Improving the buildings' sustainability through combined matrix assessment of embodied energy, water, and carbon: case of conventional houses, Jammu-India

Abstract

The study attempts the comparatives of embodied energy, water, and carbon parameters in the cradle-to-gate phase of building construction for conventional houses in Jammu, India. Besides relying on hybrid material coefficients and field investigations-based materials database, the study adopts a general life cycle assessment framework. Descriptive statistics and regression techniques aid in meeting the findings. A strong interrelation between embodied energy and carbon, but a considerably weak embodied water-to-energy or embodied water-to-carbon relationship emerges. The top embodied energy and carbon-impacting materials (like brick) retard significantly in embodied water impacts, while steel deserves less attention than sand, aggregates, and cement considering all three parameters together. Therefore, a new dimension to appropriately using building materials and construction technologies looms by outlining a broad materials palette. The results call for a differing embodied water optimisation approach to embodied energy or carbon-pertaining ones. The construction players receive a new insight towards a sustainable building approach. 

Keywords

• embodied energy; embodied water; embodied carbon; sustainable buildings; energy-water-carbon nexus