Embodied energy analysis of adobe house

In this paper an attempt has been made to develop a simple methodology to calculate embodied energy of the adobe house at Solar Energy Park, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi (28 degrees 35'N, 77 degrees 12'E) and its effect on the environment. The special feature of the adobe house is that, the whole house is constructed by using low energy intensive materials like soil, sand cow dung, etc. The embodied energy involved in construction of main structure, foundation, flooring, finishes, furniture, maintenance and electric work are 102 GJ, 214 GJ, 55 GJ, 5 GJ, 18 GJ, 59 GJ and 4 GJ, respectively. It is seen that the embodied energy involved in the maintenance of the adobe house (12% of total embodied energy) is significant. It has been found that approximately 370 GJ energy can be saved per year. The energy pay back time (EPBT) for the adobe house is 1.54 years. By using low energy intensive materials the mitigation of CO2 in the environment is reduced by an amount 101 tonnes/year. The adobe house is more environmentally friendly house in comparison to conventional buildings. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.