Adoption of sustainable construction practices is of prime importance, in order to reduce resource exploitation and save for the future. Construction activities become energy intensive, due to the use of large quantities of raw materials, which need immense energy for processing them into the final product. Other factors include construction process energy and transportation energy. This study is directed to the analysis of embodied energy (EE) entailed in the construction of a residential building, using prefabricated elements and conventional in situ construction. A significant amount of energy-intensive materials, utilized in both types of construction, drain 90% of the EE. Transportation energy is the next big consumer in line, as prefab factories are likely to be situated at remote distances, unlike ready mixed concrete plants. EE expended for prefabricated construction, by deployment of energy-efficient materials and optimal construction periods, was found to be marginally (5.7%) higher than conventional construction. The contribution of infill partition wall materials was noticeably higher in prefabricated residential buildings over commercial buildings.