TY - GEN
T1 - Energy Performance of Alkali-Activated Cement-Based Concrete Buildings
AU - Gevaudan, Juan Pablo
AU - Srubar, Wil V.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was made possible by the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and the Sustainable Infrastructure Materials Laboratory (SIMLab) at the University of Colorado Boulder, with support from the National Science Foundation (Award No. CBET-1604457). This work represents the views of the authors and not necessarily those of the sponsors.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - In the United States, the construction and operation of buildings account for approximately 40% of total energy consumption and total carbon dioxide emissions. In order to reduce these environmental impacts, truly net-zero energy buildings necessitate that both operational and embodied energy and carbon are offset through the combined use of high-performance building envelope materials and on-site renewable energy generation. Novel alkali-Activated cement (AAC) concrete exhibits potential benefits such as lower thermal conductivity, equivalent compressive strength, and potentially lower environmental footprint, which translate to reductions in the amount of concrete material and lower environmental impacts compared to ordinary portland cement (OPC) concrete. The objective of this work was to quantify and compare the potential embodied and operational energy savings associated with the use of slag-based AAC concrete in relation to conventional OPC concrete and OPC+10% slag concrete in commercial building envelopes. Two functional units were considered for comparison, namely (a) constant volume replacement and (b) constant R-value of external wall assemblies. Using the Department of Energy (DOE) reference building models for commercial buildings to provide a consistent baseline for comparison, operational energy was quantified using EnergyPlus, a whole-building energy modeling tool, while embodied energy was quantified via lifecycle assessment (LCA) using inventory data obtained from the literature. The results demonstrate that, while total operational energy savings potential were negligible, AAC concrete buildings exhibit consistent reductions in material quantities and, thus, total embodied energy across climate regions. In addition to energy savings potential, the results of this study highlight the necessity to consider embodied energy in addition to operational energy when calculating the total energy consumption of truly net-zero energy buildings.
AB - In the United States, the construction and operation of buildings account for approximately 40% of total energy consumption and total carbon dioxide emissions. In order to reduce these environmental impacts, truly net-zero energy buildings necessitate that both operational and embodied energy and carbon are offset through the combined use of high-performance building envelope materials and on-site renewable energy generation. Novel alkali-Activated cement (AAC) concrete exhibits potential benefits such as lower thermal conductivity, equivalent compressive strength, and potentially lower environmental footprint, which translate to reductions in the amount of concrete material and lower environmental impacts compared to ordinary portland cement (OPC) concrete. The objective of this work was to quantify and compare the potential embodied and operational energy savings associated with the use of slag-based AAC concrete in relation to conventional OPC concrete and OPC+10% slag concrete in commercial building envelopes. Two functional units were considered for comparison, namely (a) constant volume replacement and (b) constant R-value of external wall assemblies. Using the Department of Energy (DOE) reference building models for commercial buildings to provide a consistent baseline for comparison, operational energy was quantified using EnergyPlus, a whole-building energy modeling tool, while embodied energy was quantified via lifecycle assessment (LCA) using inventory data obtained from the literature. The results demonstrate that, while total operational energy savings potential were negligible, AAC concrete buildings exhibit consistent reductions in material quantities and, thus, total embodied energy across climate regions. In addition to energy savings potential, the results of this study highlight the necessity to consider embodied energy in addition to operational energy when calculating the total energy consumption of truly net-zero energy buildings.
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U2 - 10.1061/9780784480502.026
DO - 10.1061/9780784480502.026
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85050266294
T3 - AEI 2017: Resilience of the Integrated Building - Proceedings of the Architectural Engineering National Conference 2017
SP - 311
EP - 323
BT - AEI 2017
A2 - Volz, Jeffery S.
PB - American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
T2 - Architectural Engineering National Conference 2017: Resilience of the Integrated Building, AEI 2017
Y2 - 11 April 2017 through 13 April 2017
ER -
