[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”WC Content Section” _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”||0px||false|false” da_disable_devices=”off|off|off” border_color_bottom=”#F2F2F2″ global_colors_info=”{}” da_is_popup=”off” da_exit_intent=”off” da_has_close=”on” da_alt_close=”off” da_dark_close=”off” da_not_modal=”on” da_is_singular=”off” da_with_loader=”off” da_has_shadow=”on”][et_pb_row column_structure=”3_4,1_4″ _builder_version=”4.19.5″ _module_preset=”71ec4c3d-39eb-4479-a760-0015d42fc7bc” collapsed=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”3_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
Answer common and critical questions about the carbon impacts of wood from the building industry.[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/carbonleadershipforum.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Wood-Carbon-Seminars-Background-980×400-1.png” title_text=”Wood-Carbon-Seminars-Background-980×400″ _builder_version=”4.27.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.0″ header_2_font=”|600|||||||” custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
The Wood Carbon Seminars was an 8-part webinar series hosted by the Carbon Leadership Forum in the Spring of 2020.\u00a0 It brought together wood experts to answer common and critical questions about the carbon impacts of wood from the building industry.<\/p>\n
The webinars were organized around four main categories: <\/strong><\/p>\n 1) Background and Basics,<\/p>\n 2) LCA and Wood,<\/p>\n 3) Tracking Biogenic Carbon in North America, and<\/p>\n 4) Wood and the Building Industry.<\/p>\n For each category, three speakers were asked to present on a specific topic in the first week and return for a discussion session the following week. The schedule, recordings, and slides for these presentations and discussion sessions can be found below. The CLF also collected questions from the audience over the course of the webinar series to be answered by the speakers outside of the live webinar sessions.\u00a0 These Questions and Answers are available below.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/network.clf.be.uw.edu\/wood-carbon” url_new_window=”on” button_text=”Register for the Wood Carbon Seminars mailing list” disabled_on=”on|on|on” admin_label=”Button” _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_margin=”||15px||false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false” disabled=”on” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_button][et_pb_text disabled_on=”on|on|on” _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_margin=”45px|||||” disabled=”on” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Course page<\/strong><\/p>\n This password-protected course page contains recordings of the webinars and other supplementary materials, available to the people who register for the seminars. The password will be provided on the registration confirmation page.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/carbonleadershipforum.org\/news-and-events\/wood-carbon-seminars-course-page\/” button_text=”Access the course page” disabled_on=”on|on|on” _builder_version=”4.16″ disabled=”on” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_button][et_pb_text disabled_on=”on|on|on” admin_label=”Presentations” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” disabled=”on” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Webinars intro” _builder_version=”4.19.5″ header_2_font=”|600|||||||” custom_margin=”40px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n The webinar recordings and presentation slides can be found below.\u00a0 Click on the accordion button (+) on the right end of each row to expand the section.[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_accordion admin_label=”Webinars accordion” _builder_version=”4.27.0″ _module_preset=”default” body_link_font=”|700|||||||” body_link_text_color=”#0075A9″ hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″][et_pb_accordion_item title=”(blank hidden)” open=”on” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” custom_css_main_element=”display:none;” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_accordion_item][et_pb_accordion_item title=”Session 1: Background and Basics” _builder_version=”4.27.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” toggle_font=”||||||||” open=”off”]<\/p>\n Session 1A: Presentations<\/strong><\/p>\n Session 1B: Discussion session<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_accordion_item][et_pb_accordion_item title=”Session 2: LCA and Wood” _builder_version=”4.27.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” open=”off”]<\/p>\n Session 2A: Presentations<\/strong><\/p>\n Session 2B: Discussion session<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_accordion_item][et_pb_accordion_item title=”Session 3: Tracking Carbon in North America” _builder_version=”4.27.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” open=”off”]<\/p>\n Session 3A: Presentations<\/strong><\/p>\n Session 3B: Discussion session<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_accordion_item][et_pb_accordion_item title=”Session 4: Wood and the Building Industry” _builder_version=”4.27.0″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” open=”off” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n Session 4A: Presentations<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Session 4B: Discussion session<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_accordion_item][\/et_pb_accordion][et_pb_text admin_label=”Questions and Answers intro” _builder_version=”4.19.5″ header_2_font=”|600|||||||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n During the webinars, we collected questions from the audience and asked the speakers to answer as many as they could.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n These Q&A’s can be downloaded below:<\/strong><\/p>\n Click on the accordion button (+) on the right end of each row to see the answer for each question.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_accordion admin_label=”Questions and Answers accordion” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” body_link_font=”|700|||||||” body_link_text_color=”#0075A9″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_accordion_item title=”(blank hidden)” open=”on” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” custom_css_main_element=”display:none;” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_accordion_item][et_pb_accordion_item title=”1. What are the key assumptions behind the current PCR for wood products?” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” toggle_font=”||||||||” open=”off”]<\/p>\n Answered by Elaine Oneil (CORRIM)<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_accordion_item][et_pb_accordion_item title=”2. How are industry-wide EPDs calculated?” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” open=”off”]<\/p>\n Answered by Elaine Oneil (CORRIM)<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_accordion_item][et_pb_accordion_item title=”3. Why do wood EPDs not distinguish between tree species and forest types?” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” open=”off”]<\/p>\n EPDs are a summary document of a much larger analysis that includes both the manufacturing and the forest management and growth.\u00a0 The data on tree species and management is embedded in the input values to the process but it is upstream of the main output.\u00a0 In other words, a single tree could go into a piece of lumber, OSB, plywood, glulam, MDF or particle board, and in fact may go into multiple products \u2013 so the granularity of \u2018this tree going to that process\u2019 is not apparent in the EPD, but is tracked in the upstream data that gets rolled into the final output (on a weighted average basis) in the \u2018forestry\u2019 column of the EPD.<\/p>\n Tree species isn\u2019t all that big of a driver in the LCA as the variability in SG (specific gravity) which is the driver for carbon content is not that significant between the major softwood species used for most industrial wood products in the US.<\/p>\n Yield and management strategies can have an impact on the LCA values, but if we assess regional data most wood comes from remarkably similar types of management within a regional context. Hence we refer to the PNW as the Douglas-fir region because it produces mostly Douglas-fir with a bit of HemFir (hemlock\/true firs), the SE as the SYP (southern yellow pine), and British Columbia wood comes as SPF (spruce\/pine\/fir) or if it comes from the coastal zone HemBal (Hemlock\/true firs).<\/p>\n Again \u2013 the EPDs are reporting on commodity products that represent a significant portion of the world\u2019s softwood lumber production.<\/p>\n Answered by Elaine Oneil (CORRIM)<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_accordion_item][et_pb_accordion_item title=”4. How is carbon neutrality calculated for North America?” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” open=”off”]<\/p>\n Most countries are required to report annual GHG emissions under the\u00a0 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Biogenic carbon dioxide emissions are calculated by comparing the carbon stocks in forests and forest products at the beginning and end of the year. If stocks increased, it means emissions of biogenic carbon dioxide were less than zero. If stocks decreased, it means that biogenic carbon dioxide emissions were greater than zero. (There are nuances regarding imports and exports of wood and wood products, but they can be considered variations on this general approach).\u00a0 In addition, nations are required to report, for information purposes only, emissions of biogenic CO2 associated with use of biomass for energy, but these are not added to fossil fuel CO2 emissions because that would double count the biogenic CO2 emissions (as these emissions are already captured by the stock-change calculations required under the UNFCCC). Many other methods could be used to calculation biogenic carbon emissions for a country, but under the UNFCCC, the methods are specified as described here.<\/p>\n Answered by Reid Miner (NCASI)<\/em><\/p>\n Net flux of forest carbon varies by region. The smaller the spatial scale of the analysis, the more variable the flux from year to year and site to site.\u00a0 Also, there are fewer data available at smaller scales.\u00a0 Under the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program, the US Forest Service collects forest data at regular intervals. The US Forest Service often aggregates these data at the regional level (North, South, Rocky Mountain and Pacific Coast), but data are also sometimes aggregated at smaller spatial scales.\u00a0 The Forest Service recently issued a paper showing forest carbon emissions on a state-by-state basis (see Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Removals from Forest Land, Woodlands, and Urban Trees in the United States, 1990-2018).\u00a0 This report indicates that in 2018, net forest carbon sinks (i.e., forest carbon stocks increasing) existed in all but six states, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. These are not large wood producing states but are often affected by fires.<\/p>\n Answered by Reid Miner (NCASI)<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_accordion_item][et_pb_accordion_item title=”5. Why is carbon neutrality commonly used\/assumed in wood LCAs?” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” open=”off”]<\/p>\n Carbon neutrality isn\u2019t assumed or used in wood LCAs. \u00a0Instead, we calculate carbon flows in terms of inputs and outputs and measure the difference.\u00a0 The EPD requires confirmation either (a) that that country of wood origin\u2019s net carbon stocks are stable or increasing, or (b) the fiber comes from a certified forest.\u00a0 Biogenic carbon then enters the product system as sequestered carbon (denoted as a removal) and its emissions are tracked and reported in the stages where they occur.<\/p>\n Answered by Elaine Oneil (CORRIM)<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_accordion_item][et_pb_accordion_item title=”6. Isn\u2019t all negative biogenic carbon a delayed emission? Isn\u2019t the real benefit to wood products the fact there is an opportunity to remove and store carbon in wood (in buildings or landfill) while the forest is recapturing the emitted carbon in new forests?” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” open=”off”]<\/p>\n The relevant standards (ISO 21930 and the Wood Products PCR) specify that no credit is granted based on delayed emission and that delayed emissions may only be reported as additional information. The carbon storage benefits in the EPDs are for permanent carbon storage. The US EPA has determined based on experimental data that 88% of lumber carbon is stored permanently in the landfill: Documentation for Greenhouse Gas Emission and Energy Factors Used in the Waste Reduction Model (WARM) (2019)<\/a>.<\/p>\n Answered by James Salazar (Coldstream Consulting \/ Athena Sustainable Materials Institute)<\/em><\/p>\nPresentations<\/h2>\n
Session 1: Background and Basics<\/h3>\n
1A: Presentation session (April 23, 2020)<\/h4>\n
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1B: Discussion session (April 30, 2020)<\/h4>\n
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Session 2: LCA and Wood<\/h3>\n
2A: Presentation session (May 7, 2020)<\/h4>\n
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2B: Discussion session (May 14, 2020)<\/h4>\n
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Session 3: Tracking Carbon in North America<\/h3>\n
3A: Presentation session (May 21, 2020)<\/h4>\n
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3B: Discussion session (May 28, 2020)<\/h4>\n
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Session 4: Wood and the Building Industry<\/h3>\n
3A: Presentation session (June 4, 2020)<\/h4>\n
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3B: Discussion session (June 11, 2020)<\/h4>\n
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Webinars<\/h3>\n
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Questions and Answers<\/h3>\n
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Top 10 Questions and Answers<\/h3>\n
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\u00b7\u00a0 Is the carbon flux still neutral or negative on a regional scale or smaller scale?<\/h4>\n