Operational vs. Embodied Energy: a Case for Wood Construction

The purpose of our article is to evaluate wood as a construction material in terms of the energy required for its construction and operation, compared to other types of construction materials. First, the role of construction and material manufacturing is evaluated within the full life cycle energy and CO2 emissions of a building, concluding that the issue of embodied energy justifies the use of less energy intensive materials. Then the article reviews the literature dealing with the energy requirements of wood based construction, in order to establish whether the use of this natural, low density construction material is more energy efficient than using brick, reinforced concrete and steel structures. According to our analysis, the vast majority of the studies found that the embodied energy is significantly lower in wood based construction when compared to inorganic materials. According to several authors, wood construction could save much energy and significantly reduce the emissions related to the building sector on the national level. Carbon sequestration, and the related mitigation of the global climate change effect, can be significant if the share of durable wooden buildings can be increased in the market, using sustainably produced raw materials that are handled responsibly at the end of their lifetime. Some conflicting studies make important points concerning the heat storage, recycling and on-site labour demands related to these structures. These sources contribute to a deeper understanding of the issue, but do not alter the basic conclusions concerning the benefits of wood based construction. Some important aspects of wood extraction, manufacturing and construction that can help minimising the embodied energy of wood based structures are also discussed in the study.