Embodied Energy

• Embodied energy is the total energy required for

the extraction, processing, manufacture and
delivery of building materials to the building site.
• Energy consumption produces CO2, which
contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, so
embodied energy is considered an indicator of the
overall environmental impact of building materials
and systems.

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Embodied Energy
• Unlike the life cycle assessment, which evaluates
all of the impacts over the whole life of a material
or element,
• Embodied energy only considers the front-end
aspect of the impact of a building material. It
does not include the operation or disposal of
materials

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• Initial embodied energy- The total energy consumed in all
products and processes that are used in constructing the
building is known as the initial embodied energy
• Recurring embodied energy- When the building is occupied it
is also maintained, renovated, and some of its components are
replaced periodically. Such processes also consume energy
directly and indirectly, which is termed the recurring embodied
energy
• Demolition energy- At the end-of-life phase, the building is
demolished and its materials are salvaged for reuse, recycling
or disposal, consuming direct and indirect energy. This fraction
of energy is called the demolition energy
• The total life cycle embodied energy is the sum of the
building’s initial, recurring, and demolition embodied energy

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Components of Embodied Energy

• Extraction,
• Processing,
• Manufacture and
• Delivery of building materials

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Why reduce embodied energy?

• Energy consumption during manufacture can

give an approximate indication of the
environmental impact of the material, and for
most building materials, the major
environmental impacts occur during the initial
processes.

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 How is embodied energy measured?
• Embodied energy is measured as the quantity of
non-renewable energy per unit of building
material, component or system.

• It is expressed in megajoules (MJ) or gigajoules (GJ)

per unit weight (kg or tonne) or area (m2) but the
process of calculating embodied energy is complex
and involves numerous sources of data.

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 Selecting Building Materials
When selecting building materials, the embodied
energy should be considered with respect to:
• the durability of building materials
• how easily materials can be separated
• use of locally sourced materials
• use of recycled materials
• specifying standard sizes of materials
• avoiding waste
• selecting materials that are manufactured using
renewable energy sources

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Calculate the total embodied energy for the
RCC beam structure of volume 5 m3

Total Volume of Beam = Volume of Cement

Concrete + Volume of steel
Let us assume the Percentage of steel to be 1.5 %
Steel Volume = 1.5 % (Total Volume)
Steel Volume = 0.075 m3
Volume of concrete = 5 - 0.075 = 4.925 m3

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Mass Calculation
• Density of steel = 7850 Kg/m3
• Density of Concrete = 2400 Kg/m3
Density = Mass/Volume
Mass = Density *Volume
• Mass of Steel = 7850* 0.075 =588.75 Kg
• Mass of Concrete = 2400* 4.925 = 11820 Kg

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Embodied Energy /mass
Concrete - 0.0075 MJ/Kg
Steel - 6 MJ/Kg

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 Total Embodied Energy calculation
WKT
Embodied energy = Mass of substance*Embodied energy
per mass
• Steel Embodied Energy = 588.75 * 6 = 3532.5 MJ
• Concrete Embodied Energy = 11820 * 0.0075 = 88.65 MJ
Total Embodied energy = Embodied Energy of steel +
Embodied Energy of concrete
Total Embodied Energy = 3532.5 + 88.65 = 3621.15 Mega
Joules (MJ)

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Reuse of building materials commonly saves about 95% of embodied energy that
would otherwise be wasted. However, some materials such as bricks and roof tiles
may be damaged when reused.

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