Climate and the Built Environment

The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned in August, 2021 that, “The Global warming of 1.5°C and 2°C will be exceeded during the 21st century unless deep reductions in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions occur in the coming decades.” The built environment accounts for nearly 40% of those emissions – primarily from the energy those buildings use and from the manufacturing of building materials.

The Greening of the Grid

The country’s electrical power grid is rapidly getting greener, especially on the West Coast. As the grid gets greener more of a building’s lifetime emissions come from upfront embedded carbon–the carbon released when constructing the building. A greening grid puts the spotlight on low-carbon building materials and that is where mass timber shines.

Why Upfront Carbon Matters

Unlike operational carbon that decreases even after the building is constructed, upfront carbon is all released when the building is built. The choice of building materials matter because upfront emissions are immediate and permanent. Mass timber is a low-carbon solution available today.

A Future Built of Wood

Strategies to combat climate change often focus on increasing renewable energy. However, as renewable energy advances and the grid decarbonizes, our attention turns to how we build and what we build with. Reducing carbon dioxide from the built environment calls for a two pronged strategy: renewable energy and renewable low-carbon building materials, such as mass timber.

Forest and Wood Products as Climate Mitigation

Dr. Elaine Oneil explains how sustainable forests and long-lived wood products integrate to form a powerful climate mitigation strategy.