Paying Back Energy

Description | Indicators | Scoring Criteria | Definitions | Issues

Incorporating use phase energy: The scoring in this category currently only accounts for embodied energy from cradle to gate - that is from extraction (or harvesting) of the raw material through the manufacturing phase for the product. For many building products, this represents the vast majority of energy usage in the life cycle and is sufficient. Some products however have a effect on net energy use in the building that may be more significant than the entire cradle to gate calculation.

1. Products that directly consume energy (e.g. HVAC components or light bulbs)
2. Products that impact the thermal performance (e.g. insulation or windows) or lighting needs of the building
3. Products requiring energy intensive maintenance (e.g. carpet or waxed resilient flooring.
4. Product that generate energy (e.g., photovoltaic panels or wind turbines)

We intend to extend the scoring described here to include factors for use phase energy where it is significant to help the user make a more informed choice. This is challenging to do, however, as the actual energy used for any particular product or material is highly variable from building to building depending on climate, building design, function and occupant use patterns.

Incorporating disposal phase: We also intend to look at the disposal phase to determine if their as energy issues we should be capturing there.

We welcome your comments.

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