Including embodied energy in the energy analysis of the Dutch built environment

Abstract

About 40 % of the final energy demand in Europe is related to the built environment. Therefore efforts in lowering this demand are crucial when it comes to reaching the EU ambition targets of reducing the CO2 emissions related to energy use. Until recently these efforts have mainly been focussed on lowering the operational energy of buildings. There are, however, other important energy demanding processes involved over the life cycle of a building, which can be quantified using embodied energy (EE) analysis. This analysis requires improvements regarding the standardisation; Dixit et al. (2010) found that there are large variations and inconsistencies among calculated EE figures. Literature review and expert interviews have been used in this research to: 1) Determine to what extent EE analysis is currently implemented in the analysis of the Dutch built environment, 2) Identify possible areas for improvement, by determining how the factors identified by Dixit et al. (2010) are currently considered, and 3) Develop guidelines for an accurate EE calculation method that addresses these factors correctly, which can be used for EE analysis of the Dutch built environment.