Austral Bricks has added an Embodied Energy and Life Cycle technical paper to its series of technical papers on clay bricks. Austral Bricks’ Group Technical and Engineering Manager, Cathy Inglis, said all manufactured products have an embodied energy component.
“It is essential to recognise that the energy embodied in clay bricks is minor by comparison to that consumed in everyday living,” she said. “The energy consumed and greenhouse gases emitted over the lifetime of an average house is under the spotlight. This can be examined by life cycle analysis (LCA), which takes the long view on energy consumption. It examines the total environmental impact of a building material or product through every step of its life – from obtaining raw materials and manufacturing the building materials (the embodied energy aspect), through to its use in the home, and ultimate disposal or recycling.
“Simple household changes can result in savings in greenhouse gas emissions that far exceed greenhouse gas emissions generated as result of the manufacture of a house load of bricks. For example, a brick veneer house built on passive design principles will reduce or even eliminate the use of air conditioning. The energy used by one air conditioner over its typical ten year life can be over three times the embodied energy in the bricks of a typical brick veneer house.”
Cathy Inglis said extra power plants are needed to cope with the peak load on summer’s hottest days due to the dramatic increase in air conditioning use. Reducing this need is easily achievable by using passive design and investing in embodied energy in thermal mass for long term energy savings.
Greenhouse gas emissions associated with the embodied energy of the bricks in a typical brick veneer house of 8,000 bricks amount to 5.1 tonnes. For a cavity brick or full brick home of 22,000 bricks, the greenhouse gas emissions would be 14.1 tonnes. However, household energy consumption of a typical Australian household amounts to an incredible 400 tonnes. It certainly puts the 5.1 tonnes from the embodied energy of clay bricks into perspective!
The technical paper is available by calling (02) 9830 7700.
This paper and papers on thermal mass, sound insulation, lifetime of benefits and sustainable design are also available at www.australbricks.com.au
For further information contact Cathy Inglis on (02) 9830 7745.
*Copy supplied by Austral Bricks
