Environmental Life-Cycle Assessment and Life-Cycle Cost Analysis of a High-Rise Mass Timber Building: A Case Study in Pacific Northwestern United States

Liang, Shaobo; Gu, Hongmei; Bergman, Richard

doi:10.3390/su13147831

Cited by 45 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…The global building stock, which primarily uses concrete and steel, is projected to double over the next 40 years, with most of that growth expected to occur in the southern hemisphere. To reduce the impact of this building expansion, MT buildings may offer a potentially appealing alternative to concrete and steel [11,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Whole-building LCA (WBLCA) studies have quantified and compared the environmental impact of MT buildings with that of traditional concrete and steel structures [11][12][13]21,22,[25][26][27][28]. In one case study of midrise buildings [11], total carbon emissions for a five-story MT building were dominated by the manufacturing stage (77%), while the construction stage represented only 3% of the total carbon emissions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Comparative LCAs of Conventional and Mass Timber Buildings in Regions with Potential for Mass Timber Penetration

et al. 2021

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Manufacturing of building materials and construction of buildings make up 11% of the global greenhouse gas emission by sector. Mass timber construction has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by moving wood into buildings with designs that have traditionally been dominated by steel and concrete. The environmental impacts of mass timber buildings were compared against those of functionally equivalent conventional buildings. Three pairs of buildings were designed for the Pacific Northwest, Northeast and Southeast regions in the United States to conform to mass timber building types with 8, 12, or 18 stories. Conventional buildings constructed with concrete and steel were designed for comparisons with the mass timber buildings. Over all regions and building heights, the mass timber buildings exhibited a reduction in the embodied carbon varying between 22% and 50% compared to the concrete buildings. Embodied carbon per unit of area increased with building height as the quantity of concrete, metals, and other nonrenewable materials increased. Total embodied energy to produce, transport, and construct A1–A5 materials was higher in all mass timber buildings compared to equivalent concrete. Further research is needed to predict the long-term carbon emissions and carbon mitigation potential of mass timber buildings to conventional building materials.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative LCAs of Conventional and Mass Timber Buildings in Regions with Potential for Mass Timber Penetration

et al. 2021

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“…This study and related findings serve as a precedent for our research in the U.S. The study by Liang et al [17] even considered four scenarios of CLT transportation from abroad (Austria, Canada) and from local origin (northwest region of the U.S.) to the site. The results show a dramatic variation ranging between 3.4 to In the existing literature, however, there is data on domestic transportation of other materials, but the environmental impacts resulting from the CLT import are not very well comprehended.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…This study and related findings serve as a precedent for our research in the U.S. The study by Liang et al [17] even considered four scenarios of CLT transportation from abroad (Austria, Canada) and from local origin (northwest region of the U.S.) to the site. The results show a dramatic variation ranging between 3.4 to 47 kg CO 2 -eq per m 2 mass timber floor area, which calls for more studies to confirm or dispute these outcomes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Life Cycle Assessment of Cross-Laminated Timber Transportation from Three Origin Points

Hemmati

Messadi

2021

Sustainability

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Cross-laminated timber (CLT) used in the U.S. is mainly imported from abroad. In the existing literature, however, there are data on domestic transportation, but little understanding exists about the environmental impacts from the CLT import. Most studies use travel distances to the site based on domestic supply origins. The new Adohi Hall building at the University of Arkansas campus, Fayetteville, AR, presents the opportunity to address the multimodal transportation with overseas origin, and to use real data gathered from transporters and manufacturers. The comparison targets the environmental impacts of CLT from an overseas transportation route (Austria-Fayetteville, AR) to two other local transportation lines. The global warming potential (GWP) impact, from various transportation systems, constitutes the assessment metric. The findings demonstrate that transportation by water results in the least greenhouse gas (GHG) emission compared with freight transportation by rail and road. Transportation by rail is the second most efficient, and by road the least environmentally efficient. On the other hand, the comparison of the life cycle assessment (LCA) tools, SimaPro (Ecoinvent database) and Tally (GaBi database), used in this research, indicate a remarkable difference in GWP characterization impact factors per tonne.km (tkm), primarily due to the different database used by each software.

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“…The results highlighted that the refurbishment of existing buildings had the lowest environmental impact on all impact categories, and the difference in environmental impacts between new building types was generally small, while the CLT and wood-frame buildings still had the best environmental performance. Liang et al [ 75 ] examined a high-rise mass-timber building in the Pacific Northwest using LCA and life-cycle cost analysis approaches to assess the life-cycle environmental and economic performances and compared these results to for a concrete building of the same design. Cradle-to-grave (modules A–C) LCA results, which have been in operation for over 60 years, showed that the mass-timber building outperformed the concrete building in terms of global warming (1.6% lower) and other environmental impacts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative Study on Life-Cycle Assessment and Carbon Footprint of Hybrid, Concrete and Timber Apartment Buildings in Finland

Rinne

Ilgın

Karjalainen

2022

IJERPH

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To date, in the literature, there has been no study on the comparison of hybrid (timber and concrete) buildings with counterparts made of timber and concrete as the most common construction materials, in terms of the life cycle assessment (LCA) and the carbon footprint. This paper examines the environmental impacts of a five-story hybrid apartment building compared to timber and reinforced concrete counterparts in whole-building life-cycle assessment using the software tool, One Click LCA, for the estimation of environmental impacts from building materials of assemblies, construction, and building end-of-life treatment of 50 years in Finland. Following EN 15978, stages of product and construction (A1–A5), use (B1–B6), end-of-life (C1–C4), and beyond the building life cycle (D) were assessed. The main findings highlighted are as following: (1) for A1–A3, the timber apartment had the smallest carbon footprint (28% less than the hybrid apartment); (2) in A4, the timber apartment had a much smaller carbon footprint (55% less than the hybrid apartment), and the hybrid apartment had a smaller carbon footprint (19%) than the concrete apartment; (3) for B1–B5, the carbon footprint of the timber apartment was larger (>20%); (4) in C1–C4, the carbon footprint of the concrete apartment had the lowest emissions (35,061 kg CO2-e), and the timber apartment had the highest (44,627 kg CO2-e), but in D, timber became the most advantageous material; (5) the share of life-cycle emissions from building services was very significant. Considering the environmental performance of hybrid construction as well as its other advantages over timber, wood-based hybrid solutions can lead to more rational use of wood, encouraging the development of more efficient buildings. In the long run, this will result in a higher proportion of wood in buildings, which will be beneficial for living conditions, the environment, and the society in general.

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Environmental Life-Cycle Assessment and Life-Cycle Cost Analysis of a High-Rise Mass Timber Building: A Case Study in Pacific Northwestern United States

Cited by 45 publications

References 35 publications

Comparative LCAs of Conventional and Mass Timber Buildings in Regions with Potential for Mass Timber Penetration

Comparative LCAs of Conventional and Mass Timber Buildings in Regions with Potential for Mass Timber Penetration

Life Cycle Assessment of Cross-Laminated Timber Transportation from Three Origin Points

Comparative Study on Life-Cycle Assessment and Carbon Footprint of Hybrid, Concrete and Timber Apartment Buildings in Finland

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