A REVIEW ON LCEA OF INFRASTRUCTURE BUILDINGS

The construction industry is one of the fastest growing and a major energy consuming sector, due to the increase in population and demands. Buildings demand energy in their life cycle from its construction to demolition stage. Life Cycle Energy is the total energy consumed during the overall life of a building. This paper focuses on assessing the life cycle energy of an infrastructure building. The three phases of the life cycle of a building are the manufacturing, use and demolition phases and this paper helps in identifying the phases that consume more energy and to develop strategies for its reduction and improvements. With the help of various local alternative materials, we can reduce the energy use for the operation to a very low level and suggestions are given on the alternative materials to be used. Results show that embodied and operational energy are the main contributors to the building's life cycle energy demand. Various tools are available for the calculation of operational energy which are discussed in detail. It is very important to consider the type of material, also, the service life of materials being used can have a significant effect on the total energy embodied in a building over its lifetime.