Abstract
The modification of wood involves extra processing over and above what is associated with un-modified material and this will involve an associated environmental impact. There is now a body of information on this due to the presence in the public domain of a number of environmental product declarations (EPDs). Using these data, it is possible to determine what the extra impact associated with the modification is. The process of modification results in a life extension of the product, which has implications regarding the storage of sequestered atmospheric carbon in the harvested wood products (HWP) materials’ pool and also extended maintenance cycles (e.g., longer periods between applying coatings). Furthermore, the life extension benefits imparted by wood modification need to be compared with the use of other technologies, such as conventional wood preservatives. This paper analysed the published data from a number of sources (peer-reviewed literature, published EPDs, databases) to compare the impacts associated with different modification technologies. The effect of life extension was examined by modelling the carbon flow dynamics of the HWP pool and determining the effect of different life extension scenarios. Finally, the paper examined the impact of different coating periods, and the extensions thereof, imparted by the use of different modified wood substrates.
Highlights
The production and use of materials in construction has an associated environmental burden and requires the use of energy in order to transform them from the state in which they exist in nature, transport them and process them to create products which have the desired functionality
Other points that should be included in the comparative analysis are a more comprehensive consideration of the environmental impacts associated with installation, including potential disruption of other activities. The results from this preliminary analysis have shown that any potential environmental benefit that might be realized from the use of modified wood is very clear when there is an extended time between coatings
The modification of wood has an associated environmental burden associated with the process over and above that for the production of unmodified wood
Summary
The production and use of materials in construction has an associated environmental burden and requires the use of energy in order to transform them from the state in which they exist in nature, transport them and process them to create products which have the desired functionality. Greater environmental benefits are realised by increasing the longevity of timber products in construction. This is because over the lifetime of a building there is a reduced requirement to replace components, and there may be an associated reduction in maintenance requirements. In order to make appropriate choices for using materials in construction, it is necessary to evaluate the whole life of a product from creation to final disposal, which requires knowledge of the environmental impacts associated with the manufacture of a product but of all parts of the lifecycle, including installation, maintenance, potential replacement and disposal, or re-use at the end of the product lifetime. The cradle to factory gate part of the lifecycle can be determined with some confidence, complete lifecycle analyses can be extremely difficult to make accurately and often rely on assumptions regarding service life of the product and the building in which it is installed
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