Wood modification results in environmental impacts in addition to those associated with the production of the timber alone. In order to determine these impacts a search was made of the literature for examples of life cycle assessments and environmental product declarations related to modified wood products. A preliminary analysis of the carbon footprint of three processes has been undertaken and this is compared to the carbon storage potential of the products, calculated using European Commission Joint Research Centre (Institute for Environment and Sustainability) methods. From this it was possible to determine at what point in time the added environmental impact of the wood modification process could be offset by life extension of the material. The impact of wood modification in reducing maintenance requirements has also been studied. This paper considers only global warming potential as an impact category, as an illustration of the principle involved.
Keywords: environmental product declaration, life cycle assessment, life extension, wood modification
Authors
Hill Callum A.S.
Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute, Ås, Norway
JCH Industrial Ecology Limited, Bangor, UK
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