Abstract
The built environment is one of the greatest contributors to carbon emissions, climate change, and to the unsustainable pressure on the natural environment and its ecosystems. The use of more timber in construction is one possible response, and an authoritative contribution to this growing movement comes from the UK’s Committee on Climate Change, which identifies a “substantial increase in the use of wood in the construction of buildings” as a top priority. However, a global encouragement of such a strategy raises some difficult questions. Given the urgency of effective solutions for low-carbon built environments, and the likely continued growth in demand for timber in construction, this article reviews its sustainability and identifies future challenges and unanswered questions. Existing evidence points indeed towards timber as the lower carbon option when modelled through life cycle assessment without having to draw on arguments around carbon storage. Issues however remain on the timing of carbon emissions, land allocation, and the environmental loads and benefits associated with the end-of-life options: analysis of environmental product declarations for engineered timber suggests that landfill might either be the best or the worst option from a climate change perspective, depending on assumptions.
Highlights
Introduction and BackgroundAs the energy efficiency of new buildings improves, driven in part by tightening regulations [1], the carbon emissions arising from their operation should be lower than their forerunners
The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) in the UK [7] makes the case for an increase in land area under sustainably managed forestry, which can lead to an increase in the carbon stored in the forests and in durable harvested wood products (HWP)
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Summary
As the energy efficiency of new buildings improves, driven in part by tightening regulations [1], the carbon emissions arising from their operation should be lower than their forerunners. The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) in the UK [7] makes the case for an increase in land area under sustainably managed forestry, which can lead to an increase in the carbon stored in the forests and in durable harvested wood products (HWP) It argues that biomass should only be harvested at a sustainable rate and that such material should be put to the most climate-beneficial use: a “substantial increase in the use of wood in construction” is identified as a priority [6]. It notes the importance of construction timber in GHG emission abatement, by storing carbon and by displacing materials with higher EC. The temporary carbon storage property of timber is central to the EPD of timber products, it is not generally included in LCAs of buildings except as supplementary information
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