Direct embodied water management for sustainable construction: a case of India

Abstract

Growing concerns surrounding water scarcity have spiked an interest in Embodied Water (EW) studies globally. The EW of a building is the amount of water needed to manufacture all the materials that constitute the building (Indirect EW) plus the amount of water needed to construct that building (Direct EW). For a building with an operational period of 50 years, this EW can constitute between 20-40% of the total building water footprint. This huge contribution of EW in the total building water footprint signifies the urgent need for its management. The research presented in this paper will explore the Direct EW through case studies of reinforced concrete (RC) frame residential buildings located in India as they constitute 45% of the constructed Indian floor space. An explanatory mixed-method research design that comprises of a quantitative design followed by a qualitative design is adopted. The quantitative research design uses document analysis to determine the amount of water consumed for the execution of different construction activities during the construction of these case study buildings. The qualitative research design uses semi-structured interviews with seven construction professionals involved during the construction of these case study buildings and working on different residential building construction projects in India to determine the water management practices adopted on construction sites in India and the challenges encountered for their implementation. The document analysis revealed that for multi-storied RC frame construction, the Direct EW is in the range of 0.32-0.35 kL/m2 with curing activities contributing between 35-45%. The semi-structured interview analysis revealed that application of efficient water management practices on construction sites like covering freshly poured concrete with moist gunny bags and the integration of cleaning platforms can help reduce Direct EW by almost 10%. With the building industry projected to continue growing, along with worldwide water scarcity, managing and saving Direct EW can help conserve the diminishing water resources