life cycle assessments

Life cycle assessment is a performance-based approach to assessing the impacts building choices have on the environment. The best way to understand the full environmental impact of any product or structure is to analyze impacts at every stage of its life.

Life cycle assessment is accepted around the world as a way to evaluate and compare the environmental impacts of different building materials, products and complete structures over their lifetime – from resource extraction through manufacturing, transportation, installation, building operation, decommissioning and eventual disposal. It enables an objective comparison to be made between alternate materials and assemblies over their lifetime, based on quantifiable indicators of environmental impact. Life cycle assessment clarifies the environmental trade-offs associated with choosing one material over another and, as a result, provides an effective basis for comparing alternate designs in a specific geographic location.

Numerous life cycle assessment studies worldwide have shown that wood products yield clear environmental advantages over other building materials at every stage. Wood buildings can offer lower greenhouse gas emissions, less air pollution, lower volumes of solid waste and less ecological resource use.