Energy Consumption In Construction Industry Research Articles

Research Progress on Thermal Properties of Aerated Concrete, Sintered Shale Brick and Composite Materials

Currently, construction energy saving has been paid more and more attention in our country. Enclosure materials such as walls are important industries within the scope of energy saving of constructions, which makes the rational utilization of enclosure materials like walls particularly important. The energy consumption of construction industry is too high, and the thermal insulation performance of the wall still cannot alleviate the actual contradiction of energy saving of the current wall materials. To improve the thermal performance of wall thermal insulation, the thermal performance of sintered shale brick and aerated concrete are introduced in this paper. The research progress of aerated concrete and shale porous brick are sorted out, and the role of thermal performance of new wall materials on construction energy saving is comprehensively described through the analysis of their thermal performance data and the experiments of other scholars. Finally, the future development trend is predicted.

Spatio-temporal interaction heterogeneity and driving factors of carbon emissions from theconstruction industry in China.

Global warming caused by carbon emissions has become a major issue that countries need to address. As the largest carbon emitter globally, the construction industry is one of the major contributors to carbon emissions in China. It is of significance for carbon reduction to study carbon emission from construction industry. Based on various methods, this study explored the spatio-temporal characteristics of carbon emissions and the driving factors of construction industry. This study found, in 2007, 2010, and 2012, carbon emissions from the construction industry exhibited an increasing trend, and the indirect carbon emissions accounted for approximately 77% of the total carbon emissions overall; in addition, the regional gaps in carbon emissions are widening. The space centers of gravity of direct, indirect, and total carbon emissions showed similar rotations in the counterclockwise direction and gradually shifted to the northeast direction. Carbon emissions from the construction industry were predominantly influenced by the total population, number of employees in construction industry, labor productivity in construction industry, added value of the construction industry, energy consumption in construction industry in 2007, evolution to the mutual influence of the total population, labor productivity in construction industry, and energy consumption in construction industry in 2012. The finds can make references for the regional sustainable development.

Utjecaj smola na mehanička svojstva polimernog betona

Cement manufacturing is currently responsible for one of the highest levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and energy consumption in construction industry. Thus, the use of sustainable binder materials instead of cement has become a worldwide issue. Previous studies have shown that polymers are a reliable and sustainable alternative to cement in construction, while polymer concretes (PCs) are seen as the biggest alternative to conventional cement concretes in the long term. In this study, the main objective is to investigate the effects of resins, which are used as binder components in polymer concrete, on the mechanical properties of the PCs. To achieve this, ten different orthophthalic unsaturated polyester resins (OUPR) that are commonly used in construction industry are considered, and fresh concrete tests and hardened concrete tests are performed on deck plates prepared with these resins. Based on the analysis results, each resin is given a performance index. The experimental results indicate that the type of resin has a significant impact on mechanical properties of polymer concrete.

Research on resource consumption of construction industry in Xining based on material flow analysis

Qinghai Province is a very fragile area of ecological environment. While paying attention to economic development, we should pay more attention to the change trend of ecological environment. According to the urban statistical yearbook, the energy consumption of construction industry accounts for a large proportion of urban energy consumption. In the concept of sustainable development, we should pay attention to the problem of resource consumption and environmental pressure of urban construction industry. This paper takes Xining construction industry as the research object, based on the material flow analysis method, analyzes the material flow of newly built and demolished buildings in Xining city from 2011 to 2015, and reveals the material consumption status of Xining construction activities and the pressure on the environment.

Empirical analysis of energy consumption transfer in China's national economy from the perspective of production and demand.

Given the context of the global energy shortage and the deterioration of the ecological environment, this paper uses industrial linkage as a starting point to deeply explore the energy consumption of different sectors and its transfer characteristics. First, a dual evaluation of energy consumption in various sectors is conducted from the perspectives of production and demand to realize an integrated analysis from the energy consumption perspective. Second, based on industrial linkage, the economic input-output life cycle assessment (EIO-LCA) model is used to quantify the net transfer of energy consumption and identify the transfer of energy consumption pressure embodied in economic activities by various sectors. Finally, the energy consumption of various sectors is decomposed, and the transfer flow of energy consumption is measured to accurately quantify the degree of linkage in the energy consumption of sectors. The results show that the current direct energy consumption intensity of various sectors in China is continuously decreasing, but this decrease is insufficient to reverse the upward trend in energy consumption demand. From the perspective of production and demand, non-energy industrial sector is a key sector for reducing energy consumption, and the intersectoral linkage between the subsectors caused by product trade flows has a greater impact on the level of direct and embodied energy consumption. Direct and embodied energy consumption in the same sector can be ranked quite differently, and their levels may not be equal. Energy sector is the main net outflow sector of energy consumption, and the level of its direct energy consumption is much higher than that of its embodied energy consumption. It is worth noting that the scale of embodied energy consumption in construction industry is much higher than the scale of direct energy consumption. Construction is the sector with the greatest net inflow of energy consumed and is the main driver of the energy consumption transfer of energy sector and non-energy industrial sector.

A total energy efficiency evaluation framework based on embodied energy for the construction industry and the spatio-temporal evolution analysis

PurposeAs a typical resource energy-intensive industry, the scale of construction industry has been expanding rapidly owing to the large-scale urbanization and the economic booming in China, which results in a sharp increase in the energy consumption of construction industry. However, it is infeasible to mitigate the energy consumption by reducing the production activities of construction industry. Therefore, improving the energy efficiency of construction industry is essential for energy saving. Construction industry has close relationships with other industries. The production activities have not only consumed a great deal of energy but they have also generated a massive energy consumption from other industries. Previous literature studied the efficiency of energy consumed directly by the construction industry. However, no research has been found focusing on the efficiency of energy consumed directly by the construction industry and indirectly by the related industries. The purpose of this paper is to put forward a total energy efficiency evaluation framework to measure the energy efficiency of construction industry in depth.Design/methodology/approachThis paper employs the data envelopment analysis (DEA) method and the framework of embodied energy efficiency (EEE) to establish a total energy efficiency evaluation model. Next, the comprehensive analysis of direct energy efficiency (DEE) and EEE in different provinces with various levels of urbanization and various economic levels is conducted.FindingsThe results show that the embodied energy intensity and its regularities differ greatly between provinces. From the comparison of DEE and EEE, the provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangsu remain DEA-effective and Hainan is the only province in which the EEE is higher than DEE in 2002, 2007 and 2012. Besides, the DEE and EEE in the provinces with higher levels of urbanization and high economic levels are not more effective than those in the provinces with relatively lower levels of urbanization and low economic levels.Originality/valuePrevious literature studied the efficiency of energy consumed directly by the construction industry while ignoring the energy consumed indirectly by the related industries. Besides, no research has been found focusing on the regulation of energy efficiency in different provinces with different levels of urbanization and different economic levels. It can be concluded that the increasing levels of urbanization and higher economic levels have not brought development and benefits for improving DEE and EEE. Therefore, under the condition that the self-regulation of construction industry and market fail to facilitate the improvement of DEE and EEE in China, policymakers should develop policies and market incentive mechanism to encourage construction industry for employing new technologies to improve the energy efficiency. Since the EEE can reveal the energy efficiency in depth, the evaluation method of EEE should be paid more attention. Besides the fact that the EEE is lower than the DEE in almost all provinces, except Hainan province, the industrial structure is essential to develop the EEE. Hence, improving the energy structure, increasing the energy efficiency and developing new and renewable energy are the basic energy strategies in China.

Environmental and Energy Aspects of Construction Industry and Green Buildings

AbstractGreen building is an important component of sustainable real estate market development, and one of the reasons is that the construction industry consumes a high amount of resources. Energy consumption of construction industry results in greenhouse gas emissions, so green buildings, energy systems, building technologies and other aspects play an important role in sustainable development of real estate market, construction and environmental development. The aim of the research is to analyse environmental aspects of sustainable real estate market development, focusing on importance of green buildings at the industry level and related energy aspects. Literature review, historical, statistical data analysis and logical access methods have been used in the research. The conducted research resulted in high environmental rationale and importance of environment-friendly buildings, and there are many green building benefits during the building life cycle. Future research direction is environmental information process and its models.

The Energy Consumption of Construction Industry in Shaanxi Province and Comparing to Eastern Coastal Provinces

Construction industry have done great contribution to the development of our economy. And the efficiency problem of energy consumption and energy conservation become prominent. The author makes a brief analysis on the overall development of construction industry in Shaanxi province and a comparative analysis on energy consumption flexibility, energy consumption intensity and energy consumption structure of Shaanxi province and 11 eastern coastal province or municipalities in a horizontal and longitudinal way. The author also put forward some efficient energy conservation measures to achieve the goal of energy conservation.

BOT for Green Buildings: A Decision-Making Model for Government

The proportion of energy consumption in construction industry is considerable and therefore more and more attention has to be paid to the development of green buildings. Green buildings have significant environmental and social benefits but the incremental cost becomes one of the major obstacles that hinder their development. Based on the externality theory and Coase Theorem, this paper establishes a utility function of three participants (consumers, enterprises and governments) in green buildings, and derives a decision-making model for government. The model could explain the influence mechanism about how the incremental cost restricts the development of green buildings with full market regulation. Decision-making process of green buildings is also proposed, which indicates that related policies, such as government subsidies, tax exemptions, carbon emissions trading in some developed countries, could regulate the market and achieve more efficient allocation of external benefits of green buildings. Finally this paper, taking into account the fact that the development of green buildings in developing countries like China is in its infancy, proposes a BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) scheme for green buildings, which could internalize the external benefits by utilizing enterprises professional services and high efficiency. It is hoped that the conclusions would be useful for the development and promotion of green buildings.