Greenhouse gas benefits of wooden building materials

Wooden building materials have obvious greenhouse benefits when they substitute functionally equivalent but more energy-intensive materials, and these benefits appear to be higher than those of other biomass uses. Wood materials also serve as a temporary biogenic carbon stock which can potentially be recycled for energy after its useful life. Numerical estimates of carbon emission displacement factors for wooden building materials, whole buildings and, for comparison, pure energy end-uses of wood are presented. The carbon balance of the Finnish forest sector and options for efficient wood use are also discussed.