Life Cycle Primary Energy and Carbon Analysis of Recovering Softwood Framing Lumber and Hardwood Flooring for Reuse

Abstract

Recovering wood for reuse in a new house affects energy and greenhouse gas emissions. This paper finds the energy and emissions for recovering softwood framing lumber and hardwood flooring from an old house for installation in a new house. Recovering wood displaces primary production of new wood products and avoids the end-of-life (EOL) burdens for the old house. We used a cradle-to-gate life cycle analysis and examined the EOL burdens for the wood products when disposed of including the effect of biogenic CO2. Results showed that recovering softwood framing lumber and hardwood flooring for reuse consumed 320 and 761 MJ/m³ while displacing primary production energy of 6,467 and 7,763 MJ/m³, respectively. Burning wood for energy at EOL avoided coal power production. GWP increased by two to four times when including biogenic CO2. Recovering softwood framing lumber and hardwood flooring for reuse displaced a considerable amount of primary production energy.

Citation

Bergman, Richard D.; Gu, Hongmei; Napier, Thomas R.; Salazar, James; Falk, Robert H. 2012. Life cycle primary energy and carbon analysis of recovering softwood framing lumber and hardwood flooring for reuse. In: Proceedings , Instruments for Green Futures Markets, American Center for Life Cycle Assessment XI Conference, October 4-6, 2011; copyright 2012. pp. 44-52.