Prediction of consumed embodied energy over the life cycle of buildings

Building in cities and metropolitan areas is one of the largest resource consumers worldwide. The Building Energy Act (GEG) in Germany places demands on the energy standard for new buildings. The focus is on reducing the primary energy requirement for HVAC during operation. However, the required non-renewable primary energy ('Graue Energie' - embodied energy) of the materials used in buildings and the associated resource consumption needs also to be taken into account. The embodied energy consumed in the construction of buildings had already been examined and described many times. This article deals with the Embodied Energy accumulated over the entire life cycle of real estate. In particular, the expenses for repair and disposal after the erection of a building will be investigated. For this purpose, a forecast model, based on the methodology of the standardized room structures by Kornblum and -Greitemann, is developed and applied using the example of a residential property.