Life cycle biogenic carbon accounting: A primer for wood building products and construction systems

What goes into carbon accounting?

Life Cycle Biogenic Carbon Accounting: A Primer for Wood Building Products and Construction Systems is an overview of the current state of knowledge about biogenic carbon accounting. Carbon accounting in wood products is the measurement of how much carbon is stored in wood building products and biobased construction systems.. 

The report was prepared by Sustainatree Consulting and Adam Robertson with assistance from The Athena Sustainable Materials Institute and a review panel of more than a dozen industry experts from across Canada and the United States. 

Understanding biogenic carbon in wood products

Biogenic carbon in wood products refers to carbon removed from the atmosphere by a tree while growing. This carbon continues to be stored in products made from that tree over its lifetime. A static approach, commonly used in life cycle analysis studies and North American environmental product declarations for wood products, fails to consider the dynamic aspects and timing of greenhouse gas (GHG) removals and emissions that occur at different points throughout the product’s life cycle. This oversight can underestimate the significant climate benefits that long-lived harvested wood products can offer. Understanding this limitation is crucial for stakeholders aiming to make informed decisions about sustainable practices and policies. 

This report illuminates the carbon flows over the life cycle stages of a biobased product (growth, harvest, processing/manufacturing, use, end-of-life) and provides a background understanding for architects, engineers, developers, policymakers and other stakeholders who are interested in biogenic carbon accounting. 

Who is the report for?

• Architects & engineers: To better consider biogenic accounting within environmental product declarations when choosing harvested wood products in their projects. 
• Government: To understand that there are many approaches and tools for the accounting of biogenic carbon flows. 
• Academia & industry: To understand that it is necessary for industry, researchers and government to work together to develop a harmonized and consistent quantification and reporting approach that will accurately communicate the potential climate impacts of long-lived wood products over their life cycle. 

Tackle Climate Change Using Wood 

This infographic shows how both growing forests and constructing mass timber buildings can help store carbon, and how the former also contributes oxygen to the atmosphere. 

Download the infographic 

Embodied Carbon PathFinder

With this free web app, you can quickly estimate cradle-to-grave whole-building life cycle assessment results for typical multi-family residential buildings in B.C. 

Use the app 

Carbon Calculator by Canadian Wood Council

This tool estimates the total wood mass in a building and the associated carbon impacts — both the amount of carbon stored in the wood building materials and the amount of GHG emissions avoided by using wood. 

Use the tool 

Embodied carbon: A primer for buildings in Canada

This white paper focuses on buildings and low-carbon materials, including wood and mass timber, helping the building sector to better understand embodied carbon and address it in new and existing buildings. 

Read the whitepaper