unsuitable.
Maybe going back in time would be helpful for the future. In my personal
opinion materials such as stone can be easily used in constructions as a
substitute of concrete or bricks. Anyway as my research shows me the
material with the lowest embodied energy is timber. Not only that it
doesnt need great amounts of energy to be extracted, manufactured and
used on site, but it is also a renewable resource. A drastic problem
worldwide is the pollution of the air, thanks to gas and CO2 emissions. The
world building industry is one of the greatest polluters and therefore
27
solutions to that problem must be found. One part of defining a low

embodied energy material is also to estimate the environmental impact of
the material or in other words to see how much CO2 is produced, while
manufacturing a certain material.
There are many factors that need to be considered in the search of a
low embodied energy material and for each case there could be a different
solution. No certain values can be given due to the extreme amount of
variable and unknown figures in the Low Embodied Energy calculation. In
conclusion the usage of low embodied energy researches and estimations
in the building industry can slow down or prevent the extinction of raw
nonrenewable energy resources and prevent harming the environment. In
my personal opinion low embodied energy materials have a great future in
sustainable design.
28
List of references:
Bjrn Berge, The Ecologyof Building Materials, First published as
Bygnings materialenes kologi Universitetsforlaget AS 1992
First published in Great Britain 2000, Paperback edition 2001
English edition Reed Educational and Professional Publishing Ltd 2000,
2001
Brander, M., Tipper, R., Hutchison, C., Davis, G Technical Paper |
Consequential and Attributional Approaches to LCA: a Guide to Policy
Makers with Specific Reference to Greenhouse Gas LCA of Biofuels
April 2008
Cole, R.J. and Kernan, P.C. (1996), Life-Cycle Energy Use in Office
Buildings, Building and Environment, Vol. 31, No. 4
Prof. Geoff Hammond & Craig Jones, Inventory of Carbon & Energy (ICE)
Version 2.0 Sustainable Energy Research Team (SERT) Department of
Mechanical Engineering University of Bath, UK
University of Bath 2011
Websites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timber Accessed on the 11th of November
2011
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limestone Accessed on the 9th of November
2011
http://www.canadianarchitect.com/asf/perspectives_sustainibility/measur
es_of_sustainablity/measures_of_sustainablity_embodied.htm Accessed
on the 30th of October 2011
http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/management_and_leadership_stand
ards/environmental_management/iso_14000_essentials.htm Accessed on
the 4th of November 2011
http://www.stonecourses.net/environment/goallca.html Accessed on the
4th of November 2011
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embodied_energy#Embodied_energy_metho
dologies Accessed on 19th of October 2011
http://www.bath.ac.uk/mech-eng/sert/embodied/ Accessed 25th of
October 2011

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Low embodied energy materials in

Bachelor of Architectural Technology and Construction

Via University College

Trip to China October 2010

Lazar Petrov Petrov

All rights reserved Font Verdana, size 12

2. The global problem of vanishing raw materials.................................. 3

Low embodied energy materials in sustainable design

1.2 Relevance for the chosen topic

VIA University College, Horsens, Denmark, November 2011

Low embodied energy materials in sustainable design

Through an online research and thorough investigation of the

1.3 Problem statement and research questions:

VIA University College, Horsens, Denmark, November 2011

Low embodied energy materials in sustainable design

2. The global problem of vanishing raw materials

The physical and chemical structure of the material itself

VIA University College, Horsens, Denmark, November 2011

Low embodied energy materials in sustainable design

VIA University College, Horsens, Denmark, November 2011

Low embodied energy materials in sustainable design

VIA University College, Horsens, Denmark, November 2011

Low embodied energy materials in sustainable design

The main construction structures for housing and office buildings

Figure1 Initial embodied energy into an office

VIA University College, Horsens, Denmark, November 2011

Low embodied energy materials in sustainable design

4. How do we calculate the embodied energy of a certain

Figure 2. Embodied energy statistics of Concrete; Inventory of carbon and

Low embodied energy materials in sustainable design

harm of the environment and in my personal opinion would not be

Figure 3. The global usage of energy resources (www.wikipedia.org) Oct. 2011

VIA University College, Horsens, Denmark, November 2011

Low embodied energy materials in sustainable design

Figure 4.Illustrating positioning of recycling

VIA University College, Horsens, Denmark, November 2011

Low embodied energy materials in sustainable design

Low embodied energy materials in sustainable design

consumption by using materials with lower embodied energy we could

The energy used in the extraction of raw materials and the

Diesel: road transport

The transportation of manufactured products to the building

VIA University College, Horsens, Denmark, November 2011

Low embodied energy materials in sustainable design

The energy consumption during maintenance strictly depends on

So now that we know the major energy consuming processes in the

VIA University College, Horsens, Denmark, November 2011

Low embodied energy materials in sustainable design

6. How can we use a Life-cycle assessment as a tool to

6.1What is a Life-cycle assessment (LCA).

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Low embodied energy materials in sustainable design

Goal and scope

Life Cycle inventory

Life cycle impact

Figure 6. showing the main flow of the LCA

Low embodied energy materials in sustainable design

VIA University College, Horsens, Denmark, November 2011

Low embodied energy materials in sustainable design

VIA University College, Horsens, Denmark, November 2011

Low embodied energy materials in sustainable design

Identification of significant issues based on the results of the

VIA University College, Horsens, Denmark, November 2011

Low embodied energy materials in sustainable design