Sustainability impact assessment of glue laminated timber and concrete-based building materials production chains – A Lithuanian case study

Abstract

In recent years, wood has received increased interest in Europe as a multi-storey building material. The trend is driven by the recognition that wood, as an environment friendly material, can contribute bioeconomy development and the achievement of sustainable development goals. In Lithuania, multi-storey wood-based building is still at the level of policy and political discussions. Therefore, the presented research focuses on quantification and comparison of the sustainability impacts of both wood- and concrete-based building materials value chains and provides applied scientific knowledge relevant to decision makers and in this way contributes to mitigation of the climate change.In detail, study covers the production value chain – from raw material extraction to manufacturing using the same method, while documenting and assessing the material sourcing stages transparently and consistently. In our study glue laminated timber and sawn timber building materials represented renewable material value chains, while site-cast concrete and precast reinforced concrete building materials represented non-renewable materials value chains. In discussion with study partners in the BenchValue project and during a project stakeholder workshop, twelve environmental, social and economic indicators were selected to perform the sustainability impact assessment of selected building materials. Building materials were compared by using a decision support tool ToSIA. The relevant data was gathered from local, well-known companies in the national and international arena.Our results revealed that glue laminated timber and sawn timber value chains compared to site-cast concrete and precast reinforced concrete value chains have more positive sustainability impacts. This is especially true when analysing environmental indicators: GHG emissions, Energy use, Generation of wastes and Water use. Analyses also revealed more positive socio-economic impacts of wood-based building materials. The socio-economic advantage of wood could increase competitiveness of the regions and contributes to their sustainable development.Our paper is in line with the applied research. Since it is a case study, the presented results are country specific, because the estimation of indicators was done by applying local data. The presented research is relevant to policy experts and decision makers in the context of the reduction of CO2 emissions. Also, this paper is relevant to the companies and architects who want to build and compare various building materials. Partially, results of this paper could be applied in other countries with comparable to Lithuania economic development level, having in mind the possible shortcomings already highlighted.