Life cycle assessment of wood products

Life cycle assessment of wood products and processing of data for their use in environmental product declarations and sustainability assessment of buildings
 

The processing of wood raw material to semi-finished and finished products, and their use in buildings and for furniture is connected with the use of resources and the emission of pollutants. Using the method of life cycle assessment (LCA) according to ISO 14040/44 we estimate the climate and environmental effects of the use of wood-based raw materials and products.

In addition to using the results for the sustainability assessment of buildings, e.g. within the public databases WECOBIS and Ökobau.dat of the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR), the results are applied by the industry for the development of environmental product declarations (EPD). Thus, we create the data base for the assessment of environmental impacts of possible options of actions conducted by individual companies or in context with issues that affect the entire wood sector.

In addition, we are constantly working on the methodological development of LCA methodology (e.g. in the field of standardization).