Study on the GHG Assessment and Management Method for Embodied Energy Reduction During Building’s Life Cycle

The weight of embodied energy in the building’s energy consumption increases in low-energy buildings. In this context, this study seeks to develop a database for the embodied energy and CO2 which construction materials have and look into the means of using the database from the building planning stage. Although there can be various methods of quantitatively assessing environmental performance such as embodied energy depending on the points of view, this study uses an analysis method based on LCCO2 (Life Cycle CO2). LCCO2 complies with the LCA methodology based on the international standard ISO 14040. With regard to the environmental impact in the life cycle of products and services, however, the LCCO2 technique is defined as the environmental impact assessment method expressed as GWP index. Reducing energy use in the course of production and use of building materials and minimizing the resulting environmental load require identifying the extent of environmental impacts. This study sought to propose methods of making a database of the environmental load generated during the life cycle of building materials ranging from production to use and disposal of building materials based on the GHG emissions in order to manage environmental impact of building and control its embodied energy.