Cross-laminated timber for building construction : A life-cycle-assessment overview

The building industry is a large contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and a vast consumer of natural resources. It is estimated that, in the next 40 years, around 415 Gt of CO2 will be released as a result of global construction activities. Therefore, improvements in construction technologies are essential to reduce GHG emissions and thereby attain national and international goals to mitigate climate change. Cross-laminated timber (CLT) has emerged as an innovative alternative material to steel/concrete in building construction, given its relatively low carbon footprint, not to mention its high strength-to-weight ratio, simple installation, and aesthetic features. CLT is a structural composite panel product developed in the early 1990s, and the contemporary generation of CLT buildings are yet to reach the end of their service life. Accordingly, there has been growing interest to understand and optimize the performance of CLT in building construction. In view of that, this paper presents an overview on the feasibility of using CLT in buildings from a life-cycle assessment (LCA) standpoint. The authors performed a brief review on LCA studies conducted in the past decade pertaining to the carbon footprint of CLT buildings. On average, the findings of these studies revealed about 40% reduction in carbon footprint when using CLT in lieu of conventional construction materials (steel/concrete) for multi-story buildings. Furthermore, the paper explores the challenges associated with conducting LCA on CLT buildings, identifies the gaps in knowledge, and outlines directions for future research