Environmental aspects of material efficiency versus carbon storage in timber buildings

Hafner, Annette; Schäfer, Sabrina

doi:10.1007/s00107-017-1273-9

Cited by 44 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Since the product pool of wood of industrialized nations increases by about 1.5% annually (IPCC Guidelines, 2006), it is likely that there will be an ongoing substitution of fuel-intensive materials with wood besides an increasing consumption of existing wood products. However, information is lacking on the degree to which product substitution takes place (Hafner & Schäfer, 2017;Sathre & Gustavsson, 2009).…”

Section: Carbon Accounting For Climate Change Mitigationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The climate change mitigation effect of bioenergy from sustainably managed forests in Central Europe

et al. 2020

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We compare sustainably managed with unmanaged forests in terms of their contribution to climate change mitigation based on published data. For sustainably managed forests, accounting of carbon (C) storage based on ecosystem biomass and products as required by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is not sufficient to quantify their contribution to climate change mitigation. The ultimate value of biomass is its use for biomaterials and bioenergy. Taking Germany as an example, we show that the average removals of wood from managed forests are higher than stated by official reports, ranging between 56 and 86 mill. m3 year−1 due to the unrecorded harvest of firewood. We find that removals from one hectare can substitute 0.87 m3 ha−1 year−1 of diesel, or 7.4 MWh ha−1 year−1, taking into account the unrecorded firewood, the use of fuel for harvesting and processing, and the efficiency of energy conversion. Energy substitution ranges between 1.9 and 2.2 t CO2 equiv. ha−1 year−1 depending on the type of fossil fuel production. Including bioenergy and carbon storage, the total mitigation effect of managed forest ranges between 3.2 and 3.5 t CO2 equiv. ha−1 year−1. This is more than previously reported because of the full accounting of bioenergy. Unmanaged nature conservation forests contribute via C storage only about 0.37 t CO2 equiv. ha−1 year−1 to climate change mitigation. There is no fossil fuel substitution. Therefore, taking forests out of management reduces climate change mitigation benefits substantially. There should be a mitigation cost for taking forest out of management in Central Europe. Since the energy sector is rewarded for the climate benefits of bioenergy, and not the forest sector, we propose that a CO2 tax is used to award the contribution of forest management to fossil fuel substitution and climate change mitigation. This would stimulate the production of wood for products and energy substitution.

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Section: Carbon Accounting For Climate Change Mitigationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The climate change mitigation effect of bioenergy from sustainably managed forests in Central Europe

et al. 2020

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“…Conflicting issues with bioeconomy have included ethical issues with adopting new biotechnology, land use change [13], biomass use for energy, or the food-fuel debate [14,15]. Another example of potential conflicting issues can be found from the interdependencies of carbon storage and material efficiency aspects of wooden buildings [16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceptions on the Importance of Forest Sector Innovations: Biofuels, Biomaterials, or Niche Products?

Stern

Ranacher

Mair

et al. 2018

Forests

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New innovations are called for to renew the European forest sector into bioeconomy. However, little research exists on how the industry innovativeness is publicly perceived. Using data collected with an online questionnaire in four European countries, we investigate perceptions related to forest sector innovations on 13 current and new bioeconomy-related products and services. Altogether, 218 valid responses were received in 2015, and the data were analysed using descriptive statistics, performance-importance analysis, and Gartner's innovation hype cycle. Based on our results, the respondents were in the strongest agreement that the forest sector has since the year 2000 has produced innovations related to wood building systems, construction materials, and wood composites. In the next 15 years, they foresaw a decline in innovations related to biofuels and paper products. The European forest sector also has future potential in wood construction, which is likely related to international policy targets related to carbon mitigation and capture. The observed variation in perceptions among the respondents on forest sector innovativeness calls for strengthening industry R&D, as well as by improving societal awareness of ongoing innovation projects by developing better communication.

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“…Nonetheless, the choice of timber in the construction from the environmental point of view should not only be predicated on the amount of stored biogenic carbon but also always on the achieved material efficiency with respect to the relevant function. Hafner and Schäfer (2018) highlight the interdependencies of biogenic carbon storage capacity and material efficiency in timber buildings. In most cases, these aspects appear to be even contradictory in regard to their environmental impact.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Method for Assessing the National Implications of Environmental Impacts From Timber Buildings—an Exemplary Study for Residential Buildings in Germany

Hafner¹,

Rueter²

2018

WFS

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Since 2012, a set of new standards describing, among other aspects, the use of life cycle assessment (LCA) in the construction sector is available in Europe and provides a framework for consistently assessing the environmental performance of buildings. This article gives an overview of the actual state of art for evaluating the environmental properties of timber buildings in Europe and shows how these methods could be used as a basis for estimating the influence of a possible shift from conventional buildings to timber buildings on the national "Greenhouse Gas (GHG) budget," whereby Germany serves as an example. Results from up-to-date LCA calculations of residential buildings for Germany are shown on a building level. Then a scaling from the building level to a national level is presented. On the national scale, the potential GHG impact of wood consumption in the building sector is modeled based on an insinuated future increase of the market share of timber buildings. The deviation of future emissions and removals due to the biogenic carbon storage effects for changing scenarios is presented. The approach shows how increasing timber construction (mass timber and timber frame) can contribute to achieving climate protection targets.

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Environmental aspects of material efficiency versus carbon storage in timber buildings

Cited by 44 publications

References 22 publications

The climate change mitigation effect of bioenergy from sustainably managed forests in Central Europe

The climate change mitigation effect of bioenergy from sustainably managed forests in Central Europe

Perceptions on the Importance of Forest Sector Innovations: Biofuels, Biomaterials, or Niche Products?

Method for Assessing the National Implications of Environmental Impacts From Timber Buildings—an Exemplary Study for Residential Buildings in Germany

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