“These are landmark findings,” says Kelly McCloskey, president and CEO of the Wood Promotion Network. “This offers a first-ever snapshot of how building materials impact our environment.”
Twenty-three independent researchers collaborated on the project, which used a process called life-cycle analysis to weigh the environmental impact of home construction. Life-cycle analysis gauges the energy required to produce building materials, as well as construct, maintain, and demolish a typical home over a period of 75 years.
CORRIM compared the life cycles of two hypothetical homes in Minneapolis one with a wood frame, the other with a steel frame and the life cycles of one wood-frame and one concrete-frame home in Atlanta. The study determined that the construction of the Minneapolis steel-frame home used 17 percent more energy than the matching wood-frame home, and the Atlanta concrete-frame home used 16 percent more energy than a matching wood-frame home.
The study also concluded that the carbon emissions associated with energy use represent one of the more important environmental impacts. They estimated the global-warming potential of the steel frame home to be 26 percent higher than the wood-frame home, and the concrete-frame home was 31 percent higher than the comparable wood-frame home.
The report offers these additional suggestions on how to help reduce the energy demands of home construction:
- Redesign homes to use less fossil-fuel intensive products
- Change building codes that promote excessive use of wood, steel, and concrete
- Recycle demolition wastes
- Increase durability of homes through improved products and construction practices.
For more information of CORRIM or the new study, visit the Wood Promotion Network’s Web site at : www.beconstructive.com, or www.framebuildingnews.com |
