Life cycle energy of single landed houses in Indonesia

Authors: Nuki Agya Utama and Shabbir H. Gheewala

The Joint Graduate School of Energy and Environment, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok, Thailand

Available online 9 May 2008.

Abstract

Building enclosures contribute 10–50% of the total building cost and 14–17% of the total material mass. The direct as well as indirect influence of the enclosure materials plays an important role in the building life cycle energy. Single landed houses, the typical houses in Indonesia, have been chosen for this study. The life cycle energy of the house enclosures and energy consumed during their life spans shows intriguing results.

The initial embodied energy of typical brick and clay roof enclosures is 45 GJ compared to the other typical walls and roof material (cement based) which is 46 GJ. However, over the 40 years life span of the houses, the clay based ones have a better energy performance than the cement based ones, 692 GJ versus 733 GJ, respectively. The material selection during the design phase is thus crucial since the buildings have at least 40–50 years’ life span.

Keywords: Building envelope; Embodied energy; Houses; Indonesia; Life cycle energy

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