Life Cycle Energy Analysis of Tall Buildings: Design Principles

The goal of the paper is the identification of the most suitable strategies to reduce the energy consumption of a tall building from a life-cycle perspective, thus considering also the energy embodied in the materials it is built of.The paper deals with the case of a 160 meter tall building in Milan, Italy, completed in 2011. Several design options (including the actual building) are assessed, in order to quantify the embodied energy associated with each alternative design asembedded in the required building materials. Energy consumption is also modeled for each design modification, so as to obtain a Life Cycle Energy Assessment (LCEA) of the actual building and a number of design options, in order to select the most energy-efficientone from a life cycle perspective. The conclusions point out a series of useful design recommendations aimed at decreasing the embodied energy content of tall buildings.