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Focus on Embodied Energy Content Through "Optimized Deconstruction," Diversion of C&D Waste and Options for Building Material Reuse The process of building disassembly versus demolition represents opportunities for energy and resource savings. Embodied energy content can be defined as the quantity of energy resulting from all of the activities associated with a production process, including the acquisition or extraction of primary/raw materials, transportation, manufacturing and handling. When applied to building materials consider that the materials in an average home contains 892 million Btu's of embodied energy, an amount of energy equal to 7,826 gallons of gasoline, or enough to drive an SUV 5 ½ times around the earth. Capturing the embodied energy content of building materials represents an area of energy savings not currently tracked or pursued by many local government entities. The City has been exploring opportunities to encourage deconstruction and stimulate the used building material market through research and small deployment projects coordinated by Penn State University's Hamer Center and the Institute for Local Self Reliance (ILSR). Deployment projects are in various stages of completion and include: an optimized deconstruction approach that focuses on mechanized removal of entire building sections, a building characterization study to identify and assess the amounts and types of potential reusable building materials from the local housing stock, a market study project, and a design competition project to rebuild a residential structure utilizing as many reused building materials as possible. |
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City Archives - PHILS| Please forward technical problems or comments to: webissues@phila.gov |
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