Abstract
Based on data collected in 20 A-level high-rise commercial concrete buildings in Hong Kong, the research successfully established a probability density function model, which is used to describe the carbon emissions profile of a commercial building. Results indicate that the superstructure of a commercial building, on average, had a footprint of 226.65 kg CO2/m2 and 10.6 kg CO2/m2 separately in the material use stage and transportation stages. It also evaluates the carbon emissions of various building elements and divides them into three levels according to the magnitude of their contribution. The results show that upper floor construction and external wall in Tier 1 contribute nearly 80% of emissions and should be of great concern. In addition to the probability density function model, a regression model was also successfully established in the study to predict carbon emissions. Research has shown that building layers and gross floor area can predict carbon emissions per unit area, and there is a positive relationship between the independent variable and the dependent variable. The regression model can help building designers determine design options to reduce carbon emissions in the early stages of design.
Highlights
Buildings account for a large proportion of total energy consumption, e.g 20% -25% of China (China Energy Statistical Yearbook, 2011) and 30% - 40% for development countries accounting (Building Energy Data Book, 2010)
According to the classification system proposed by the British Building Research Institute (BRE), the extracted information related to building materials is grouped into appropriate building elements
The probability density function (PDF) model is constructed using the Monte Carlo method based on the p value less than 0.05, while the multiple regression model can effectively predict the relationship between carbon emissions per unit area and various construction engineering indicators
Summary
Buildings account for a large proportion of total energy consumption, e.g 20% -25% of China (China Energy Statistical Yearbook, 2011) and 30% - 40% for development countries accounting (Building Energy Data Book, 2010). As for developed countries such as the United States, buildings account for about 40% of their energy use (BEDB, 2010), and the UK’s construction industry accounts for 50% of its total carbon dioxide emissions (Dowden, 2008). Many effective measures have been implemented to reduce the energy consumption of building operations, such as solar photovoltaic systems [1], green roof [2], innovative lighting system [3], a combined cooling, heating and power system [4]. Great success has achieved in reducing the operating energy consumption of buildings, making the carbon emissions related to building materials more and more important in the entire life cycle. In reinforced concrete frame structure buildings, if prefabricated components are used instead of cast-in-place, it can be reduced by 15% Carbon dioxide emissions throughout the whole materialization stage [6]. In the end-of-life (EoL) phase of buildings, maximum reuse could save up to 38.5% of the total embodied energy of original buildings [7]
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