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

Enrico Sicignano, Giacomo Di Ruocco and Roberta Melella
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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

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 14, 1-14

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.

Keywords: embodied energy; embodied carbon; sustainable architecture design; eco-architecture; life cycle assessment; environmental pressures; dry technological system (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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