Wood is Energy Efficient

With a lower carbon footprint than other major building materials, wood products require less energy to manufacture. And as a naturally insulating, thermal material, wood products can boost energy efficiency—keeping buildings warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.

• “Wood is a natural thermal insulator due to the millions of tiny air pockets within its cellular structure (see Figure 2). Since thermal conductivity increases with relative density, wood is a better insulator than dense materials. Softwood has about one half the thermal insulating ability of a comparable thickness of fiberglass batt insulation, but about 10 times that of concrete and masonry, and 400 times that of solid steel. However, although wood has the best insulating properties of the primary framing materials, wood construction techniques are based on the inclusion of efficient insulating products within a wall, roof, or floor structure (see Figure 3).”

  Reference: Thermal Performance of Light-Frame Assemblies (2006), Canadian Wood Council. Page 4. Full Report

• “The lowest energy input is required to manufacture wood. Net carbon emissions in producing one ton of:
  Lumber: 33kg 
  Concrete: 265kg 
  Steel: 694kg”

  Reference: BSAC_woodcities_101819_FINAL.pdf, Page 2

• Manufacturing wood products requires less fossil fuel-based energy than either steel or concrete; most of the energy comes from renewable biomass (e.g., bark and other residual fiber) that would otherwise go to waste. In terms of operating energy, wood has the advantage of low thermal conductivity compared to steel and concrete.

  While any structural system can be designed to achieve a tight building envelope, the precise manufacturing of mass timber systems can provide exceptional air tightness. Wood building systems have low embodied carbon. LCA studies consistently show that wood outperforms other materials in this area

  Reference: Wood for Sustainable and Biophilic Building Design - WoodWorks | Wood Products Council