Imagine you’re standing in the bread aisle at your local grocery store, contemplating what loaf you should take home that day. If you’re like any of the millions of health-conscious shoppers, you’ll subconsciously turn the loaf over and read the nutrition label for a better idea of what’s in it. But what if there was no nutrition label on the package? Sure, you might know that wheat bread is generally considered better for your health than white bread, but what if you suffer from gluten? An everyday choice like what bread to buy becomes critical to your daily health and the importance of that nutrition label is amplified.
Corporations, manufacturers, and individuals must make similar everyday decisions. Which car do I buy? What type of materials do we use to build our new office space? You wouldn’t make these decisions without having reliable product information at your disposal. Luckily, the benefits of building with wood products are plentiful, scientifically supported, and we can demonstrate that to users, in part thanks to environmental product declarations (EPDs).
EPDs are just like the label on bread, except instead of nutritional information, they provide data on environmental impacts. In June, the American Wood Council (AWC) released updated cradle-to-gate, industry-wide EPDs for seven wood products, further giving stakeholders the evidence and confidence that using wood products can play a key part in reducing our nation’s carbon footprint.
The third-party verified updates replace the 2013 editions previously available for use in determining the environmental footprint of the industry’s principal products, as well as with green building rating systems and sustainable construction standards.
Each EPD includes an example calculation for determining long-term carbon sequestration of atmospheric CO2 after considering biogenic carbon emissions during manufacture of the product. This calculation is particularly useful for identifying the long-term benefit of using wood products, which convert atmospheric carbon dioxide, a significant greenhouse gas, to stored carbon.
As was done previously, AWC worked with the Canadian Wood Council to develop these updated EPDs, ensuring a North American approach that covers lumber, plywood, oriented strand board, laminated veneer lumber, I-joists, and glued laminated timber. In addition, AWC developed the redwood lumber EPD, which replaces the previous cradle-to-grave EPD for redwood decking.
UL Environment (ULE) again served as the program operator for the EPDs, requiring rigorous compliance with established rules for EPD development and reporting. With support from the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities, the EPDs were developed from third-party verified life-cycle assessment reports prepared by the Consortium for Research on Renewable Industrial Materials, Athena SMI, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Products Lab.
EPDs act as an important standardized information source for designers, developers, and builders, as they provide valuable information based on life-cycle data. The results are also particularly useful for identifying the long-term benefit of using wood products, which convert atmospheric carbon dioxide into stored carbon. All wood products, including lumber, doors, I-joists, railroad ties and more, provide notable carbon emission savings when used in place of non-wood alternatives in building construction. For example, one study found that buildings framed in wood release 26% less carbon than steel-framed buildings and 31% less than concrete-framed buildings.[1]
As manufacturers are now addressing their environmental footprints, so are millions of Americans and Canadians as purchasers of those products. Whether it’s a seemingly small decision, like your weekly bread choice, or a bigger one, like buying an automobile, purchasing choices affect millions now and in future generations. As a result, people care more than ever about the pollution, waste, and byproducts caused by their consumption, and the new EPDs provide that information on each wood product. It’s therefore even more important now that manufacturers provide transparency on what goes into their products, allowing the building sector to continue to choose wood as the optimal choice.
AWC, CWC, and the wood products industry take pride in providing these updated EPDs and the environmental information they provide, as they will facilitate the making of good purchasing decisions, individually and collectively.
The new EPDs are available for downloading from ULE’s reports website “UL SPOT®” by searching “American Wood Council,” or from the AWC website.