REPORT

What is a Carbon Footprint?

Report presented to: The Swedish Forest Industries Federation and Timcon
By: The Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Management
Reference: ECCM-EM-483-2007

February 2008
Project What is a Carbon Footprint?
Location The Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Management,
Tower Mains Studios
18F Liberton Brae
Edinburgh
Midlothian
EH16 6AE

Client Swedish Forest Industries Federation and Timcon

Contact Gunilla Beyer (Swedish Forest Industries Federation) and John Dye (Timcon)

Report versions Version 2

Draft Date 19th February 2008

Author: Jessica Abbott

th
Date 19 February 2008

QA: Jessica Lovell and Richard Tipper

Date 19th February 2008

CONTENTS

Executive Summary .......................................................................................................................... 3

1. What is a Carbon Footprint? ................................................................................................. 4
1.1 Comparison of definitions.................................................................................................. 4
1.2 Why work out a carbon footprint?...................................................................................... 4
1.3 What has been assessed so far? ...................................................................................... 6
1.4 What does ‘carbon – neutral’ mean?................................................................................. 7
2. What does a Carbon footprint look like? ............................................................................... 7
2.1 Protocols for Carbon Footprinting ........................................................................................... 7
2.2 Examples of Carbon Footprints......................................................................................... 8
3. Wood and Carbon Footprints .............................................................................................. 14
3.1 Forests and the Carbon Cycle......................................................................................... 14
3.2 Wood as a Carbon Store................................................................................................. 14
3.3 Carbon Footprints of Wood and Other Materials............................................................. 15
3.4 A packaging (pallet) example .......................................................................................... 17
3.5 A Building Comparison.................................................................................................... 18
References...................................................................................................................................... 20
Glossary.......................................................................................................................................... 22

Tables

Table 1. Breakdown of company emissions by activity ................................................................................... 9

Table 2. Annual emissions normalised by employee number ....................................................................... 10
Table 3. The Times Carbon footprint by Edition and Copy............................................................................ 12
Table 4. Cradle to Gate Carbon Footprints for Materials used in Construction ............................................ 15
Table 5. Possible GHG savings from using timber in a two bedroom Semi-detatched House...................... 19

Figures

Figure 1. Innocent Drinks assessed their supply chain ................................................................................... 6

Figure 2. Sabban Property Investments assessed their ‘Pearl Qatar’ development in Qatar ......................... 6
Figure 3. GHG Protocol .................................................................................................................................. 7
Figure 4. Carbon footprint Breakdown for a Business with 5 offices ............................................................... 8
Figure 5. Operational boundary for Business Carbon Footprint .................................................................... 10
Figure 6. Cradle to gate and Cradle to grave assessment boundaries.......................................................... 11
Figure 7. Newspaper supply chain map ........................................................................................................ 12
Figure 8. The Times Carbon Footprint breakdown by activity ....................................................................... 13
Figure 9. Major Land-Atmosphere Flows (billion tonnes CO2 per year)......................................................... 14
Figure 10. Graph of the cradle to gate carbon footprints for materials used in construction.......................... 15
Figure 11. Wood and the carbon cycle ......................................................................................................... 16
Figure 12. Carbon Footprint of a Wooden Pallet ........................................................................................... 17
Figure 13. GHG Emissions from Increasing Timber Content of Buildings ..................................................... 18
Figure 14. Possible GHG savings using timber in buildings. ......................................................................... 19

2
Executive Summary
This report has been commissioned by the Swedish Forest Industries Federation and
Timcon to provide accessible definitions of the terms ‘carbon footprint’ and ‘carbon
neutral’. The report also introduces the standard processes and protocols used in
calculating carbon footprints, and the final section gives an overview of the role of
forests and wood products in the global carbon cycle.

Human induced climate change is now recognised by the global community as the
greatest environmental threat of the 21st century. Countries, organisations and
individuals alike are starting to take responsibility for making the emissions reductions
necessary to stabilise global warming gases in the atmosphere.

A ‘carbon footprint’ is a measure of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated

with an activity, group of activities or a product. The main reason for calculating a
carbon footprint is to inform decisions on how to reduce the climate change impact of a
company, service or product.

The term ‘carbon neutral’ refers to something with a carbon footprint of zero. ‘Carbon
neutrality’ is normally achieved by first calculating a carbon footprint, then reducing
emissions as far as possible, and finally ‘offsetting’ the remainder by purchasing
emissions reductions ‘credits’ generated by external projects such as renewable energy
schemes or forestry projects.

Wood products from sustainably harvested forests have a ‘negative carbon footprint’
meaning that they act as a carbon store. As trees grow they ‘fix’ carbon dioxide from
the atmosphere by photosynthesis and it is stored as carbon within the organic matter
that makes up the trees. An example study shows how the carbon footprints of
buildings can be reduced by increased use of sustainably sourced timber acting as a
long-term carbon store.

3
1. What is a Carbon Footprint?
A ‘carbon footprint’ is a measure of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with an activity,
group of activities or a product. Nearly everything that we do produces greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions either directly or indirectly; whether it be getting to work, watching TV or buying our
lunch. The most important greenhouse gas produced by human activities is carbon dioxide. Direct
GHG emissions sources are often easy to identify – for example burning fossil fuels for electricity
generation, heating and transport. It is sometimes less obvious that products and services also
cause indirect emissions throughout their life-cycles. Energy is required for production and
transport of products, and greenhouse gases are also released when products are disposed of at
the end of their useful lives.

1.1 Comparison of definitions

Although it has become a very popular term, there is currently there is no universal definition of a
carbon footprint. Definitions vary in terms of which activities and greenhouse gases should be
included within the scope of a carbon footprint assessment, and the level of detail. Carbon
footprint methodologies range from simple online calculators to complex life-cycle analysis.
Automated web-based calculators (for example the BP and BSkyB household calculators) tend to
only cover carbon dioxide emissions. Some carbon footprint definitions recently researched by
ISA (2007) also only mention carbon dioxide (Energetics, 2007; Global Footprint Network, 2007).
Other definitions and methods include all Kyoto greenhouse gases and measure emissions in
terms of ‘carbon dioxide equivalents’ (see box 1), for example Carbon Trust (2007).

1.2 Why work out a carbon footprint?

The increasing interest in ‘carbon footprinting’ comes as a result of growing public awareness of
global warming. The global community now recognises the need to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions to mitigate climate change. Countries, organisations and individuals alike are starting to
take responsibility.

Businesses and services that are not currently regulated under the Kyoto protocol may wish to pre-
empt future regulations, and may find marketing advantages in being ‘green’. Calculating a carbon
footprint can be a valuable first step towards making quantifiable emissions reductions. This in
turn can lead to long term financial savings as well as reducing climate-change impact (Stern
2006).

4
Box 1: Greenhouse gases

Greenhouse gases affect the ability of the earth’s atmosphere to retain heat. Higher
greenhouse gas concentrations in the earth’s atmosphere cause global warming through
this ‘greenhouse effect’. The Kyoto protocol, which originated at the 3rd Conference of
the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change in 1997, has identified
six greenhouse gases whose atmospheric concentrations are strongly influenced by
human activity. The most important of these is carbon dioxide (CO2). The global
warming potential (GWP) of each greenhouse gas can be expressed in CO2 equivalents
(see table). For gases with a high global warming potential, a relatively small emission
can have a considerable impact.

Kyoto gas GWP* Example sources

Carbon dioxide (CO2) 1 Burning fossil fuels

Cattle, landfill sites, leaks from disused
Methane (CH4) 23 mines, burning fossil fuels.
Emissions from fertilised soils, burning
Nitrous oxide (N2O) 296 fossil fuels.
Leaks from electrical and electronics
Sulphur Hexafluoride (SF6) 22,200 industries.
Perfluorocarbons (PFCs) 4,800 – 9,200 Electronics industries, fire extinguishers
Leaks from air conditioning and
Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) 12-12,000 refrigeration systems. LPG storage.

*Note: the ‘global warming potential’ of a gas is its relative potential contribution to climate change over a 100 year
period, where CO2 = 1 Source: IPCC (2001)

5
 1.3 What has been assessed so far?

An increasing number of organisations and product manufacturers are assessing the carbon
footprints of their operations, one-off events and products. Organisations range from charitable
organisations like MercyCorps to commercial companies such as BSkyB, as well as small and
medium sized enterprises. Product assessments have been conducted for a range of goods
including electronics products, vehicles, and
disposable goods. Some UK examples include
Innocent smoothies, Walkers crisps, Louise Galvin
hair care products and The Times newspaper. The
Carbon Trust has recently announced the intention of
Coca Cola, Scottish & Newcastle, Cadburys, Halifax
and the Co-operative Group to commit to carbon
footprinting some of their products. Carbon footprints
have also been calculated for construction projects,
for example Sabban Property Investments (new-build
luxury accommodation in the Middle-East),
Caledonian Building Systems (modular steel framed
construction) and Forestry Commission/ Self-build
Scotland (largely timber-framed buildings).
Footprinting of one-off events such as the EU’s
Greenweek events is also increasingly common.

Figure 1. Innocent Drinks assessed their supply chain

Figure 2. Sabban
Property Investments
assessed their ‘Sabban
Towers on the Pearl
Qatar’ development

6
 1.4 What does ‘carbon – neutral’ mean?

‘Carbon neutral’ is another popular term that is often not well understood. Something that is
‘carbon neutral’ has a carbon footprint of zero. An organisation, for example, that wants to reduce
its climate change impact will usually first calculate its carbon footprint and then identify areas of its
operations where emissions reductions can be made. Most of the time it will not be possible to
reduce a carbon footprint to zero, and companies may choose to invest in projects that generate
emissions reductions to ‘offset’ the emissions that they cannot reduce internally. Emissions
reductions (also known as ‘offset’) are sold in tonnes of CO2 equivalent and can come from a
range of projects such as renewable technologies, energy efficiency projects, land-use change
projects and methane capture.

2. What does a Carbon footprint look like?

2.1 Protocols for Carbon Footprinting

The most widely recognised protocol for businesses and organisations is the WBCSD/WRI
Greenhouse Gas Reporting Protocol. www.ghgprotocol.org The GHG protocol divides emissions
sources into three ‘scopes’ according to level of responsibility where some indirect sources (eg.
emissions from waste and subcontracted activities) are optional for reporting. The California
Climate Action Registry General Reporting Protocol largely follows the GHG protocol, and ISO
14064 provides an international standard for organisations based on the GHG protocol
www.iso.org. Other company-specific
protocols, for example the CarbonNeutral
protocol, also tend to refer to the GHG
protocol. The GHG protocol works well for
internal benchmarking but is not so well
suited for comparisons of carbon footprints
between organisations due to optional
reporting of ‘scope 3’ activities.

For products there is not yet a published

global protocol for carbon footprinting,
although there are standards for Life-Cycle
Analysis (ISO 14044 + ISO 14040). The ISO
standards cover other environmental impact
measures such as acidification,
eutrophication, photo-oxidant formation as
well as greenhouse gases. The Carbon
Trust has produced a draft methodology for
product carbon footprinting with the intention
of developing a UK standard in partnership
with Defra and BSI British Standards. The
methodology is available for use but is still
under development. Currently it does not
cover the retail or use phases of the life-
cycle.

Figure 3. GHG Protocol

7
 2.2 Examples of Carbon Footprints

The steps needed to work out a carbon footprint are different depending on whether the subject is
an organisation or a product. Simplified examples of each are shown below.

Organisation: Carbon footprint of a business with 5 offices

A carbon footprint for an organisation is typically measured in tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year.
These emissions can be broken down by activity as shown in Figure 4 and Table 1 below.

Figure 4. Carbon footprint Breakdown for a Business with 5 offices

Company owned
vehicles
Premises
10%
59%

Business travel
Deliveries 26%
Commuting
0.001%
5%

8
Table 1. Breakdown of company emissions by activity

Equivalent emissions Proportion

Source of emissions CO2 (t/yr) of total
Premises - electricity 2,342.4 40%
Premises - gas 394.3 7%
Premises - heating Oil 530.5 9%
Premises - Backup generators 1.6 0%
Premises - refrigerant loss 0.0 0%
Company owned vehicles - petrol cars 587.3 10%
Business travel - petrol cars 162.1 3%
Business travel - taxi hire 85.5 1%
Business travel - air travel 830.4 14%
Business travel - train travel 11.5 0%
Business travel - hotel stays 401.9 7%
Commuting - petrol car 206.9 4%
Commuting - motorcycle travel 7.3 0%
Commuting - train 37.6 1%
Commuting - bus 40.4 1%
Deliveries - van 3.7 0%
Premises - landfilled waste 191 3%
Total 5,834 100%

The basic steps required to calculate a carbon footprint for an organisation are as follows:

1. Establishment of the assessment boundaries:

• Organisational
• Operational
• Greenhouse gases
2. Collection of data.
3. Calculation of emissions using appropriate emissions factors (see Box 2).

The organisational boundary can be defined in terms of ownership and/or control. A company may
own several operations but only control a small number and may only wish to assess the
operations that it controls.
The operational boundary for the example company is shown in Figure 5 below. Some
organisations may choose to leave out some activities over which they have limited control (eg.
Staff commuting, outsourced deliveries) as defined by the GHG protocol (see section 2.1).

In this example the greenhouse gas boundary includes CO2, CH4 and N2O emissions arising from
fuel combustion and CH4 emissions from waste disposal to landfill. Sometimes companies may
choose to conduct a simplified assessment concentrating only on CO2 emissions.

9
 Figure 5. Operational boundary for Business Carbon Footprint

Assessment Boundary

Gas + Company
Electricity Refrigerant
heating oil owned
consumption losses
consumption vehicles

Business Waste Deliveries by

Commuting disposal third parties
travel

Legend

Emission producing activity

within boundary
Emission producing activity
outside boundary

Assessment Boundary

For most organisations it is possible to collect primary data for the majority of these activities, for
example cubic metres of gas used per year, amount of fuel used by company cars, distance flown.
In cases where good systems are not established, estimates and assumptions are sometimes
made. These should be clearly stated when reporting greenhouse gas emissions as they affect the
accuracy of the total carbon footprint estimate.

Standard emissions factors (see box

2) are available for all the above
activities. Some have a greater or Box 2: Emissions factors
lesser degree of ‘uncertainty’
It is possible to measure actual greenhouse gas
associated with them. The accuracy emissions associated with some activities such as
of a carbon footprint relies not only on industrial processes and transport. Emissions from, for
the accuracy of data but also on the example, cars, aeroplanes and electricity generation are
emissions factors. The International well understood and documented. Standard ‘emissions
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) factors’ have been calculated for these activities so that
provides a methodology for assessing actual emissions do not always have to be measured, but
uncertainty (IPCC 2007). can be calculated from other data – such as amount of
fuel used. Emissions factors have also been derived for
It is useful to report emissions by a activities where it is not so easy to measure emissions –
standard unit for benchmarking such as from agricultural and land use activities, although
purposes. For organisations a useful these factors are much more uncertain.
measure can be average annual
emissions per employee (Table 2).

Table 2. Annual emissions per employee

Total CO2
Source of emissions No. employees equiv. (t/yr) Emissions per employee (tCO2e/yr)
Total/average 1,600 5,834 3.6

10
Product: Carbon Footprint of The Times Newspaper

Product Carbon Footprints are commonly expressed either as ‘cradle to gate’ footprints, or ‘cradle
to grave’ depending on the life-cycle stages included. The essential difference between
assessment boundaries is shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6. Cradle to gate and Cradle to grave assessment boundaries

Cradle to Gate

Raw materials extraction

Manufacture Distribution Use Disposal
+ processing

Cradle to Grave

Raw materials extraction

Manufacture Distribution Use Disposal
+ processing

The basic steps required to calculate a carbon footprint for a product are as follows:

1. Analyse the materials and supply chain processes.

2. Build a supply chain map for the product.

3. Define the assessment boundaries (including the selection of greenhouse gases and the
emissions sources which will be included).

4. Data collection

5. Calculation of emissions using appropriate emissions factors.

A supply chain map for The Times is shown in Figure 7 below. The ‘Materials’ stage applies
collectively to extraction and processing of raw materials.

11
 Figure 7. Newspaper supply chain map

Materials Manufacture Distribution Use Waste

Newsprint Transportation

Printing, folding,
Transportation Reading Waste
bundling

Ink Transportation

Editorial/content
production

Waste

Energy No associated
Materials Transportation Waste
Consumption emissions

For product assessments multiple third parties are often involved in the supply chain map, and
data collection becomes more difficult further down the supply chain, especially for the original
extraction and processing of raw materials (for example manufacture of chemicals for ink and
newsprint manufacture). For this reason published life-cycle analysis results for basic materials
(such as papers, inks, plastics and construction materials) are often used in product carbon
footprinting as ‘secondary data’ to estimate emissions associated with extraction and processing of
raw materials, and primary data collection begins further up the supply chain.

In the case of The Times, the ‘use’ phase of the product life cycle has been excluded from the
assessment boundary because there are no associated emissions. In the case of products that
require energy for use (eg. electronics), or storage and preparation (eg. food) the use phase is
often excluded due to variation between buyers and lack of control on the part of the product
manufacturer. Similarly the disposal phase is sometimes omitted although this is generally
considered less acceptable.

Product emissions are usually reported by unit of product. For The Times they are broken down
by edition and by copy in Table 3. Figure 8 shows a breakdown of emissions by activity.

Table 3. The Times Carbon footprint by Edition and Copy

Number of
Emissions per edition of copies per
The Times (tCO2e) edition Emissions per copy of The Times (kgCO2e)
Emissions (tree to end of life) 221.6 775,000 0.29

12
 Figure 8. The Times Carbon Footprint breakdown by activity

Outgoing
Business travel
Premises/ deliveries
2%
production 19%
emissions
20%

Incoming
End of life waste
deliveries
30%
4%
Materials (paper
and ink)
25%

13
 3. Wood and Carbon Footprints
3.1 Forests and the Carbon Cycle

As trees grow they ‘fix’ carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by photosynthesis and it is stored as
carbon within the organic matter that makes up the trees. Carbon dioxide is also released back
into the atmosphere when trees die and decay or are burned for fuel or during deforestation.
Global emissions from deforestation due to land use change are about 1.8 to 9.9 billion tonnes of
carbon dioxide every year (averaged over the 1990s, IPCC 2007). However the amount of carbon
dioxide being fixed by forests around the world is still greater than emissions from deforestation, so
forests act as a net ‘sink’ for human-induced carbon dioxide emissions. Major CO2 flows between
land and atmosphere are shown in Figure 9 below.

Figure 9. Major Land-Atmosphere Flows (billion tonnes CO2 per year)

Forest Logging and Forest Fossil fuel

ecosystem deforestation regrowth burning
exchange (land use and
change) plantations

433 440 7.3 0.7 26.4

About two thirds of human-induced emissions over the last two centuries have come from fossil
fuel burning, and a third from land use change (deforestation and agricultural expansion). About
45% of these emissions have remained in the atmosphere. The remaining emissions have been
absorbed by the oceans and forests which act as a crucial buffer modifying climate change caused
by human activities (IPCC 2007).

3.2 Wood as a Carbon Store

If wood is not destroyed, the carbon that was fixed by photosynthesis can act as a long – term
carbon store. This means that wood has a negative carbon footprint. Wood-based products such
as paper and board packaging can also act as short-term carbon stores (Enterprise Europe 11,
2003). The increase in global population and economic activity since the 1980s has not been
matched by increased industrial demand for wood (IIED/ECCM 2004). It is often thought that
deforestation is associated with wood production. However, in reality, forest cover in Europe is
currently increasing due to a favourable market for wood products. Deforestation mostly occurs in
areas where agriculture is more profitable than wood production. Promoting sustainable forestry
and wood products could help to fulfil the potential of forests to slow down climate change.

14
 3.3 Carbon Footprints of Wood and Other Materials

Materials like plastic, metal and concrete all require a lot of energy for extraction of raw materials
and manufacture. These materials all have positive carbon footprints. Wood has a negative
footprint because of the carbon dioxide fixed by the original living tree. The emissions associated
with harvesting, transporting and processing of wood products are small compared to the total
amount of carbon stored in the wood. This means that even when energy use for harvesting,
transport and processing are taken into account, wood still has a negative footprint. Comparing
the carbon footprints for wood and non-wood products shows that using wood products saves
greenhouse gas emissions. Some example footprints are shown in Table 4 and Figure 10 below.
These are ‘cradle to gate’ as opposed to ‘cradle to grave’ figures.
Table 4. Cradle to Gate Carbon Footprints for Materials used in Construction

Material kgCO2/tonne Source Year

Kiln dried timber -1,200 Building Research 1999
Establishment
Steel girders 2,400 EC Technical Steel Research 2002
(BRE method)
Concrete columns + ECCM (derived from Building 2004
beams Information Foundation,
180 Finland)
Injection moulded PVC 2,200 The Association of Plastics 2005
Manufacturers, Europe
Roofing tiles 137 Building information 2004
foundation, finland

2,500

2,000

1,500

1,000
kilograms CO2 per
tonne
500

-500

-1,000
Kiln dried Steel Concrete Injection Roofing
timber girders columns moulded tiles
and beams PVC

Figure 10. Graph of the cradle to gate carbon footprints for materials used in construction

*C refers to stored carbon

15
 1
Figure 11. Wood and the ‘ideal’ carbon cycle

If wood is sent to landfill it decomposes to produce methane (a powerful greenhouse gas).

However, only a small proportion of wood in landfill decomposes to produce methane, and the rest
remains in the ground as a carbon store. It is much better to recycle waste wood by making it into
other products such as chip-board. Finally, if it can no longer be recycled, wood can be burned for
energy recovery, which can have the added benefit of displacing fossil fuels that might otherwise
have been used (see Box 3).

Box 3: ‘Fossil’ and ‘non-Fossil’ Carbon

Earth’s atmosphere currently contains about 78% nitrogen, 20% oxygen and 0.038%
carbon dioxide along with trace amounts of other gases. Millions of years ago there used
to be more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere which was extracted over a very long period
of time through the growth, death and ‘fossilisation’ of plants and animals forming oil, coal
and gas underground. Carbon in oil, coal and natural gas is referred to as ‘fossil’ carbon,
and by burning these fossil fuels we contribute to a net increase in the current atmospheric
concentration of CO2.

Burning wood or biomass also releases CO2 but if more trees are planted the CO2 is then
taken up again by photosynthesis as part of the carbon cycle so there is no net increase in
atmospheric CO2 concentration. Carbon in wood or biomass can be thought of as ‘non-
fossil’ carbon.

1
In reality it may be that forests, timber and wood products are burnt, not for energy recovery, cycling carbon
dioxide back in to the atmosphere.

16
 3.4 A packaging (pallet) example

As a simple example of the negative climate change impact of wood products, the carbon footprint
of a wooden pallet is shown below (cradle to gate including the product use phase, ECCM 2007).
The figure shows a breakdown of the footprint by activity and it can be seen that the amount
carbon stored in timber far outweighs emissions associated with harvesting, transportation and
manufacturing. The net footprint of this pallet is -28 kilograms of CO2 per pallet.

Figure 12. Carbon Footprint of a Wooden Pallet

Pallet Transportation
-5

Energy during Pallet

kg CO 2/ pallet

-10
Manufacture

-15 Material Lifecycle -

Steel
-20 Timber Harvesting
and Transportation
-25
Carbon stored in
timber
-30

-35
EUR pallet (800 x 1,200)

17
 3.5 A Building Comparison

A study by ECCM for Forestry Commission Scotland shows the potential emissions reductions that
can be made by increasing timber content in construction projects. Three buildings comparisons
were conducted, considering carbon dioxide emissions associated with extraction and production
of building materials; a two bedroom house, three bedroom house, and a block of flats. ECCM
estimates that there could be up to an 86% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions associated with
building materials if timber internal and external elements are specified wherever possible (Figure
13).

Figure 13. GHG Emissions from Increasing Timber Content of Buildings

140
128

120

Typical practice
100 footprint (tCO2)
Tonne of CO 2

80 Increased timber
content footprint
(tCO2)
60

40

22
17
20 12
3 2
0
2 bed semi-detached 3 bed detached 4 storey block of flats
Source of emissions

*Typical practice refers to a Scotland.

Table 5 and Figure 14 shows that an estimated 9.2 tonnes of CO2 emissions can be saved by
increasing the proportions of timber and other less GHG intense materials in a typical two bedroom
semi-detached house. The table shows how these savings are broken down by building element.

18
 Table 5. Possible GHG savings from using timber in a two bedroom Semi-detached House.
Building Materials: Typical Tonnes Materials: Increased Tonnes Tonnes of
element practice of CO2 timber content of CO2 CO2 savings
Foundations Concrete Concrete
0.9 0.9 0
Flooring Hardcore, concrete Hardcore, concrete
slab, screed, slab, timber floor,
chipboard, extruded EPS insulation
polystyrene insulation 2.0 1.0 1.0
Ceilings Plasterboard 0.2 Plasterboard 0.2 0
Joists Timber I joists -0.12 Timber I joists -0.12 0
External walls Timber frame, brick Timber frame, timber
work, plywood clad, panelvent
sheathing, glasswool board, cellulose
insulation and insulation and
plasterboard plasterboard
4.9 -1.9 6.8
Internal walls Timber frame and Timber frame and
plasterboard 0.2 plasterboard 0.2 0
Stairs Timber -0.1 Timber -0.1 0
Windows Glass 0.1 Glass 0.1 0
PVC frame 0.03 Wooden frames -0.02 0.05
Internal doors Panel doors Panel doors
(chipboard) -0.1 (chipboard) -0.1 0
External PVC Timber
doors 0.1 -0.1 0
Roof Timber rafters, rock Timber rafters, rock
wool insulation and wool insulation, felt,
Marley plain concrete battens and clay tiles
(BRE element profile) 4.0 (BRE element profile) 2.9 1.1
Total - 12.2 - 3.1 9.1

Figure 14. Possible GHG savings using timber in buildings.

6 Typical construction materials

Increased timber content

3
CO2 emissions (tonnes)

0
ls

ls

s
ts

rs
gs

rs
g

f
ns

oo
w

or
al
al
rin

is

oo
ai
lin

do
io

do
w
w
Jo

R
oo

St

ld
at

ei

in
al

al

-1
al
d

Fl

na
W
rn

rn
un

rn
te

te

r
te
Fo

te
Ex

In

Ex
In

-2

-3

*typical practice refers to Scotland

19
References
APME 2005, Association of Plastics Manufacturers Europe, www.plasticseurope.org

BP Carbon Calculator, www.bp.com

BRE 1999 Building Research Establishment, Environmental profiles, Approved Environmental Profile for Kiln
Dried Timber http://cig.bre.co.uk/envprofiles

Building Information Foundation, Finland 2004, Ecoprofile for roofing tiles (in Finnish)
http://www.rts.fi/ymparistoseloste/ormax_ymparistoseloste.pdf

Carbon Trust 2007. Carbon Footprint Measurement Methodology (Draft) www.carbontrust.co.uk

CCAR 2007. California Climate Action Registry, General Reporting Protocol. www.climateregistry.org

ECCM 2007 Buildings Carbon Indicator, www.eccm.uk.com

ECCM 2007. The Carbon Balance of Wooden Pallets. www.eccm.uk.com

ECCM 2006 Forestry Commission Scotland Greenhouse Gas Emissions Comparison: Carbon benefits of
Timber in Construction. The Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Management. www.eccm.uk.com

Enterprise Europe 11 2003. Industry: Using Wood to Tackle Climate Change.

http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/library/enterprise-europe/issue11/articles/en/enterprise07_en.htm

European Commission Technical Steel Research, 2002. Life-cycle Assessment (LCA) for Steel
Construction. www.europa.eu.int

IIED & ECCM 2004. Using Wood Products to Mitigate Climate Change: A review of evidence and key issues
for Sustainable Development. International Institute for Environment and Development, London.
www.iied.org

IPCC 2007. The Physical Science Basis, Fourth Assessment Report, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change. http://www.ipcc.ch/

IPCC 2007. Revised 2007 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories: Reverence Manual.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

IIED & ECCM 2004. Using Wood Products to Mitigate Climate Change: A review of evidence and key issues
for Sustainable Development. International Institute for Environment and Development, London.

ISA 2007. A Definition of ‘Carbon Footprint’. Centre for Integrated Sustainability Analysis UK, ISA Research
and Consulting. www.isa-research.co.uk

ISO 2006. ISO 14040: Environmental management – Life Cycle Assessment – Principles and framework.
International Organisation for Standardisation, Geneva. www.iso.org

ISO 2006. ISO 14044: Environmental management – Life Cycle Assessment – Requirements and
Guidelines, International Organisation for Standardisation, Geneva.

ISO 2006. ISO14064 Greenhouse gases – Part 1: Specification with Guidance at the Organisation level for
quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and removals. International Organisation for
Standardisation, Geneva.

Micales & Skog 1996. The Decomposition of Forest Products in Landfills. International Biodeterioration
&Biodegredation. Vol.39 pp.145-158. Elsevier Science Ltd.

Sky Carbon Calculator. http://www.jointhebiggerpicture.co.uk/carbonCalculator/calc.html

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Stern 2006. Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change. www.hm-treasury.gov.uk

WBCSD/WRI 2004. The Greenhouse Gas Protocol, A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard,
Revised Edition. World Business Council for Sustainable Development and World Resources Institute.
www.ghgprotocol.org

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Glossary
Carbon Dioxide Equivalent (CO2e). The universal unit of measurement used to indicate the
global warming potential (GWP) of each of the 6 Kyoto greenhouse gases. It is used to evaluate
the impacts of releasing (or avoiding the release of) different greenhouse gases.

Climate change. A change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that
alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate
variability over comparable time periods (Source: United Nations framework Convention on
Climate Change).

Direct emissions. Emissions that are produced by organisation-owned equipment or emissions

from organisation-owned premises, such as carbon dioxide from electricity generators, gas boilers
and vehicles, or methane from landfill sites.

Global warming. The continuous gradual rise of the earth’s surface temperature thought to be
caused by the greenhouse effect and responsible for changes in global climate patterns (see also
Climate Change).

Global Warming Potential (GWP). The GWP is an index that compares the relative potential (to
CO2) of the 6 greenhouse gases to contribute to global warming i.e. the additional heat/energy
which is retained in the Earth’s ecosystem through the release of this gas into the atmosphere.
The additional heat/energy impact of all other greenhouse gases are compared with the impacts of
carbon dioxide (CO2) and referred to in terms of a CO2 equivalent (CO2e) e.g. Carbon dioxide has
been designated a GWP of 1, Methane has a GWP of 21.

Greenhouse gases (GHG). The current IPCC inventory includes six major greenhouse gases.
These are Carbon dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4), Nitrous oxide (N2O), Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs),
Perfluorocarbons (PFCs), Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6).

Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto protocol originated at the 3rd Conference of the Parties (COP) to the
United Nations Convention on Climate Change held in Kyoto, Japan in December 1997. It
specifies the level of emission reductions, deadlines and methodologies that signatory countries
(i.e. countries who have signed the Kyoto Protocol) are to achieve.

IPCC. The intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. A special intergovernmental body

established by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological
Organisation (WMO) to provide assessments of the results of climate change research to policy
makers. The Greenhouse Gas Inventory Guidelines are being developed under the auspices of
the IPCC and will be recommended for use by parties to the Framework Convention on Climate
Change.

Indirect emissions. Emissions that are a consequence of the activities of the reporting company
but occur from sources owned or controlled by another organisation or individual. They include all
outsourced power generation (e.g. electricity, hot water), outsourced services (e.g. waste disposal,
business travel, transport of company-owned goods) and outsourced manufacturing processes.
Indirect emissions also cover the activities of franchised companies and the emissions associated
with downstream and/or upstream manufacture, transport and disposal of products used by the
organisation, referred to as product life-cycle emissions.

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 The Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Management
Tower Mains Studios, 18F Liberton Brae, Edinburgh, Midlothian EH16 6AE
www.eccm.uk.com

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