The Environmental Profile of Wood in the Building Industry Today: Comments on the Results of Some LCA Studies

Chiara Piccardo^1, and Adriano Magliocco¹

¹Department of Architectural Sciences, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy

Cite this paper:
Chiara Piccardo and Adriano Magliocco. The Environmental Profile of Wood in the Building Industry Today: Comments on the Results of Some LCA Studies. American Journal of Civil Engineering and Architecture. 2013; 1(6):122-128. doi: 10.12691/ajcea-1-6-2

Abstract

In the last years, following the technological progress in wood processing industry and the increased use of wood-based products in construction industry, the scientific community has investigated the environmental performances of wood-base building materials and their substitution potential of energy-intensive material.The article describes and comments the results of a representative sample of LCA studies, most of them published in international journals or in free access research reports. All analyzed LCA studies compare wood, as a building system, with other materials and construction technologies (such as reinforced concrete, steal and masonry); these studies highlight the potential of wood-based building materials to improve the environmental performances of construction industry besides the possible negative aspects related to the wood product manufacturing and the construction process. Some methodological limits are considered comparing LCA results among selected studies, because of the variability of the case studies, the subjectivity of the system boundary definition and the differences between the referenced data sources. However the comparative purpose of this analysis provides an interesting framework of the current research and highlights how timber buildings and wood-based products could still improve their environmental performances during all life cycle stages. Wood, as construction material, could increase its competitiveness in building industry thanks to its environmental performances, starting from its renewable source and its carbon storing potential.

Keywords:
wood LCA studies embodied energy Global Warming Potential

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References:

[1]	Baldo, G., Pretato, U., “A database to support Italian LCA practitioners”, International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 6 (3). 180. 2001.
[2]	Barozzi, B., Mariotto, M., Meroni, I., “Banche dati LCI di materiali e prodotti per l’edilizia. L’esperienza italiana”, Neo Eubios, 31. 5-12. 2010.
[3]	Belussi, L., Mariotto, M., Meroni, I., “Prima banca dati nazionale basata sull’analisi del ciclo di vita”, Neo Eubios, 39. 19-25. 2012.
[4]	Bramati, F., Mazzoleni, S. L., Valutazione ambientale del ciclo di vita di un edificio in legno a confronto con altre due tecnologie costruttive, Conlegno, 2010.
[5]	Buchanan, A. H., Levine, S. B., “Wood-based building materials and atmospheric carbon emissions”, Environmental Science & Policy, 2 (6). 427-437. 1999.
[6]	Camponovo, R., Merz, C., Vorlet, L., “Environmental impact assessment of building construction systems”, in PLEA 2006 - The 23rd Conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture, 364-369. 2006.
[7]	Cole, R. J., Kernan, P. C., “Life-Cycle Energy Use in Office Buildings”, Building and Environment, 31 (4). 307-317. 1996.
[8]	Cole, R.J., “Energy and greenhouse gas emissions associated with the construction of alternative structural systems”, Building and Environment, 34(3). 335-348. 1999.
[9]	Eriksson, P., Comparative LCA:s for Wood Construction and Other Construction Methods, Swedish Wood Association, Stockholm, 2003.
[10]	Ferrante, T., Legno e Innovazione, Alinea, Firenze, 2008, 14-15 and 83-84.
[11]	Gerilla, G. P., Teknomo, K., Hokao, K.. “An environmental assessment of wood and steel reinforced concrete housing construction”, Building and Environment, 42. 2778-2784. 2007.
[12]	Gustavsson, L., Madlener, R., Hoen, H. F., Jungmeier, G., Karjalainen, T., Klöhn, S., Mahapatra, K., Pohjola, J., Solberg, B., Spelter, H., “The role of wood material for greenhouse gas mitigation”, Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, 11 (5-6). 1097-1127. 2006.
[13]	Gustavsson, L., Joelsson, A., “Life cycle primary energy analysis of residential buildings”, Energy and Buildings, 42 (2). 210-220. 2010.
[14]	Gustavsson, L., Joelsson, A., Sathre, R., “Life cycle primary energy use and carbon emission of an eight-storey wood-framed apartment building”, Energy and Buildings, 42 (2). 230-242. 2010.
[15]	Gustavsson, L., Pingoud, K., Sathre, R., “Carbon dioxide balance of wood substitution: comparing concrete- and wood-framed buildings”, Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, 11 (3). 667-691. 2006.
[16]	John, S., Nebel, B., Perez, N., Buchanan, A., Environmental Impacts of Multi-Storey Buildings Using Different Construction Materials, Report 2008-02, Department of Civil and Natural Resources Engineering, University of Canterbury, New Zealand, 2009.
[17]	Klöpffer, W., “The Role of SETAC in the Development of LCA”, The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 11 (1), Supplement. 116-122. 2006.
[18]	Lavagna, M., Life Cycle Assessment in edilizia, Hoepli, Milano, 2008.
[19]	Lippke, B., Wilson, J., Perez-Garcia, J., Bowyer, J., Meil, J., “CORRIM: Life-Cycle Environmental Performance of Renewable Building Materials”, Forest Products Journal, 54 (6). 8-19. 2004.
[20]	Martínez, A. G., Casas, J. N., “Life Cicle Assesments of Three Dwellings in Andalusia (Spain): The Significance of the Regional Context”, Science-Future of Lithuania, 4 (2). 106-112. 2012.
[21]	Nässén, J., Hedenus, F., Karlsson, S., Holmberg, J., “Concrete vs. wood in buildings. An energy system approach”, Building and Environment, 51, 361-369. 2012.
[22]	Optis, M., Wild, P., “Inadequate documentation in published life cycle energy reports on buildings”, International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 15 (7). 644-651. 2010.
[23]	Peuportier, B. L., “Life cycle assessment applied to the comparative evaluation of single family houses in the French context”, Energy and Buildings, 33 (5). 443-450. 2001.
[24]	Pittau, F., De Angelis, E., “Wood in carbon efficient construction: environmental impacts assessment for the mitigation of climatic changes”, in Proceeding of LCM 2011 - Towards Life Cycle Sustainability Management. 2011.
[25]	Puettmann, M. E., Wilson, J. B., “Life-Cycle Analysis of wood products: cradle-to-gate LCI of residential wood building materials”, Wood and Fiber Science, 37. 18-29. 2005.
[26]	Rametsteiner, E., Oberwimmer, R., Gschwandtl, I., Europeans and wood. What do europeans think about wood and its uses? A review of consumer and business surveys in Europe, Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe, Warsaw, 2007, 13-14. [Online]. Available: http://www.foresteurope.org/documentos/Eur_Wood_net.pdf [Accessed August 12, 2013].
[27]	Sathre, R., Gustavsson, L., A state-of-the-art review of energy and climate effects of wood product substitution, Report n. 57, School of Technology and Design, Växjö University, Sweden, 2009.
[28]	Scharai-Rad, M., Welling, J., Environmental and energy balances of wood products and substitutes, FAO Corporate Document Repository, 2002. [Online]. Available: http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/004/Y3609E/Y3609E00.HTM [Accessed August 12, 2013].
[29]	Scheuer, C., Keoleian, G.A., Reppe, P., “Life cycle energy and environmental performance of a new university building: Modelling challenges and design implications”, Energy and Buildings, 35 (10). 1049-1064. 2003.
[30]	Thiers, S., Peuportier, B., “Energy and environmental assessment of two high energy performance residential buildings”, Building and Environment, 51. 276-284. 2012.
[31]	Werner, F., Richter, K., “Wooden Building Products in Comparative LCA. A Literature Review”, International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 12 (7). 470-479. 2007.