Fast Estimation of Buildings’ Embodied Energy Using Economic Input-Output Method for an Urban Model

Abstract

Research has predicted that the global population shift from rural to urban areas in the 21st century will cause haphazard building and infrastructure development in cities (Reinhart et al., 2016; United Nations, 2014). According to the US Department of Energy, the building sector is responsible for nearly 40% of total US energy consumption (USDOE, 2018). This statistic underlines the role of the building sector in reducing energy consumption and consequential environmental impacts. However, as larger numbers of buildings are becoming more energy efficient during use phase, the share of embodied energy from the total life cycle energy of a building increases. This also highlights the importance of policies and regulations regarding less energy intensive building materials and construction practices to reduce the entire life cycle energy use of buildings. One objective of this study is to estimate the embodied energy of 197 commercial buildings in the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, including but not limited to fire stations, police stations, recreation facilities, and campus buildings, as the first step toward completing the entire life cycle energy map of the city. We developed a fast method to estimate a building’s embodied energy using publicly available construction cost estimate data and Economic Input-Output Life Cycle Assessment (EIO-LCA) (EIO-LCA, 2018). The construction cost required for EIO-LCA is estimated based on a few parameters: building function, number of stories, floor area, and location. Results show that the total embodied energy of the under study commercial buildings in the city is 7,340 TJ. With this project, an urban life cycle energy map will be created to aid with future infrastructure decision making related to energy production and the built environment.