60
V. Shree et al.
3 Methodology
3.1 Case Study
In the present study, carbon footprints are estimated of an educational building at
THDC Institute of Hydropower Engineering & Technology, Tehri, Uttarakhand,
India. As per the definition, the complete life cycle of a building is classified into
three different phases, viz. construction phase, operation and maintenance phase
and demolition phase. In the present study, construction and operation maintenance
phases of the building are taken into account for carbon footprint calculation. In
fact, the energy required to demolish the building is quite less and may be considered about 1–2% of the life cycle energy of the building [19] but the demolition of
building is not quite common so it is excluded from the present study. The operational time of the building is considered to be 50 years. In addition to this, any
modifications and reconstruction works are excluded throughout the life cycle of
the building. As variety of raw materials are used in construction of a building and
these materials are produced by various process and methods with sufficient amount
of energy consumption. So, every construction material is associated with primary
energy consumption and release of GHG emissions. As far as the materials used in the
construction of the selected building are concerned, problem of unavailability of data
is faced during inventory analysis. Various types of materials are used in construction
of a building but it was difficult to find accurate amount of these construction materials used in buildings. Therefore, the main construction materials viz. Cement, sand
and bricks are considered in the study. Due to unavailability of on-site construction
data, transportation activities are excluded from the present study.
In operational phase, electricity consumption is estimated using previous electricity bills. An assumption of same annual operational energy of the building is
considered throughout its entire life cycle, however, it may be changed due to variation in external conditions. The electricity is dedicatedly used for lighting, running of
PCs and other small lab equipment. The building is not having any heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system and therefore not considered in the present
analysis. The electricity scenario in India is presented in Fig. 2. Moreover, variation
in primary energy consumption and emissions due variation in climatic conditions
are not included. In addition to the operation phase of a building, maintenance and
other repair works are important parts of building life cycle and these activities
also consume a lot of energy and associated with release of GHG emissions. As the
selected building is commissioned in year 2011 and there are no maintenance records
found for the building and excluded from the study.
V. Shree et al.
3 Methodology
3.1 Case Study
In the present study, carbon footprints are estimated of an educational building at
THDC Institute of Hydropower Engineering & Technology, Tehri, Uttarakhand,
India. As per the definition, the complete life cycle of a building is classified into
three different phases, viz. construction phase, operation and maintenance phase
and demolition phase. In the present study, construction and operation maintenance
phases of the building are taken into account for carbon footprint calculation. In
fact, the energy required to demolish the building is quite less and may be considered about 1–2% of the life cycle energy of the building [19] but the demolition of
building is not quite common so it is excluded from the present study. The operational time of the building is considered to be 50 years. In addition to this, any
modifications and reconstruction works are excluded throughout the life cycle of
the building. As variety of raw materials are used in construction of a building and
these materials are produced by various process and methods with sufficient amount
of energy consumption. So, every construction material is associated with primary
energy consumption and release of GHG emissions. As far as the materials used in the
construction of the selected building are concerned, problem of unavailability of data
is faced during inventory analysis. Various types of materials are used in construction
of a building but it was difficult to find accurate amount of these construction materials used in buildings. Therefore, the main construction materials viz. Cement, sand
and bricks are considered in the study. Due to unavailability of on-site construction
data, transportation activities are excluded from the present study.
In operational phase, electricity consumption is estimated using previous electricity bills. An assumption of same annual operational energy of the building is
considered throughout its entire life cycle, however, it may be changed due to variation in external conditions. The electricity is dedicatedly used for lighting, running of
PCs and other small lab equipment. The building is not having any heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system and therefore not considered in the present
analysis. The electricity scenario in India is presented in Fig. 2. Moreover, variation
in primary energy consumption and emissions due variation in climatic conditions
are not included. In addition to the operation phase of a building, maintenance and
other repair works are important parts of building life cycle and these activities
also consume a lot of energy and associated with release of GHG emissions. As the
selected building is commissioned in year 2011 and there are no maintenance records
found for the building and excluded from the study.