Wooden building elements - Finland (on hold)
Carbon Removal Information
Status of production : Audited
Unit of product volume : m3
Embodied carbon in product : 0,4869
Year or years of CORCs issued : 2019
Minimum amount to negotiate : 74
Description
The average log house built by the Finnish Log House Industry Association (Hirsitaloteollisuus) member companies store over 30,000 kg of CO2 and locks it into durable storage, out of the atmosphere for decades. Our wooden building elements are sustainably harvested according to Forest Stewardship Council/PEFS principles and remove 0,4869 tonnes of CO2 eq. per m3 of product.
How it works
Growing trees captures CO2 - a tonne of wood binds 1,8 tonnes of CO2 while growing. But the CO2 may go back to the atmosphere if the trees are cut, decompose or are used for paper or energy. In the case of wooden building elements, the place in the value chain where it makes no economic sense to let the CO2 escape back into the atmosphere is the facility where the logs are cut to measure for a specific building. After this point it would be unwise to use the resulting elements for anything else than creating a long term carbon storage.
In Europe, buildings are regulated to have a minimum lifetime of 50 years, and in real life the CO2 storage is likely to be longer. By storing CO2 for a minimum of 50 years, wooden building elements present an opportunity for companies to invest in carbon capture and storage, and take proactive steps towards carbon net zero.
The wood used by the Finnish Log House Industry Association is sustainably harvested according to Forest Stewardship Council/PEFS principles, and thus ensure sustainable harvesting and reforestation with minimal harm to biodiversity. This makes the wooden building elements a full negative emissions technology, as the system boundary is extended to the sustainable biomass production.
After the production has been verified for carbon negativity, the extra carbon stored in the wooden building elements is issued CO2 Removal Certificates, CORCs, per each ton of CO2 removed from the atmosphere. Puro.earth methodology contains a buffer that covers premature reversal of carbon removal.
Examples of usage
Annual construction:
- 1300 personal homes, Finland
- 1500 vacation homes, Finland
- 60 public schools and daycares, Finland
The Finnish Log House Industry Association and its member companies build 80% of the log houses in Finland. Over the centuries, log construction has formed part of the Finnish scenery and mental landscape. Log house production is energy self-sufficient, and even produces added energy, as it generates more energy waste by-product than the energy it takes to manufacture the product. Despite of all of these positive characteristics, wood as a building material is marginal and could be used in much larger volumes.
Co-benefits
Puro.earth CORCs only quantify the net-removal and storage of emissions, not reduced or avoided emissions, increased biodiversity or other positive benefits. Here are co-benefits self-reported by the removal supplier.
- Better indoor air: Our products improve the indoor air quality and provide healthier living conditions.
- Green jobs: manufacturing wooden building element creates green jobs and often in regions where news jobs are badly needed.
- Replacement of materials and their emissions: Use of our product can displace use of other materials like cement and steel that would have caused emissions. Nearly 4 tons of CO2 emissions may be avoided for each tonne of dry wood used that displaces concrete-based materials.
- Inherent cascading recyclability: Log houses can be recycled in many ways unlike metal or concrete building structures: log houses have traditionally been moved to new places log-by-log. If they are ripped apart, the wooden material can be reused for packaging, biochar and many other applications. And as the last step in its life-cycle wood chips from the house can serve as bioenergy.
- Maximum sink and storage at the same time: A full grown tree trunk is as good a carbon storage in the forest as it is in the building element, maybe slightly better protected from fires and insects in the building. The difference is in the sink part – how much new carbon capture can be achieved in the same forest. Harvesting full-grown trees from forests makes room for reforestation – and our timber comes from certified forests that are always re-grown.
Economic acceleration impact
The extra income received by carbon removal suppliers helps them lift barriers to much-needed adoption in the construction industry. It is also used for member companies’ development initiatives, such as improving the recyclability of log houses and develop tighter collaboration with universities.
Climate impact
1 tonne of log removes 0,4869 tonnes of CO2 eq. from the atmosphere into long-term storage in the product. Life-Cycle Assessment made by Rakennustieto followed the methodology described in ISO 14044 and ISO 14064 standards where applicable.
Additional information
The Finnish Log House Industry Association 's log production carbon removal project was reviewed by Carbon Plan, a non-profit research organization that analyzes carbon removal opportunities based on the best available science and data. Their report and comments are publicly available for carbon removal mechanism, volume, negativity, permanence, cost, additionality and specificity, here https://carbonplan.org/reports (search for Finnish Log House Industry Association)
Audit Information
Hirsitaloteollisuus Ry
Homepage address:https://www.hirsikoti.fi/
Phone:+358 50 376 5901
Email address: info@hirsikoti.fi
Contact person: Seppo Romppainen
Location: Kidekuja 2, 88610, Finland
