Climate change is the greatest environmental challenge facing the world today. The main human influence on global climate is emissions of greenhouse gases, the most important of these being carbon dioxide (CO2).
Wood plays a crucial role in mitigating climate change: building with wood makes the forests an even more effective carbon sink by extending the period that carbon dioxide remains captured from the atmosphere.
There are four broad areas that need to be considered when assessing the impact of different building materials on climate change:
- the energy used in the production of the material and the final product (building)
- the insulation properties of the material, i.e. how much energy is required to heat or cool the building
- the recycling and final disposal of the building materials
- the carbon balance of the building material
In all these aspects wood’s performance is superior to that of other building materials available.