The facility, which it is hoped will be launched in the next couple of months, will be open to manufacturers and suppliers of a wide range of products, from engineered wood, sawn timber and most types of panel products, to staircases and timber frames.
They will be able to upload key production information, such as materials, energy and other inputs, and type of heat and power generation used, into specially devised spreadsheets on the Wood for Good website (www.woodforgood.com).
This will be used to produce LCA calculations by PE International, the consultancy which built the Lifecycle Database with Wood for Good.
Subsequently these will be third party audited by the BRE Global for use in EPDs.
The facility will not be applicable initially for some products, such as certain types of composite wood materials, plywood, Chinese-produced goods, and doors and windows, which use various materials.
“And there are also gaps in our lifecycle knowledge for tropical timber, but we hope to address these other various product areas as time goes on,” said Wood for Good executive director David Hopkins. “The facility will, however, be a valuable asset for a wide range of products from the outset, particularly for structural applications.” He added that there will be a cost for using the service.
“But we’ve calculated that it will be considerably cheaper than if a manufacturer started developing an EPD from scratch,” he said.
