Concrete, steel, and masonry have long been the staple building materials, especially in non-residential construction, worldwide. However, as the focus turns more and more towards emissions control and climate change, wood is making a comeback.
According to the Institute for Carbon Removal Law and Policy in the School of Intl. Service at American University, Washington DC, mass timber construction has many advantages over the concrete and steel commonly used in commercial buildings. Mass timber is a carbon removal technique that involves using specialized wood products to construct buildings, including high-rise buildings.
Manufacturers use products such as CLT (cross-laminated timber), LVL (laminated veneer lumber), and glue laminated timber (“glulam”) to produce wood panels and beams, which can replace concrete, steel, and masonry as building materials. Because it displaces emissions-intensive steel and concrete, mass timber can significantly reduce the “embodied carbon” in buildings. Because the wood stores CO2 (carbon dioxide) that was captured from the atmosphere via photosynthesis, mass timber construction can function as a form of carbon removal when combined with sustainable timber production and building demolition practices.
Benefits and Concerns
Among the benefits of using mass timber are:
- Lower cost: mass timber construction is more cost-effective than alternative forms of construction for mid- and high-rise buildings.
- Energy efficiency: building with mass timber is less energy intensive than building with steel and concrete.
- Faster construction: by using prefabricated wood panels, mass timber construction is often faster than building with steel and concrete.
- Displaces steel and concrete: by reducing demand for steel and cement, mass timber construction reduces emissions from those hard-to-abate sectors.
- Disaster resistance: engineered mass timber products are fire-resistant, and mass timber buildings can handle earthquakes better than traditional high-rise construction.
However, there are drawbacks, as well:
- Deforestation: by increasing the demand for timber, mass timber could make it harder to stop deforestation.
- Social side effects: in some places, the timber industry relies on child labor or threatens indigenous communities’ rights.
- Durability: insect infestation, water damage, and fungal attacks can reduce the durability of timber construction relative to steel and concrete.
It is currently difficult to quantify the cost and carbon removal potential of mass timber construction but one analysis of eighteen case studies found an average cost savings of about 4%. With respect to carbon removal potential, the estimate is that high-rise buildings provide carbon removal benefits equivalent to roughly 150–250 kilograms of CO2 per square meter of floor space. For context, that would mean that building a city with as much floor space as Manhattan would sequester something on the order of 25–40 million metric tons of CO2. This is in addition to the mitigation benefit from displacing steel and cement production.
Collective Action
Still, the concept is being explored at many levels around the world. The Timber Finance Initiative, Green Canopy NODE, South Pole, and Gordian Knot Strategies, for example, have joined efforts in creating the first mass timber carbon credit methodology. They are developing a globally applicable carbon credit methodology for mass timber construction in Verra’s VCS (verified carbon standard) GHG (greenhouse gas) crediting program. Verra will serve as the independent standard-setter for the methodology.
The organizations involved in this initiative have a serious stake in the success of the project.
- Verra
Verra is a nonprofit organization that operates the world’s leading carbon crediting program, the VCS Program, as well as other standards in environmental and social markets. To date, Verra has issued over 970 million carbon credits to over 1,800 projects around the world.
- Timber Finance Initiative
The Timber Finance Initiative is the Swiss competence center for timber investments, promoting sustainable investment opportunities of the forest and timber industry through the development of new financial products, carbon removal credits, whitepapers, and advisory services.
- Green Canopy NODE
Green Canopy NODE is a vertically integrated construction technology, real estate development, and fund management company. The company works with its clients and investors to develop high-performing, deep green, all-electric, and healthy housing.
- Gordian Knot Strategies
Gordian Knot Strategies is a strategic consulting company with a focus on natural climate solutions and expertise in climate finance, impact funds, and carbon markets, and has developed numerous go-to-market plans in these areas.
- South Pole
South Pole, a social enterprise recognized by the World Economic Forum’s Schwab Foundation. Since its creation in 2006, it has developed nearly 1,000 projects in over 50 countries to reduce over one gigaton of CO2 emissions, and to provide social benefits to less privileged communities who are particularly vulnerable to climate change.
The Working Group will bring together a team of field and technical experts to develop a concept note to be submitted to Verra’s VCS Program in 2022. The final methodology will then be developed by the Timber Finance Initiative and South Pole. A rigorous carbon methodology will help realize the climate value of stored carbon in mass timber construction and help scale mass timber as a negative emissions technology and low-emissions building material.
On a similar front, South Pole has co-authored, as part of a larger consortium of experts, the first globally approved methodology for the utilization and application of biochar under Verra’s Voluntary Carbon Standard. Biochar is charcoal produced from plant matter and stored in the soil as a means of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
South Pole’s specialists worked alongside other global experts to complete the methodology, which will allow biochar projects to generate verified carbon removal credits in line with the latest science. These verified removal credits can be sold on the voluntary carbon market, so that companies can use them towards their corporate net zero targets.
Mass Timber Revival
Mass timber has already been identified as a renewable and low-emissions alternative to concrete and steel if the timber procured from sustainable forest management. Mass timber mitigates climate change twofold: By removing CO2 (Carbon Dioxide Removal) from the atmosphere and storing it long-term in buildings and by replacing Green House Gas-intensive conventional building materials.
The importance of this can be seen in the estimate that up to 60% of the world’s existing building stocks will be built and rebuilt within the next two decades, creating a tremendous challenge and opportunity to set more sustainable trends in the construction sector.
Once mass timber construction picks up the pace, employing developers will be able to offer carbon credits. This will, in turn, help establish carbon credit marketplaces such as the one begun by Salesforce. Salesforce has introduced Net Zero Marketplace, a platform that makes carbon credit purchases simple and transparent, allowing organizations to accelerate climate positive impact at scale.
Carbon Credits
The global voluntary carbon market is estimated to grow to $50B by 2030 as many organizations race to achieve their net zero commitments. Yet, organizations may not always know how to build a carbon credit portfolio — or even where to start. What’s more, the path to purchasing carbon credits is complex, and buyers want to trust that the carbon credit projects have a positive impact.
Net Zero Marketplace, built on Salesforce’s Commerce Cloud, connects buyers and ecopreneurs — environmentally-focused entrepreneurs who lead and drive climate action worldwide — offering a catalog of third-party rated carbon credits and a seamless ecommerce experience for purchasing them. Net Zero Marketplace also features a climate action hub where anyone — businesses or individuals — can learn about climate issues.
Finding and verifying a carbon credit’s quality can be difficult and time-consuming. Net Zero Marketplace eliminates the uncertainty by aggregating and publishing third-party ratings for projects not locked behind paywalls or account registrations. This level of transparency helps empower organizations to determine which carbon credits are best for them.
Global Building Boom?
The global buildings sector is growing at unprecedented rates, and it will continue to do so. Over the next 40 years, the world is expected to build 230 billion square meters in new construction – adding the equivalent of the city of Paris to the planet every week. This rapid growth is not without consequences. While buildings sector energy intensity has improved in recent years, this has not been enough to offset rising energy demand. Buildings-related CO2 emissions have continued to rise by around 1% per year since 2010, and more than four million deaths each year are attributable to illness from household air pollution.
No one is suggesting that mass timber construction will solve the problem, but it will add a tool to the kit, improve the emissions status, and address many of the challenges, making it a good field for research and experimentation.
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