Why It’s Time to Get Serious About Embodied Energy

Embodied energy is the energy consumed by all processes associated with the production of a product – from the mining and processing of natural resources to the manufacturing, transport and delivery of the finished product.  It is the energy consumed in the extraction of materials and production of the products used to construct buildings rather than the energy consumed in their operation.  Manufacturing building materials creates significant energy-related GHG emissions and causes high levels of waste.  The EDGE App, developed by IFC, helps determine which building elements have the highest embodied energy and where there are alternatives to reduce it.