Comparative life cycle energy and cost analysis of post-disaster temporary housings

Temporary housings play an important role by providing people a habitable environment while the effects of a disaster are being fixed. In this paper, life cycle energy and cost analysis of two common types of post-disaster temporary housings constructed in Turkey has been studied. The aim of this study was to identify whether it is more convenient to use prefabricated (PH) or container housings (CH) in postdisaster reconstruction projects. Construction and operational energy requirements are calculated over 15 years using a comprehensive approach.

Life cycle primary energy consumption values of the most widely used prefabricated (PH70) and container (CH20) housings are calculated to be 18.5 and 24.7 GJ/m2, respectively.

The results show that operational phase was dominant over the housings 15-year lifetime. The life cycle cost of PH70 and CH20 are calculated to be 919 and 1308 $/m2, respectively. It is found that increasing the total base area of the housings is an important cost-effective energy reduction measure. The results expressed that prefabricated housings have 25.1 and 29.7% lower life cycle energy and cost requirements respectively.

LCEA & LCCO2A assessment of two residential buildings

Today, the world’s major environmental problems are global warming and ozone layer depletion. In order to save the environment, there are many opportunities to alleviate these undesirable problems arising from our society. Residential buildings play a significant role in consumption of energy resources.

Final energy consumption in residential buildings in EU-28 decreased by 9% between 2001 and 2011. In this period, about 48% of increase is recorded in energy consumption by residential buildings in Turkey. About 31% of the energy demand in Turkey is associated to residential houses. Thus, residential buildings represent a major opportunity for reducing energy requirements and greenhouse gas emissions [2]. In 2011, natural gas made up 30% of the total energy consumption in Turkey households; followed by solid fuels (26%), electrical energy (16%) and oil products (5%) [3]. Final electricity consumption per capita in Turkey grew continuously between 2001 and 2011 (from 5054 MJ to 8975 MJ).

About 30–40% of all primary energy is used in buildings all over the world

In this paper, a life cycle energy (LCEA) and carbon dioxide emissions (LCCO2A) analysis of two residential buildings has been conducted. The study includes the literature review, the data used for such a comprehensive analysis, and methodology and provides an application of the methodology that considers two actual residential buildings constructed in Gaziantep, Turkey. The proposed model focused on building construction, operation and demolition phases to estimate total energy use and carbon emissions over a 50 year lifespan. Energy efficiency and emissions parameters are defined for the buildings per square meter basis. It is found that the operation phase is dominant in both urban and rural residential buildings and contributes 76–73% of the primary energy requirements and 59–74% of CO2 emissions, respectively. The embodied energy (EE) of the buildings accounts for 24–27% of the overall life-cycle energy consumption. The results show that, because of the differences in building structures, living standards and air conditioning habits, the life cycle energy demand in rural residential buildings is 18% lower than in urban condition

Today, buildings are responsible for more than 40% of global energy used, and as much as 33% of global greenhouse gas emissions, both in developed and developing countries.