Wood Usage for the Mitigation of Climate Change

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Wood Usage for the Mitigation of Climate Change

• Robert Beauregard
• Dean
• Faculty of Forestry and Geomatics
• LEaF London
• 24 January 2008

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Wood Usage for the Mitigation of Climate Change

• Gobal Warming, Current Status?
• Wood and the Boreal Forest Dynamics
• Conditions to be Respected for Wood to Contribute
  to the Mitigation of Climate Change
• Wood, Concrete and Steel from a Carbon Emission
  Standpoint
• A Wood-based Green Building

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Ice Cores from Vostok have been used to
Reconstruct CO2 Levels in the Atmosphere
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Levels of Atmospheric CO2 are Higher than at any
Time in the Last 430 000 yrs
Source  Met Office http//www.metoffice.gov.uk/co
rporate/pressoffice/myths/figures.htmlatmos
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Concentrations of Greenhouse Gases
Source  IPCC AR4 WG1 2007
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Temperature Variations over the Past 1000 years
Source  IPCC AR4 WG1 2007
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Our Understanding of Climate Change from IPCC 4th
Assessment Report

• The understanding of climate evolution has
  improved over the last few years, leading to a
  very high confidence that the globally averaged
  net effect of human activities since 1750 has
  been one of warming
• In 2006 the temperature was 0,46oC warmer than
  the 1860-2006 average
• Eleven of the last twelve years (1995-2006) rank
  among the 12 warmest years in the instrumental
  record (since 1850) of global air temperature
• According to the IPCC forecasts, the temperature
  in 2100, should increase on average within a
  range of 1,4oC to 5,8oC.

Source  IPCC-AR4-WG1 2007 and Kurz 2007
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The Global Carbon Exchange Situation
Source  IPCC AR4 WG3 2007
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Main Causes of Anthropogenic Carbon Emissions

• Fossil fuel combustion
• Deforestation
• Concrete production

Source  IPCC AR4 WG3 2007
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Forests, Trees and the Carbon Emission Issue
Atmospheric Carbon
End of the Plant Life
Carbon Fixation in Trees through Photosynthesis
(Sink)
Atmospheric Carbon
Carbon in Soil Biomass (Reservoir)
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Global carbon Stocks in Vegetation and Top 1 m of
Soil
Source  IPCC Special Report on Land Use
http//www.grida.no/climate/ipcc/land_use/019.htm
table1-1
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Forest Management Dynamics in Relation to Carbon
Source  Perez-Garcia et al. 2005
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Forest Management and Usage Dynamics in Relation
to Carbon
Source  Perez-Garcia et al. 2005
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Long Term Impact of Concrete and Fossil Fuel
Substitution through Proper Forest Management
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Net change in forest area between 2000 and 2005
Red gt 0,5 Annual Decrease Green gt 0,5 Annual
Increase Grey Change rate below 0,5 per year
Source FAO 2006
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Canadian Forests as Sinks and Sources1990-2005
Source  Natural Resource Canada
http//cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/news/544
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Trees, Wood and the Carbon Emission Issue

• Substituting concrete with wood is one way of
  decreasing anthropogenic carbon emissions 1,1 ton
  of C02/m3 of wood used (important)
• Using wood in construction is one way of creating
  a carbon sink for the building lifespan 0,9 ton
  of C02/m3 of wood used (marginal systemic
  positive impact)
• Consuming wood to generate energy at the end of
  wood product life cycle and thus substituting
  fossil fuels is a key wood usage to be developed
  (major cumulative systemic positive impact)

Source  Frühwald and Sharai-Rad, 2003 and IPCC
AR4 WG3 2007
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The Conditions to be Respected to be Able to
Sustain Climate Change Mitigation

• Improve forest protection against insects and
  fire
• Use wood wastes, both from forest harvesting and
  at the end of products life cycle, to produce
  bioenergy and substitute fossil fuels
• Implement public policies to prevent wood
  products from getting into landfills
• Stop deforestation and support afforestation,
  everywhere but mostly in tropical countries.

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Construction Materials Compared on the Basis of
CO2 Emissions
Comparison of the CO2 emissions linked to the
design of a beam made of Aluminium, Steel,
Concrete and Solid Wood
Absorbed Emitted CO2
100 0 100 200 300
400
Kg kg
327
Aluminium
101
Concrete
Beam designed for Permanent load of 75
kg/m Exploitation load of 300 kg/m Span 7.5 m
76
Steel
101
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Wood
Source  Triboulot 2005
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Source  Canadian Wood Council Sustainable
Buildings Series no. 4
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Athena Institute Case Study

• A Toronto Single-family House
• 240 m3 building area
• Comparison of Wood, vs Concrete and Steel
• The Athena Environmental Impact Estimator
  software was used
• At the end of its Life Cycle, the house was
  demolished and the wastes were sent to a landfill

Source  Canadian Wood Council, Sustainable
Buildings Series, no. 4
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Embodied Effects Relative to the Wood Design
across all Measures
Source  Canadian Wood Council, Sustainable
Buildings Series, no. 4
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Using Wood to Reduce CO2 Emissions

• Swedish research shows that building in wood
  instead of concrete has the potential to reduce
  net emissions by between 110 and 470 Kg of CO2/m2
  of building area.

Source  Gustavsson et al. 2006
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Green Building Certification and Wood

• In North America, LEED dominates Green Building
  Certification activities
• BREEAM has a more rationale certification
  approach
• Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) framework

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The Gene-H.-Kruger Building

• The Bioclimatic Approach
• Conciliate the biological requirements (peoples
  comfort) with the climatic conditions
• Use methods as simple as possible
• Wind orientation
• Natural light
• Light sinks
• Use of Solarwalls

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Le Pavillon Gene-H.-Kruger

• Murs Solarwall et dispositifs doccultation
  solaire

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The Gene-H.-Kruger Building

• A Green Building
• Wood is the only renewable building material and
  it is a carbon sink
• A water retention tank allows for night and day,
  as well as seasonal energy exchange, and it
  prevents fluvial utilities overflow
• Energy consumption is reduced by 30
• Built according to LEED requirements but not
  certified

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Des questions?

• Nhésitez pas à communiquer
• avec nous si vous avez des
• questions!
• Visitez notre site web www.crb.ulaval.ca

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Des questions?

• Nhésitez pas à communiquer
• avec nous si vous avez des
• questions!
• Visitez notre site web www.crb.ulaval.ca

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List of References

• FAO 2006. Global Forest Resource Assessment
  Progress Towards Sustainable Forest Management.
  FAO Forestry Paper 147320.
• Frühwald W. and M. Sharai-Rad 2003 Comparison of
  wood products and major substitutes with respect
  to environmental and energy balances ECE/FAO
  seminar Strategies for the sound use of wood,
  Poiana Brasov, Romania, 24-27 March 2003
• Gustavsson et al. 2006. Carbon dioxide balance of
  wood substitutioncomparing concrete and wood
  frame buildings. Mitigation and adaptation
  strategies for global change, 11667-691.
• IPCC 2007 Fourth assessment report Working group
  I report The physical science report,
  http//www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/ar4-wg1.htm
• IPCC 2007 Fourth assessment report Working group
  III report Mitigation of climate change,
  http//www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/ar4-wg3.htm
• Kurz, W., 2007. Forests, Carbon and Climate
  Change. Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest
  Service, Ottawa, July 19th 2007.
• NRCAN, 2007. Is Canadas Forest Carbon Sink or
  Source? Science-Policy Notes, October 2007,
  http//cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/news/544
• Perez-Garcia J. et al. 2005. An Assessment of
  Carbon Pools, Storage and Wood Products Market
  Substitution Using Life Cycle Analysis Results.
  Wood and Fiber Science 37(2005)140-148
• Triboulot P. 2005. Penser forêt, agir bois Un
  concept durable visant à réconcilier lavenir de
  la forêt et lindustrie du bois. Conference UQAC,
  Saguenay, Qc, 28 October 2005
• UK Public Weather Service, 2007.
  http//www.metoffice.gov.uk/corporate/pressoffice/
  myths/figures.htmlatmos

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