The development of an open-access, reliable database for embodied energy and carbon (dioxide) emissions associated with the construction industry is described. The University of Bath's inventory of carbon and energy database lists almost 200 different materials. The data were extracted from peer-reviewed literature on the basis of a defined methodology and a set of five criteria. The database was made publicly available via an online website and has attracted significant interest from industry, academia, government departments and agencies, among others. Feedback from such professional users has played an important part in the choice of 'best values' for 'cradleto-site' embodied energy and carbon from the range found in the literature. The variation in published data stems from differences in boundary definitions (including geographic origin), age of the data sources and rigour of the original life-cycle assessments. Although principally directed towards UK construction, the material set included in the database is of quite wide application across the industrial sector. The use of the inventory is illustrated with the aid of 14 case studies of real-world new-build dwellings. It was observed that there was little difference between embodied energy and carbon for houses and apartments until external works were taken into account (energy inputs for roads, connecting pathways, etc.).Energy analysis has been widely used since the first oil crisis of the early 1970s. 7 There are several different methods of energy Energy 161 Issue EN2Embodied energy and carbon in construction materials Hammond . Jones

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A range of integrated appraisal techniques have been utilised to study the comparative performance of various domestic micro-generators that have been proposed as possible decentralised energy resources for ‘low carbon’ buildings. Energy, environmental impact and cost–benefit analysis methods, employed on a ‘whole systems’ basis, are described. The application of this ‘toolkit’ is illustrated by way of the evaluation of three micro-generators: a micro-wind turbine; a (generic) solar photovoltaic array; and a solar hot water system. It is estimated that all three generators, in appropriately sited installations, have energy and carbon paybacks well within their lifetimes. Significant life-cycle environmental impacts are associated with the use of aluminium to fabricate both the solar hot water unit and the micro-wind turbine. All three domestic micro-generators were found to be economically unattractive in the present liberalised British energy markets from a societal perspective. Increased production volumes and technical innovations in the next generation of devices, such as improvements in their manufacturing processes and operational efficiencies, are necessary in order to render micro-generators economic propositions. However, there are likely to be many external and unpredictable changes to the global energy market during the years to 2050. These could dramatically alter the prospects for distributed generation.

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