The relationship between total embodied energy and cost of commercial buildings

Embodied energy accounts for a large proportion of lifecycle energy utilisation in the building sector, and the estimation of this embodied energy is often difficult. Therefore finding a general relationship between the embodied energy and the cost of buildings can give a shortcut to such embodied energy estimates, which may also be of assistance to help reduce energy consumption. In this study detailed embodied energy and cost data for three commercial buildings were obtained for two countries, China and New Zealand. The results suggested some correlation between embodied energy and the cost of individual building components for each building, as well as a correlation between the total embodied energy and the cost of the buildings. The research took both the embodied energy incurred by labour and cost of labour into consideration. These two factors were shown to be important components of the analysis that cannot be neglected. The correlation between the embodied energy and the cost of individual building components was stronger for buildings in the same country and was related to the national energy consumption per GDP (energy intensity).

► We compare commercial buildings in China and New Zealand. ► Relationship exists between the total embodied energy and cost of the building. ► Labour needs to included in the embodied energy calculation. ► Individual countries have different energy intensity relationships for commercial buildings.