Identification of Embodied Environmental Attributes of Construction in Metropolitan and Growth Region of Melbourne, Australia to Support Urban Planning

James Rydlewski, Zohreh Rajabi, Muhammad Atiq Ur Rehman Tariq, Nitin Muttil, Paras Sidiqui, Ashfaq Ahmad Shah, Nasir Abbas Khan, Muhammad Irshad, Arif Alam, Tayyab Ashfaq Butt and Anne Wai Man Ng
Additional contact information
James Rydlewski: College of Engineering and Science, Victoria University, Melbourne 8001, Australia
Zohreh Rajabi: Institute for Sustainable Industries & Liveable Cities, Victoria University, P.O. Box 14428, Melbourne 8001, Australia
Muhammad Atiq Ur Rehman Tariq: College of Engineering and Science, Victoria University, Melbourne 8001, Australia
Nitin Muttil: College of Engineering and Science, Victoria University, Melbourne 8001, Australia
Paras Sidiqui: School of Life Sciences, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Ultimo 2000, Australia
Ashfaq Ahmad Shah: Research Center for Environment and Society, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, China
Nasir Abbas Khan: School of Management Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Pokou District, Nanjing 211544, China
Muhammad Irshad: Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus Pakistan, Abbottabad 45550, Pakistan
Arif Alam: Departments of Development Studies, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus Pakistan, Abbottabad 45550, Pakistan
Tayyab Ashfaq Butt: Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Hail, Hail 55476, Saudi Arabia
Anne Wai Man Ng: College of Engineering, IT & Environment, Charles Darwin University, Darwin 0810, Australia

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 14, 1-32

Abstract: As growth regions evolve to accommodate the increasing population, they need to develop a wider variety of residential properties to accommodate the varying needs of the residents. As a result, the new accommodation is denser which involves higher embodied water carbon and energy. This research compares the construction differences in metropolitan and growth regions of Melbourne to identify embodied carbon, water, and energy. Representative areas of 25 km 2 are selected from both regions. The growth region has 80% of the built area comprised of 2nd generation low-rise residential buildings whereas the prolific construction type in the Metropolitan region is mixed purpose industrial with 30% of the built area comprising of this type. The methodology implies open-source satellite imagery to build a spatial dataset in QGIS. The visual identification of the constructions in the study areas enables to identity the materials used in their construction. The total embodied carbon, water, and energy for the Metropolitan region are 32,895 tonnes, 4192 mL, and 3,694,412 GJ, respectively, whereas in the growth region, the totals are 179,376 tonnes carbon, 2533 mL water, and 2,243,571 GJ. Whilst Metropolitan has a significantly higher overall footprint when this is compared to the population of each region, it is shown that the growth region with its current construction type has a higher embodied carbon, water, and energy per head. The total per head for Metropolitan is 226.7 GJ energy, 257 kL water, and 20 tonnes carbon, whereas in the growth region, the embodied energy, water, and carbon, respectively, per head is 287.4 GJ, 324.6 kL, and 22 tonnes. The current performance per head of the growth region is considerably lower than that of Metropolitan. Using diverse residential construction types and efficient materials can serve the demanding needs of denser populated areas.

Keywords: urban planning; water footprint; embodied energy; carbon footprint; building construction; environmental attribute (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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