Life cycle energy analysis of a low-cost house in India

There is tremendous focus in the construction industry to quantify and minimize energy footprint, carbon footprint, material footprint and water footprint and undertake initiatives toward a sustainable built environment. The Economically Weaker Section (EWS)-type residential buildings represent 82% of India’s total housing shortage. It is aimed to meet this housing need by 2022 through the scheme ‘Housing for All’. There is huge demand for materials and energy at the aggregate level and the need for conserving them during the planning, design, construction and operation of residential buildings. This article presents a case study on life cycle energy analysis of a residential building constructed for EWS community in Southern India. Cement, brick and rebar represent more than 3/4th of the total embodied energy of building materials. The structural frame and the building envelope are identified as major hotspots of the total initial embodied energy. The life cycle energy is found to be 0.46 GJ/m2/year for 50 years’ service life. The influence of operation energy and the building service life on the relative significance of construction energy is evaluated. The construction energy represents 29–62% of the life cycle energy for 50 years’ service life.