Mass Timber Building Life Cycle Assessment Methodology for the U.S. Regional Case Studies

Hongmei Gu, Shaobo Liang, Francesca Pierobon, Maureen Puettmann, Indroneil Ganguly, Cindy Chen, Rachel Pasternack, Mark Wishnie, Susan Jones and Ian Maples
Additional contact information
Hongmei Gu: Forest Products Laboratory, USDA Forest Service, Madison, WI 53726, USA
Shaobo Liang: Forest Products Laboratory, USDA Forest Service, Madison, WI 53726, USA
Francesca Pierobon: School of Environmental and Forest Science, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98105, USA
Maureen Puettmann: CORRIM—The Consortium for Research on Renewable Industrial Materials, Corvallis, OR 97339, USA
Indroneil Ganguly: School of Environmental and Forest Science, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98105, USA
Cindy Chen: Population Research Center, Portland State University, Portland, OR 97207, USA
Rachel Pasternack: The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, VA 22203, USA
Mark Wishnie: BTG Pactual Timberland Investment Group, LLC, Seattle, WA 98199, USA
Susan Jones: atelierjones, Seattle, WA 98101, USA
Ian Maples: atelierjones, Seattle, WA 98101, USA

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 24, 1-16

Abstract: The building industry currently consumes over a third of energy produced and emits 39% of greenhouse gases globally produced by human activities. The manufacturing of building materials and the construction of buildings make up 11% of those emissions within the sector. Whole-building life-cycle assessment is a holistic and scientific tool to assess multiple environmental impacts with internationally accepted inventory databases. A comparison of the building life-cycle assessment results would help to select materials and designs to reduce total environmental impacts at the early planning stage for architects and developers, and to revise the building code to improve environmental performance. The Nature Conservancy convened a group of researchers and policymakers from governments and non-profit organizations with expertise across wood product life-cycle assessment, forest carbon, and forest products market analysis to address emissions and energy consumption associated with mass timber building solutions. The study disclosed a series of detailed, comparative life-cycle assessments of pairs of buildings using both mass timber and conventional materials. The methodologies used in this study are clearly laid out in this paper for transparency and accountability. A plethora of data exists on the favorable environmental performance of wood as a building material and energy source, and many opportunities appear for research to improve on current practices.

Keywords: cross-laminated timber; life-cycle assessment; mass timber building; whole-building LCA methodology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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