Project: Wood in carbon efficient construction overview
The building sector is responsible for a significant share of the total primary energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission in Europe. Although sophisticated tools for the analysis of life cycle environmental impacts of many goods and services have been developed over the last several decades, the typical life cycle assessment (LCA) methods are not fully adequate for analysing the primary energy and GHG balances of wood products and buildings. There are several reasons for the increased complexity of the environmental analysis of wood products compared to that of most other products: a long time frame is involved; a range of useful products can be obtained at different points in time; a broad array of joint products can be obtained from a tree; and the unique relationship between forest development and environmental services, including climate stability. Furthermore, the life cycle analysis of buildings is also more complex than that of many other products due to the long lifespan of most buildings, with impacts occurring at different times during the life cycle; the multitude of different variables that influence the life cycle impacts of the building; and the lack of standardisation of building design and construction, making each building unique. The main objectives of ECO2 have been · to create a holistic understanding of carbon efficiency in the full life-cycle of a building, · to define the technical potential and obstacles for the use of wood in carbon efficient construction, · to develop practical solutions for calculating and optimising the carbon footprint of different wood construction systems · to define the factors leading to a long service life of the external envelope of a timber building, and · to disseminate the scientific results efficiently to relevant stakeholders, including e.g. authorities, regulation developers and construction industry.
| Acronym | ECO2 |
| Duration | 01/12/2010 - 31/03/2013 |
| Website | visit project website |
| Network | WoodWisdom-Net 2 |
| Call | Sustainable, competitive processing and end-use concepts for forest-based industries |
Project partner
| Number | Name | Role | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aalto University - School of Science and Technology | Coordinator | Finland | |
| ATn Energy Agency | Austria | ||
| ATn Institute for Healthy and Ecological Building | Switzerland | ||
| Finndomo | Finland | ||
| GreenBuild Oy | Finland | ||
| Holzforschung AT, ATn Forest Products Research Society - Department of structural engineering | Austria | ||
| Huber & Sohn | Germany | ||
| Lindbäcks Bygg | Sweden | ||
| Linnaeus University - Department of Civil Engineering | Sweden | ||
| Lund University - Department of Building Physics | Sweden | ||
| Martinsons Building Systems | Sweden | ||
| Micro Aided Design | Finland | ||
| Moelven Töreboda AB | Sweden | ||
| Polytecnic University of Milan | Italy | ||
| SP Technical Research Institute of SE | Sweden | ||
| Stora Enso Timber Oy Ltd | Finland | ||
| Technical Research Centre of FI | Finland | ||
| Technical University of Munich - Institute of Building Materials and Structures | Germany | ||
| University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna | Austria | ||
| UPM-Kymmene Oyj | Finland | ||
| WEKA Verlag | Germany |