Massive timber EPDs under the magnifying glass!
The article by Myriam Drouin, entitled « Assessing the contribution of EPDs to the quality of environmental analyses of mass timber buildings » is featured on the front page of VoirVert.ca. Myriam is a research professional in Pierre Blanchet’s team at the Industrial Research Chair on Eco-responsible Wood Construction (CIRCERB).
This article covers comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) and the evaluation of environmental product declarations (EPDs). The environmental footprint of a building is influenced by the materials used, from their extraction to their end-of-life. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) assess these impacts. EPDs, similar to nutrition labels, provide specific data verified by a third party.
As part of her master’s degree at Laval University in partnership with CIRCERB, Gabrielle Pichette examined EPDs for massive timber structures in North America. She compared the EPD data with Ecoinvent’s generic databases and discovered that the data from the EPDs and the generic databases mostly overlap, with a few exceptions. A comparative LCA revealed that replacing generic processes with EPD processes produces similar results, provided that all stages of the life cycle, such as transport, are considered. The study concludes that a holistic assessment requires all phases of the life cycle to be considered in order to avoid transferring impacts or potential oversights linked to the choice of materials.
Read the full VoirVert article here!
Congratulations to Myriam for this excellent article!
 Credit: Véronique Audet |
 Credit: CIRCERB |