Energy Efficiency of Buildings: The Aspect of Embodied Energy

How much energy is actually required to build energy‐efficient buildings? It is essential nowadays not only to invest in the design of more energy‐efficient buildings but also to pay more attention to the embodied energy of such building concepts. It is necessary to consider the energy required for the manufacture and maintenance of such buildings and, thus, to take into account the full life cycle. This is a new challenge not only for most designers but also for other stakeholders in the building industry. The purpose of this Review is to clarify the aspect of embodied energy in terms of its definition and system boundaries and to recognize its increasing importance in the building sector and the growing number of global activities responding to this trend. The analysis presented here could be a good starting point for further research, standardization, and development of this aspect. This Review builds on a topic with a long tradition among scientists that has gained a new timeliness. Extending the boundaries: A challenge for the building industry is to shift towards a life‐cycle approach, that is, to reduce the operational energy demand of buildings and minimize the energy demand for other phases of their life cycle, the so‐called embodied energy. We review the current trends and requirements related to the assessment of embodied energy and how this can be part of an overall optimization of the energy efficiency of buildings.