IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v11y2019i14p3806-d247503.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Mitigation Strategies for Reduction of Embodied Energy and Carbon, in the Construction Systems of Contemporary Quality Architecture

Author

Listed:
  • Enrico Sicignano

    (Department of Civil Engineering, University of Salerno, 84084 Fisciano (SA), Italy)

  • Giacomo Di Ruocco

    (Department of Civil Engineering, University of Salerno, 84084 Fisciano (SA), Italy)

  • Roberta Melella

    (Department of Civil Engineering, University of Salerno, 84084 Fisciano (SA), Italy)

Abstract

The criticality related to the consumption of operational energy and related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of existing buildings is clearly decreasing in new buildings due to the strategies tested and applied in recent years in the energy retrofit sector. Recently, studies have been focusing on strategies to reduce environmental impacts related to the entire life cycle of the building organism, with reference to the reduction of embodied energy (and related greenhouse gas emissions) in building materials. As part of EEA’s European EBC project, Annex 57, a wide range of case studies have been promoted with the aim of identifying design strategies that can reduce the embodied energy and related greenhouse gas emissions of buildings. The aim of this paper is to investigate the most common construction systems in the construction industry (concrete, steel, wood) through the analysis of three contemporary architectural works, with the aim of identifying the predisposition for environmental sustainability of each technological system, thus guiding the operators in the sector towards design choices more compatible with the environmental requirements recommended by European legislation.

Suggested Citation

  • Enrico Sicignano & Giacomo Di Ruocco & Roberta Melella, 2019. "Mitigation Strategies for Reduction of Embodied Energy and Carbon, in the Construction Systems of Contemporary Quality Architecture," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-14, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:14:p:3806-:d:247503
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/14/3806/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/14/3806/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Druckman, Angela & Jackson, Tim, 2009. "The carbon footprint of UK households 1990-2004: A socio-economically disaggregated, quasi-multi-regional input-output model," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(7), pages 2066-2077, May.
    2. Nässén, Jonas & Holmberg, John & Wadeskog, Anders & Nyman, Madeleine, 2007. "Direct and indirect energy use and carbon emissions in the production phase of buildings: An input–output analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 32(9), pages 1593-1602.
    3. Chang, Yuan & Ries, Robert J. & Wang, Yaowu, 2010. "The embodied energy and environmental emissions of construction projects in China: An economic input-output LCA model," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(11), pages 6597-6603, November.
    4. Lenzen, Manfred, 1998. "Primary energy and greenhouse gases embodied in Australian final consumption: an input-output analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(6), pages 495-506, May.
    5. Brown, M. T. & Herendeen, R. A., 1996. "Embodied energy analysis and EMERGY analysis: a comparative view," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 219-235, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Pan, W. & Teng, Y., 2021. "A systematic investigation into the methodological variables of embodied carbon assessment of buildings," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    2. Hossein Omrany & Veronica Soebarto & Ehsan Sharifi & Ali Soltani, 2020. "Application of Life Cycle Energy Assessment in Residential Buildings: A Critical Review of Recent Trends," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-30, January.
    3. Roberta Melella & Giacomo Di Ruocco & Alfonso Sorvillo, 2021. "Circular Construction Process: Method for Developing a Selective, Low CO 2eq Disassembly and Demolition Plan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-34, August.
    4. Shraddha Sharma & Anshuman Singh, 2024. "Embodied energy assessment: a comprehensive review of methods and software tools," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(12), pages 30109-30179, December.
    5. Sara Dorregaray-Oyaregui & César Martín-Gómez & Amaia Zuazua-Ros & Mónica Aguado, 2025. "Practical Implementation of Hydrogen in Buildings: An Integration Model Based on Flowcharts and a Variable Matrix for Decision-Making," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-19, May.
    6. Lachlan Curmi & Kumudu Kaushalya Weththasinghe & Muhammad Atiq Ur Rehman Tariq, 2022. "Global Policy Review on Embodied Flows: Recommendations for Australian Construction Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-19, November.
    7. Antonino Di Bella & Milica Mitrovic, 2020. "Acoustic Characteristics of Cross-Laminated Timber Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-29, July.
    8. Oriol Pons-Valladares & Jelena Nikolic, 2020. "Sustainable Design, Construction, Refurbishment and Restoration of Architecture: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-18, November.
    9. Enrico Sicignano & Giacomo Di Ruocco & Anna Stabile, 2019. "Quali—A Quantitative Environmental Assessment Method According to Italian CAM, for the Sustainable Design of Urban Neighbourhoods in Mediterranean Climatic Regions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-25, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Liu, Hongtao & Polenske, Karen R. & Guilhoto, Joaquim José Martins & Xi, Youmin, 2014. "Direct and indirect energy use in China and the United States," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 414-420.
    2. Liu, H. & Polenske, K. R. & Guilhoto, J. J. M. & Xi, Y., 2011. "Direct and indirect energy consumption in China and the United States," MPRA Paper 37960, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Lixiao Zhang & Qiuhong Hu & Fan Zhang, 2014. "Input-Output Modeling for Urban Energy Consumption in Beijing: Dynamics and Comparison," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(3), pages 1-11, March.
    4. Lin, Boqiang & Du, Zhili, 2017. "Promoting energy conservation in China's metallurgy industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 285-294.
    5. Chen, G.Q. & Chen, Z.M., 2011. "Greenhouse gas emissions and natural resources use by the world economy: Ecological input–output modeling," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 222(14), pages 2362-2376.
    6. Haitao Zheng & Qi Fang & Cheng Wang & Huiwen Wang & Ruoen Ren, 2017. "China’s Carbon Footprint Based on Input-Output Table Series: 1992–2020," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-17, March.
    7. Moises Neil V. Seriño & Stephan Klasen, 2015. "Estimation and Determinants of the Philippines' Household Carbon Footprint," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 53(1), pages 44-62, March.
    8. Franco Solís, Alberto & F.T. Avelino, André & Carrascal-Incera, André, 2020. "The evolution of household-induced value chains and their environmental implications," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    9. Zhang, Yan & Zheng, Hongmei & Fath, Brian D., 2014. "Analysis of the energy metabolism of urban socioeconomic sectors and the associated carbon footprints: Model development and a case study for Beijing," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 540-551.
    10. Yang, Siyuan & Fath, Brian & Chen, Bin, 2016. "Ecological network analysis of embodied particulate matter 2.5 – A case study of Beijing," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 882-888.
    11. Zhang, L.X. & Wang, C.B. & Bahaj, A.S., 2014. "Carbon emissions by rural energy in China," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 641-649.
    12. Singh, Vivek Kumar & Henriques, Carla Oliveira & Martins, António Gomes, 2018. "Fostering investment on energy efficient appliances in India–A multi-perspective economic input-output lifecycle assessment," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 1022-1035.
    13. Nasseri, Iman & Assané, Djeto & Konan, Denise Eby, 2015. "While visitors conserve, residents splurge: Patterns and changes in energy consumption, 1997-2007," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 282-292.
    14. Dong, Huijuan & Geng, Yong & Fujita, Tsuyoshi & Jacques, David A., 2014. "Three accounts for regional carbon emissions from both fossil energy consumption and industrial process," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 276-283.
    15. Li, Xin & Ou, Xunmin & Zhang, Xu & Zhang, Qian & Zhang, Xiliang, 2013. "Life-cycle fossil energy consumption and greenhouse gas emission intensity of dominant secondary energy pathways of China in 2010," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 15-23.
    16. Liu, Zhu & Geng, Yong & Lindner, Soeren & Zhao, Hongyan & Fujita, Tsuyoshi & Guan, Dabo, 2012. "Embodied energy use in China's industrial sectors," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 751-758.
    17. Lin, Boqiang & Zhang, Guoliang, 2013. "Estimates of electricity saving potential in Chinese nonferrous metals industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 558-568.
    18. Haoran Wang & Toshiyuki Fujita, 2023. "A Review of Research on Embodied Carbon in International Trade," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-15, May.
    19. Zhang, Bo & Chen, Z.M. & Xia, X.H. & Xu, X.Y. & Chen, Y.B., 2013. "The impact of domestic trade on China's regional energy uses: A multi-regional input–output modeling," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 1169-1181.
    20. Shaojian Qu & Hao Cai & Dandan Xu & Nabé Mohamed, 2021. "Uncertainty in the prediction and management of CO2 emissions: a robust minimum entropy approach," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 107(3), pages 2419-2438, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:14:p:3806-:d:247503. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.