[GSBN] Embodied energy comparisons: SB vs Stick-built

[Derek Roff]

How about a more abstract one:

Is this the best use of this material?
Are we diverting/consuming a material from some other more important 
use?

This is sort of the flip side of recycling- removing things from the 
market that have other uses.  The poster child for this kind of dilemma 
is crude oil.  Oil pundits like to say it has a million different uses, 
from pharmaceuticals to fertilizers to building materials.  Instead, we 
burn 99% of it, getting the lowest possible use from an amazing 
material.

Right now, I look on ethanol this way.  To produce a marginal (perhaps 
negative) energy source, we have impacted food supply and general 
wealth and health in Mexico among other places.

I don't have an example in mind for this kind of misuse of a material 
as it relates to the building industry.  Perhaps others can suggest 
one.

Derelict


--On Monday, February 16, 2009 11:01 AM -0800 John Swearingen 
<jswearingen at skillful-means.com> wrote:

> Ok, since we've decided that embodied energy is of less or equal
> significance as life-cycle energy use, I would suggest that any
> materials or forms of construction be evaluated on at least these
> areas:
>
>
>   ? Does the material contribute structurally
>   ? Does the material contribute thermally (insulation)
>   ? Does the material provide thermal storage (mass)
>   ? Does the material provide fire safety
>   ? Does the material contribute to the local economy
>   ? What are the manufacturing environmental costs
>   ? What are the transportation and wastage environmental costs
>   ? Is the material a by-product, waste-product, or recycled
>   ? Is the material bio-degradable, recyclable or land-fill
>   ? Is the material toxic in manufacture, use or disposal
>   ? What is the expected life-span of the system (resistance to
> environmental damage)
> Feel free to add.
>
> John



Derek Roff
Language Learning Center
Ortega Hall 129, MSC03-2100
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
505/277-7368, fax 505/277-3885
Internet: derek at unm.edu