Green building and wood
Green building is a technique that aims to create structures that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout their lifecycle – including siting, design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and demolition.
[4] When the complete life cycle is considered, including use and disposal, the great majority of the studies indicate that wood products have lower greenhouse gas emissions.
[8] The EcoCalculator is available free from the non-profit Athena Sustainable Materials Institute in order to encourage greater use of LCA by design and building professionals.
A typical 2,400-square-foot (220 m2) home in North America contains 29 metric tons of carbon or the equivalent of offsetting the greenhouse gas emissions produced by driving a passenger car over five years (about 12,500 liters of gasoline.
[9] Studies show that wood products are associated with far less greenhouse gas emissions over their lifetime than other major building materials.
[12] Securing the Future, a United Kingdom government strategy for sustainable development, stated: “Forestry practices can make a significant contribution by reducing greenhouse gas emissions through increasing the amount of carbon removed from the atmosphere by the national forest estate, by burning wood for fuel, and by using wood as a substitute for energy-intensive materials such as concrete and steel.” FPInnovations, a Canadian non-profit research organization, conducted a literature review of 66 scientific peer-reviewed articles regarding the net impact on atmospheric greenhouse gases due to wood product use within a life cycle perspective.
[14] The passive design uses natural processes – convection, absorption, radiation, and conduction – to minimize energy consumption and improve thermal comfort.
Researchers in Europe have identified wood as a suitable material for the development of passive buildings due to its unique combination of properties, including thermal resistance, natural finish, structural integrity, and lightweight and weatherproof qualities.
It increases blood pressure and heart rate while inhibiting digestion, recovery and repair functions in order to deal with immediate threats.
The study supports wood's value as a tool in evidence-based design (EBD) – a growing field that seeks to promote health and other positive outcomes such as increased productivity and well-being based on scientifically credible evidence.
[22] Structural wood members can typically be reclaimed and reused for the same or similar purpose with only minor modifications or wastage, or remilled and fashioned into alternate products such as window and door frames.
To reduce the amount of wood that goes to landfill, the CO2 Neutral Alliance (a coalition of government, NGOs and the forest industry) created the website dontwastewood.com.
[23] Deforestation, which is the permanent removal of forests where the land is converted to other uses such as agriculture or housing, is also a significant problem in developing countries, and globally accounts for 17% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.
This certification verifies that forests are well-managed – as defined by a particular standard – and ensures that certified wood and paper products come from legal and responsible sources.
In some cases, building techniques and skills (such as advanced framing) and waste minimization are recognized, and most demand that all wood adhesives, resins, engineered and composite products contain no added urea formaldehyde and have strict limits on VOC (volatile organic compound) content.
In December 2010, the U.S. Green Building Council failed to get enough yes votes from members for a proposed rewrite of the certified wood policy in its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system.
