Life-cycle assessment of environmental impacts of mass timber buildings in the Northeast region of the United States

Abstract

Mass timber building construction is a natural way to mitigate climate change and prevent its associated potential global catastrophic problems. To show the mitigating impact of mass timber, an international research team led by The Nature Conversancy conducted whole-building life-cycle assessments to compare wood structures with corresponding concrete structures for 8-, 12-, and 18-story buildings, based on the 2021 International Building Code, for three regions in the United States. This report covers the set of buildings for one of those regions, specifically the set of buildings designed for the Northeastern region. The mass timber buildings outperformed their concrete alternatives for 13 of the 14 environmental impacts analyzed, especially that of global warming. They were also lighter and stored carbon from the wood used in the building construction. Gypsum wallboard (GWB) was an issue because it contributed to global warming, and the impact increased as the buildings increased in height. GWB was needed because of the 2021 provisions for fire prevention in the international building codes. More research is needed in this area to find alternatives or reduce the environmental impacts of GWB, which will further improve the environmental performance of mass timber buildings. In addition, a local mass timber manufacturing base for all U.S. regions, especially the Northeast, would improve the environmental performance of mass timber buildings.

Citation

Gu, Hongmei; Liang, Shaobo; Lo Ricco, Marco T.; Bergman, Richard D. 2024. Life-cycle assessment of environmental impacts of mass timber buildings in the Northeast region of the United States. Research Paper FPL-RP-719. Madison, WI: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory. 21 p. https://doi.org/10.2737/FPL-RP-719.