Development of an energy information system for the construction phase of buildings: A contractor’s perspective

The life cycle of a building can be divided into various phases. Each phase demands energy, materials, and other resources to produce the required input for the next phase. Therefore, each phase must be studied in order to provide an energy efficient building. Although conclusions about energy and the environmental performance of a building should be based on the results of a whole life cycle analysis, opportunities are always present to explore each phase separately, in order to recommend energy saving measures, collect detailed information, and strengthen the database.This research examined energy consumption during the construction phase of buildings from a contractor’s perspective. The study focused on energy consumption due to transporting labor and material, equipment use, and management setup during the construction phase. The research proposed the Contractor’s Energy Information System (CEIS) framework to assist a contractor in estimating and recording energy consumption. A Bill of Quantities (BOQ) sheet was used to provide the required inputs to the framework. Energy information was generated in order to identify energy intensive activities. An EXCEL-VBA based CEIS tool was developed to demonstrate the implementation of the framework using a three-story office building. The reports were generated for the office building, and recommendations were made to reduce energy consumption. In addition, it was found that collecting energy consumption data during construction and updating the database would significantly increase the accuracy of energy estimation, and provide insight into the project’s energy use. The case study demonstrated that while average data can estimate overall energy consumption, project-specific data could better serve to quantify and map the energy consumption of a project. A data collection mechanism and an implementation mechanism to apply the framework on a project were suggested. The need for including energy saving measures as a pre-qualification in selecting contractors was noted, and understanding the importance of collaboration among various parties to promote energy efficient construction was emphasized.Future recommendations were made to extend the framework to a decision support system, in order to find the least expensive combination of various measures to save energy on a project.