Wood for Good launches UK construction industry’s largest LCA database

More than 100 people from across the built environment sector attended the launch event at London’s Building Centre on 7th April. The database – which is free-to-use – was met with huge positivity, and heralded as an important first step in quantifying the environmental performance of timber in UK construction.

The database includes modern-engineered solutions including cross-laminated timber (CLT) and glulam, as well as materials commonly used in timber construction, such as adhesives and steel sheets.

Assessment has been made from cradle to grave, including forestry, harvesting, transportation, processing and manufacturing, through to the various end of life options.

One of the key findings was that every timber product studied reported a carbon negative rating on a cradle-to-site basis, meaning the amount of carbon absorbed and stored in the timber is greater than that emitted in production and transportation.

Future outputs in the project – called Wood First Plus – include LCA case studies, a toolkit to build individual Environmental Product Declarations and a BIM element.

David Hopkins, project director at Wood for Good, said: “While as an industry we’ve long been aware of the outstanding environmental benefits of timber in construction, until now the data to support its use has been disjointed, with specifiers sometimes lacking the empirical evidence they need to choose wood.

“With the launch of the UK’s biggest LCA database we’re able to demonstrate the various environmental impacts of major timber products at every life stage. Construction professionals working across all market sectors have commented how the data will help to support increased use of timber and more sustainable construction.”

Check out the database here