LCAs & Wood: Environmental Impacts of Wood Throughout its

LCAs & Wood: Environmental Impacts of Wood Throughout its Life Cycle

Maureen Puettmann, PhD

Director of Operations

CORRIM

www.corrim.org

Disclaimer: This presentation was developed by a third party and is not funded by WoodWorks or the Softwood Lumber Board.

● LCA Reporting Framework● Wood Product LCAs● Biogenic Carbon ● Whole Building LCAs● The Future of Wood as a Building Material

OUTLINE

ISO standards14040, 14044, 21930

LCAReport

LCIA

LCI

PCR

EPDProduct/Industry

WELL ESTABLISHED INTERNATIONAL FRAMEWORK & HIERARCHY

Regional Data Development for Forest Operations and Wood Manufacturing processes

Impact Assessment based on required impacts indicators required under the PCR & ISO

Summarization and Integration of LCI and LCIA consistent with ISO, PCR and EPD requirements

North American Wood PCR (ULE 2019)

Synthesis and aggregation (industry) product data

LCAs FROM WOOD PRODUCT TO WHOLE BUILDING

Databases:USLCI

LCA Commons

EPD:Product or

Industry

Free $$$

Athena IE Tally

EC3 SimaPro

OpenLCA Gabi

One Click LCA

Wood Product

LCA

WBLCA

WOOD USE / VOLUME OF WOOD

0

200

400

600

800

1000

kg fi

ber /

m3

Total wood fiber (kg) in m3 wood product

Lum

ber

Part

icle

boar

d

CLT

I-Joi

st

Plyw

ood

Lam

inat

ed V

enee

r Lu

mbe

r

0

20

40

60

80

100Wood stud/CLT Plywood

WOOD USE PER AREA

Steel stud + PlywoodWood stud + Plywood

CLT

kg o

f woo

d fib

er in

m2

of w

all

Wood fiber (kg) in 1 m2 wall assembly

NET EMBODIED CARBON PER AREA

-200

-150

-100

-50

0

50

100

150

Steel stud + ply Concrete block Wood stud + ply CLT

Kg

CO

2e /

m2

C storageGWP bioGWP fossil

WHOLE BUILDING LCATNC STUDY PHASE I

atelierjones, LLC - Susan Jones, Ian Maples, & Olga AmigudUniversity of Washington - Cindy Chen, Francesca Pierobon, &

Indroneil GangulyUSDA Forest Product Laboratory - Hongmei Gu & Shaobo LiangCORRIM – Maureen PuettmannTNC - Mark Wishnie (BTG), Rachel Pasternack, Guy Lomax (Exeter University), &

Barry Ulrich

Other contributorsWoodWorks - Scott Brenneman, Richard McLain, & Ethan MartinColdstream Consulting – James SalazarUSDA Forest Products Laboratory – Marco Lo Ricco

THE US LCA TEAM – PHASE I

METHODS - BUILDING LOCATIONS

Seattle, Washington

Boston, Massachusetts

Atlanta, Georgia

*

*

*

StoriesBuilding Height

Total Floor Area

meters m2

8 26 9,47612 48 14,21418 71 21,321

Functional Units: 1 m2 Whole building

BUILDING DIFFERENCES

PNW

SE & NE

26 meters9,476 m2

48 meters14,214 m2

71 meters21,321 m2

8 story2:6

12 story4:8

18 story6:12

● LCA is a cradle to gate (A1-A5) analysis of the materials effects of structure, envelope, and interior walls or timber and concrete building designs. ○ A1-resource extraction, ○ A2-transportation of materials to product manufacturing,○ A3-Product manufacturing, ○ A4 -transportation of materials to construction site, and ○ A5-construction energy use○ C1-C4 – DID NOT INCLUDE EOL IN PHASE I

● Functional equivalent buildings: Mass Timber vs. Traditional Concrete Structural Designs

● SimaPro software tool using CORRIM, Datasmart, and Ecoinvent databases

METHODS – LCA SCOPE

PNW MATERIAL CONTRIBUTION TO GWP

Mat

eria

l Con

tribu

tion

to G

WP

33%

MT reduction in GWP43% - 8 story44% - 12 story30% - 18 story

SE MATERIAL CONTRIBUTION TO GWP

59%

Mat

eria

l Con

tribu

tion

to G

WP

MT reduction in GWP40% - 8 story37% - 12 story22% - 18 story

Take-a-ways:• Mass timber GWP influenced by

lumber production

• PNW lumber GWP 61 kg CO2e/m3

• SE lumber GWP 85 kg/CO2e/m3

Take-a-ways:• Gypsum board contributes 4-21%

of the GWP in the Whole Building

• While only representing 3-15% of the mass in MT buildings

NE MATERIAL CONTRIBUTION TO GWP

Mat

eria

l Con

tribu

tion

to G

WP MT reduction in GWP

50% - 8 story47% - 12 story28% - 18 story

PNW – ASSEMBLY CONTRIBUTION: BY MASS AND TO GWP

Mass Timber Concrete

42%

42%

PNW – ASSEMBLY CONTRIBUTION: BY MASS AND TO GWP

Mass Timber Concrete

42%

Mat footing

Take a way:1. Foundation type is significant in material use2. 8 story 23%3. 12 story 42%4. 18 story 11%

PNW – ASSEMBLY CONTRIBUTION: BY MASS AND TO GWP

Mass Timber Concrete

42%

Interior Wall by MassConcrete 65%GWB 30%Other 5%

Take a way:1. Interior wall 42% of building mass (18 story)2. 30% the mass of the IW is gypsum WB3. Type IV-A = 2-3 layers of GWB over 40-100%

SE – ASSEMBLY CONTRIBUTION: BY MASS AND TO GWP

Mass Timber Concrete

47%

Interior Wall by MassConcrete 51%Mass timber 17%GWB 29%Other 4%

Take a way:1. Interior wall 47% of building mass (18 story)2. 29% of IW mass is GWB

PNW – ASSEMBLY CONTRIBUTION: BY MASS AND TO GWP

Mass Timber Concrete

42%

33%

32%

19%

17%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Interior Wall

Other

Rebar

Gypsum WB

Concrete

SE – ASSEMBLY CONTRIBUTION: BY MASS AND TO GWP

42%

29%

31%

17%

16%

6%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Interior Wall

Other

Rebar

CLT

Gypsum WB

Concrete

SE LCIA 8 STORY BUILDINGS

Biomass from lumber production

SE WHOLE BUILDING EMBODIED CARBON

(10,000)

(8,000)

(6,000)

(4,000)

(2,000)

-

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

Embodied Carbon CO2e

GWP, biogenic

GWP, fossil

CO2 stored in building

Net

8-story 12-story 18 -story

● The opportunities for improvement in the use of wood as a building material are endless○ Material choices○ Building designs○ Building codes○ Communication and education

● Wood-use opportunities for reducing global carbon emissions can be achieved by○ Growing more trees & sustainable forest management○ Local wood sources and products to reduce transportation impacts ○ Long service life, reuse, and recycling potential○ Design for deconstruction○ Replacing fossil-based materials with materials made from using renewable fuels

THE FUTURE OF WOOD AS A BUILDING MATERIAL

MAUREEN PUETTMANNDirector of Operations, CORRIM -The Consortium for Research on Renewable Industrial Materials

maureen@corrim.org

www.corrim.org