IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v21y2013icp153-164.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

System boundary for embodied energy in buildings: A conceptual model for definition

Author

Listed:
  • Dixit, Manish K.
  • Culp, Charles H.
  • Fernández-Solís, Jose L.

Abstract

Buildings consume nearly 40% of global energy annually in their production, operation, maintenance, replacement and demolition stages. Energy consumed in their life cycle stages other than the operation is called life cycle embodied energy. Total life cycle energy constitutes the building's embodied and operational energy over its service life. Operational energy constitutes a relatively larger fraction of life cycle energy in a conventional building. However, with the emergence of larger number of low energy buildings the significance of embodied energy is expected to grow. Current embodied energy calculations exhibit problems of variation, inaccuracy and incompleteness. System boundary definition is a key parameter that differs across studies and causes these problems, as studies define their system boundary subjectively. Research studies have proposed various system boundary models that should be applied to the buildings for life cycle analysis; however, the extent of their boundary definition differs. This paper gathers and synthesizes relevant literature opinions to develop a comprehensive system boundary model that can be adopted while performing the life cycle energy analysis of a building. The purpose of developing this model is twofold. Firstly, it would provide a clear picture of the system boundary. Second, it would provide a model to quantify the embodied energy of a building. Three possible approaches to cover the proposed system boundary are also recommended.

Suggested Citation

  • Dixit, Manish K. & Culp, Charles H. & Fernández-Solís, Jose L., 2013. "System boundary for embodied energy in buildings: A conceptual model for definition," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 153-164.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:21:y:2013:i:c:p:153-164
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2012.12.037
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032112007423
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rser.2012.12.037?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bullard, Clark W. & Herendeen, Robert A., 1975. "The energy cost of goods and services," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 268-278, December.
    2. Mohamad Monkiz Khasreen & Phillip F. G. Banfill & Gillian F. Menzies, 2009. "Life-Cycle Assessment and the Environmental Impact of Buildings: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 1(3), pages 1-28, September.
    3. Nässén, Jonas & Holmberg, John & Wadeskog, Anders & Nyman, Madeleine, 2007. "Direct and indirect energy use and carbon emissions in the production phase of buildings: An input–output analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 32(9), pages 1593-1602.
    4. Chen, T.Y & Burnett, J & Chau, C.K, 2001. "Analysis of embodied energy use in the residential building of Hong Kong," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 323-340.
    5. Yu Lay Langston & Craig Ashley Langston, 2008. "Reliability of building embodied energy modelling: an analysis of 30 Melbourne case studies," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(2), pages 147-160.
    6. David J. Murphy & Charles A.S. Hall & Michael Dale & Cutler Cleveland, 2011. "Order from Chaos: A Preliminary Protocol for Determining the EROI of Fuels," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 3(10), pages 1-20, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dixit, Manish K., 2017. "Life cycle embodied energy analysis of residential buildings: A review of literature to investigate embodied energy parameters," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 390-413.
    2. Yvan Dutil & Daniel Rousse & Guillermo Quesada, 2011. "Sustainable Buildings: An Ever Evolving Target," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 3(2), pages 1-22, February.
    3. Cabeza, Luisa F. & Rincón, Lídia & Vilariño, Virginia & Pérez, Gabriel & Castell, Albert, 2014. "Life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle energy analysis (LCEA) of buildings and the building sector: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 394-416.
    4. Ming Tang & Huchang Liao & Zhengjun Wan & Enrique Herrera-Viedma & Marc A. Rosen, 2018. "Ten Years of Sustainability (2009 to 2018): A Bibliometric Overview," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-21, May.
    5. Carey W. King, 2016. "Information Theory to Assess Relations Between Energy and Structure of the U.S. Economy Over Time," Biophysical Economics and Resource Quality, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 1-33, December.
    6. Jon Freise, 2011. "The EROI of Conventional Canadian Natural Gas Production," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 3(11), pages 1-25, November.
    7. Lina I. Brand-Correa & Paul E. Brockway & Claire L. Copeland & Timothy J. Foxon & Anne Owen & Peter G. Taylor, 2017. "Developing an Input-Output Based Method to Estimate a National-Level Energy Return on Investment (EROI)," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-21, April.
    8. Ignacio Zabalza & Sabina Scarpellini & Alfonso Aranda & Eva Llera & Alberto Jáñez, 2013. "Use of LCA as a Tool for Building Ecodesign. A Case Study of a Low Energy Building in Spain," Energies, MDPI, vol. 6(8), pages 1-21, August.
    9. Feng, Jingxuan & Feng, Lianyong & Wang, Jianliang & King, Carey W., 2018. "Modeling the point of use EROI and its implications for economic growth in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 232-242.
    10. Ke Wang & Harrie Vredenburg & Jianliang Wang & Yi Xiong & Lianyong Feng, 2017. "Energy Return on Investment of Canadian Oil Sands Extraction from 2009 to 2015," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-13, May.
    11. Dixit, Manish K. & Fernández-Solís, Jose L. & Lavy, Sarel & Culp, Charles H., 2012. "Need for an embodied energy measurement protocol for buildings: A review paper," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(6), pages 3730-3743.
    12. Eleftheriadis, Stathis & Mumovic, Dejan & Greening, Paul, 2017. "Life cycle energy efficiency in building structures: A review of current developments and future outlooks based on BIM capabilities," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 811-825.
    13. Malmqvist, Tove & Glaumann, Mauritz & Scarpellini, Sabina & Zabalza, Ignacio & Aranda, Alfonso & Llera, Eva & Díaz, Sergio, 2011. "Life cycle assessment in buildings: The ENSLIC simplified method and guidelines," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 1900-1907.
    14. Bao-Jun Tang & Pi-Qin Gong, 2014. "Evaluating newly added embodied energy inventory of China and the United States: An economic input-output LCA model," CEEP-BIT Working Papers 50, Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research (CEEP), Beijing Institute of Technology.
    15. Marina Nikolić Topalović & Milenko Stanković & Goran Ćirović & Dragan Pamučar, 2018. "Comparison of the Applied Measures on the Simulated Scenarios for the Sustainable Building Construction through Carbon Footprint Emissions—Case Study of Building Construction in Serbia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-19, December.
    16. Yvan Dutil & Daniel Rousse, 2012. "Energy Costs of Energy Savings in Buildings: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 4(8), pages 1-22, August.
    17. Jun Yan & Lianyong Feng & Alina Steblyanskaya & Anton Sokolov & Nataliya Iskritskaya, 2019. "Creating an Energy Analysis Concept for Oil and Gas Companies: The Case of the Yakutiya Company in Russia," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-18, January.
    18. Venkatraj, V. & Dixit, M.K., 2022. "Challenges in implementing data-driven approaches for building life cycle energy assessment: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    19. Copiello, Sergio, 2017. "Building energy efficiency: A research branch made of paradoxes," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 1064-1076.
    20. David Grassian & Daniel Olsen, 2019. "Lifecycle Energy Accounting of Three Small Offshore Oil Fields," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-23, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:21:y:2013:i:c:p:153-164. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.