Energy analysis of high-rise residential buildings under demolition using controlled explosion: An Indian case study

Abstract

The end-of-life phase of buildings has not found adequate representation in the literature despite affording opportunities for reclaiming precious construction material and energy savings from the reuse and recycling of demolition waste. Moreover, the extant literature has limited the research focus primarily to the energy analysis of only the building portion, while the associated components, such as mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) services and site features, are generally excluded from study scope. Furthermore, the majority of research studies in this area have excluded the demolition of buildings using controlled explosion. The current study aims to address these research gaps with a view to estimate the demolition energy requirements for the prospective demolition of a recently constructed high-rise residential building, including all connected services and site features. The demolition is executed using a hybrid method comprising deconstruction, mechanical demolition, and controlled explosion.The results indicate that, although building-related sub-systems accounted for approximately 80% of demolition waste and demolition energy requirements, non-building sub-systems, including MEP services, represented a considerable share of about 20% and thus should not be ignored. The overall waste generation rate of the building project is estimated to be about 1715 kg/m2.Concrete contributed to the highest proportions of demolition waste (73.20%) and demolition energy consumption (84.46%), while steel scrap enabled the highest amount of embodied energy recovery (90.46%) in recycling. Overall, the demolition project resulted in the recovery of nearly 2.70% of the embodied energy consumed during the pre-occupation stage of the building project life cycle.The findings of this study are expected to be useful to stakeholders in identifying opportunities to reduce the demolition energy footprint to make the end-of-life stage of a building project more sustainable. The study also establishes the need for emergent policy initiatives on the revision of guidelines for demolition waste management based on the realistic waste generation rate of high-rise residential buildings; the establishment of waste exchanges to reduce landfill space requirements; and incentivizing the use of recycled products in new constructions. Additionally, some relevant areas have been suggested for further research.