| dc.description.abstract | Rising energy costs should be a concern to contractors, designers, and
owners. It is difficult to make a quantity takeoff for energy usage because these
costs are imbedded in the materials, equipment, or overhead costs. This
research examines energy consumption during the construction process, sets
forth methods for recording this energy consumption and establishes a program
for the recording and analysis of this data.
An energy study of electricity, gasoline, and diesel consumption was
made for the construction of three buildings to determine what data was
available. After available data was evaluated, and the Energy Data Analysis
program developed, three other construction sites were visited to determine how
readily energy data can be recorded using the program.
Four construction energy phases were identified from this research. The
four phases are: 1) site clearing and preparation, 2) building structure, 3) interior finishes, and 4) commissioning. The main type of energy consumption during
Phase 1 is diesel fuel for earth moving equipment. The energy uses for Phases
2 and 3 varied considerably among the projects studied and were difficult to
quantify. However, the energy use during these phases was low compared to
other phases and for many projects may not be economical to evaluate. During
Phase 4, electrical energy demand was high due to Heating, Ventilation and Air
Conditioning (HVAC) commissioning requirements and power up of all electrical
power uses including lighting.
These few construction projects are not enough to make definitive
conclusions about what percentage of the total project cost is spent on energy.
This research found that construction energy costs vary during different phases
of the building process and can be a significant part of that phase (as high as
5.7% of the cost). The Visual Basic program developed during this research will
facilitate future energy studies on construction sites. When the program is
applied to a project, it identifies and quantifies the energy use, and makes
predictions as to which project tasks warrant further energy studies. | en |
