Reduction of Embodied Energy and Construction Cost of Affordable Houses through Efficient Architectural Design

Life cycle energy of buildings is associated with different phases of buildings, which include embodied energy (EE), operating energy (OE), and energy required for demolition and disposal. Of these, the major phases of energy consumption are construction or preoccupancy phase (EE) and the operational or occupancy phase (OE). EE of the buildings is the sum of all energy incurred on sourcing, procession/manufacturing of building materials, and transportation of building materials including construction equipment and labor, energy incurred for onsite construction, and all secondary and tertiary processes. Life cycle energy of buildings due to demolition, disposal, and transportation of material and use of construction equipment is very low, that is, 1-2% and 0.7%, respectively. &e energy in construction activities is negligible due to the predominance of manual labor in Asia.