Biobased LCA Atlas

What does building with plants and wood cost the climate?

Seven biobased materials followed from the first pass over the field or forest to the moment they sit in a wall. For each one you see the fossil carbon released along the way, the carbon the plants took from the air, and where every number comes from.

Carbon ledger for one cubic metre

CO2 stored in the material fossil CO2e released, growing to installed

  1. Beech glued laminated timber (glulam)Deciduous wood 1 14621.2 5 of 23 flows counted
  2. Cross-laminated timber (CLT)Evergreen wood 70420.3 6 of 21 flows counted
  3. Particleboard (P5) from SRC chipsShort rotation coppice 1 17423.7 14 of 35 flows counted
  4. Wood fibre insulation board, dry processForest residues 2695.4 3 of 12 flows counted
  5. Straw bale insulation (small rectangular bales) in timber frameCrop residue 1450.9 2 of 9 flows counted
  6. Miscanthus-lime lightweight concrete blockPerennial crops 248264.7 12 of 26 flows counted
  7. Hemp-lime concrete (hempcrete) wall infillDedicated crops 182210.3 18 of 27 flows counted

kg per m³ of installed product. The thin line after a fossil bar shows the upper end of its uncertainty range. Fossil totals include only flows that have both a quantity and an open emission factor; the others are listed on each page and in the gap register.

Reading the numbers

Two separate accounts

Stored carbon and fossil emissions are never netted. Stored carbon returns to the air if the material is burnt or rots, so it is reported beside the fossil total, as EN 15804 requires.

Every value has a pedigree

Each flow is marked by where it came from. Gaps stay visible instead of being filled with guesses.

  • S Sourced
  • D Derived
  • P Proxy
  • A Assumption
  • G Gap
  • I Information

Units are not all alike

Glulam and CLT carry loads; the others insulate or fill walls. Compare materials that do the same job in a building, not only per cubic metre.

Scope

EN 15804:2012+A2:2019, modules A1-A5. France (EU background where French data were not found). Method, exclusions and limits.