In earlier posts about why we have chosen timber for our custom built doors and windows for our customers in the Perth area, we have talked a bit about the carbon footprint and its impact on the environment. We would like to provide a deeper level of information about the carbon footprint and environmental impact of timber.
Compared to other building materials, ethically harvested timber has a very small carbon footprint. The carbon footprint is the most reliable measurement of how much a product affects climate change. It measures the amount of greenhouse gases that are released into the atmosphere. Since it is greenhouse gases that are responsible for global warming, measuring them provides an accurate assessment of environmental impact.
Carbon Footprint in Manufacturing and Building
The Cooperative Research Centre for Greenhouse Accounting recently compared how many tonnes of greenhouse gases are released into the environment to build one family home. It counts manufacturing and transport of products. The study concluded that a timber home would save more than 25 tonnes of greenhouse gases from being released into the environment. That is a lot of carbon.
A home built with no timber releases 30 tonnes of carbon into the environment. A home built with timber releases 5 tonnes. This does not count the carbon that is actually stored in the timber, which would subtract from the number even further.
Short Term Carbon Cycle
In the short term carbon cycle, trees “inhale” CO2 and turn the carbon into wood, where it is stored. The oxygen is then released back into the environment. When trees are properly harvested in a plantation, new ones are planted that remove more carbon from the atmosphere.
Manufacturing
The only energy used when a tree is converted into timber building materials is that which operates the sawmill. Excess wood that does not become boards is turned into fibreboard or particle board.
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