The new report outlines some of those measures, analyzing buildings' energy use and carbon emissions over their entire life cycle of construction, use and eventual demolition. The report is one of two issued this month by the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub, a multidisciplinary research collaboration funded by the cement and concrete industries. The researchers say the report provides the most detailed and open accountings ever undertaken of the full life cycle of buildings.
The report reflects nearly two years of work by the MIT team, says lead author John Ochsendorf, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and architecture. His group's life-cycle analysis extends “all the way down to details of where the components come from, and how were they transported." In doing so, researchers were able to “quantify emissions and potential savings, and also put a cost on them," he says.
Not only are there significant savings possible in the energy use of buildings and their associated emissions, but some of these are cost-free: “There are steps to reduce carbon emissions that save money, that pay back owners," Ochsendorf says.
Typically today, concrete is used in construction purely for its structural properties, but by harnessing concrete's thermal properties for passive solar storage, the material could greatly reduce a building's energy needs. For example, by designing windows and overhangs so concrete is exposed to sunlight during the winter, the material can effectively store heat during the day and release it at night. In addition, pipes embedded in concrete floors, walls and ceilings can be used for both heating and cooling, providing greater efficiency as well as greater comfort than systems that rely on heating the air in the room, the report says. Read the full report here.
Source: David L. Chandler, MIT News Office.
