Environmental Benefits of Wood

When responsibly sourced, wood products meet various international sustainability standards and offer environmental benefits that extend beyond their immediate use. These include carbon sequestration, and a significantly reduced embodied carbon footprint compared to other GHG-intensive building materials.

• “Choosing to use North American wood products is a material choice that will not only reduce the building’s carbon footprint, but it is also the only primary building material derived from a renewable resource.”

  “North American wood products, unlike any other primary building material, hold carbon for the duration of a building’s life.

  “Depending on end-use and service life conditions, wood products can store carbon for many decades or longer, providing long-term climate benefits for people worldwide.”

  “Specifying structural wood and wood finishes in buildings ensures the carbon being stored in the product does not enter the atmosphere during the lifetime of the structure—even longer if the wood is reclaimed/reused. As one example, carbon emissions can be lowered by as much as 20 times by simply installing wood flooring instead of vinyl.”

  Reference: Wood Product & Carbon - American Wood Council

• "Because 80% of a building’s embodied carbon comes from the structural materials used to build it, building material specification is impactful. Wood performs better than concrete and steel when it comes to both its carbon footprint and air and water pollution.”

  Reference: Sustainable Architecture, Design + Forestry - Think Wood

• “Companies that source sustainably reduces their impact on the environment and ensure long term availability of the forest by promoting the biodiversity and health of the forest.”

  Reference: Wood sourcing policy guide | FSC Connect

• Substituting wood for conventional building materials can reduce emissions by 70%.”

  Reference: AWC_2021AR_R4.pdf, Page 5

• “Wood’s embodied carbon is low. Manufacturing lumber is the least energy intensive, followed by 100% recycled steel, concrete, and virgin steel. This accounts for wood’s low embodied carbon.”
  “60% of GHG emissions on average can be reduced by substituting wood for concrete and steel.”

  Reference: 422-TW-0033_Print_2022-Basics-of-Carbon-Fact-Sheet_F.pdf

• “Wood products have an environmental benefit from being able to sequester carbon.”

  Reference: Article: Wood and the circular economy | Resources | naturally:wood

• “Sustainably sourced agricultural and forest products, including long-lived wood products, can be used instead of more GHG-intensive products in other sectors.”

  Reference: Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) on Climate Change (2023), Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Page 29. Full Report