Source: UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON submitted to NRP
CORRIM LCA UPDATES FOR SOLID WOOD PRODUCTS
Sponsoring Institution
Other Cooperating Institutions
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
STATE
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0228651
Grant No.
(N/A)
Cumulative Award Amt.
(N/A)
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Mar 1, 2012
Project End Date
Dec 31, 2012
Grant Year
(N/A)
Program Code
[(N/A)]- (N/A)
Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
4333 BROOKLYN AVE NE
SEATTLE,WA 98195
Performing Department
Sustainable Resource Management
Non Technical Summary
The University of Washington will integrate updated cradle to gate life cycle inventory and assessment data into revised life cycle assessment (LCA) reports and upload the full LCA reports for the cradle-to-grave life-cycle assessment. We will provide full LCA reports for 13 product by region combinations. The LCA reports will be based on the Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) work that had previously been completed by Consortium for Research on Renewable Industrial Materials (CORRIM) affiliates. Data updates provided by other CORRIM affiliates will be integrated into full and complete LCA reports sufficient to meet the needs of environmental product declaration developers. In addition, the data will be uploaded and maintained on the CORRIM website that is managed at the University of Washington.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
51106502080100%
Knowledge Area
511 - New and Improved Non-Food Products and Processes;

Subject Of Investigation
0650 - Wood and wood products;

Field Of Science
2080 - Mathematics and computer sciences;
Goals / Objectives
The University of Washington will integrate updated cradle to gate life cycle inventory and assessment data into revised life cycle assessment (LCA) reports and upload the full LCA reports for the cradle-to-grave life-cycle assessment. We will provide full LCA reports for 13 product by region combinations as listed in 1 through 6 below. 1. Produce LCA reports for softwood lumber - 4 US supply regions (PNW, NE/NC, SE, INW). 2. Produce full LCA reports for plywood (2 US supply regions - PNW, SE) and oriented strand board (OSB) (SE region). 3. Produce LCA reports for laminated veneer lumber (LVL)- 2 regions (PNW, SE). 4. Produce LCA reports for Composite I-joists - 2 regions (PNW, SE). 5. Produce LCA reports for Glulam - 2 regions (PNW, SE). 6. Upload all data and reports on the Consortium for Research on Renewable Industrial Materials (CORRIM) website and maintain website. Deliverables: 1. Thirteen LCA reports for the region and product combinations in the scope of work. 2. Upload and maintain the full LCA reports for the cradle-to-grave life-cycle assessment onto the CORRIM website.
Project Methods
The life cycle assessment (LCA) reports will be based on the Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) work that had previously been completed by Consortium for Research on Renewable Industrial Materials (CORRIM) affiliates. Data updates provided by other CORRIM affiliates will be integrated into full and complete LCA reports sufficient to meet the needs of environmental product declaration developers. In addition, the data will be uploaded and maintained on the CORRIM website that is managed at the University of Washington.

Progress 03/01/12 to 12/31/12

Outputs
Target Audience:The project was funded by CORRIM, the Consortium for Research on Renewable Industrial Materials, with flow through funds from the American Wood Council. The products were developed specifically to assist the American Wood Council with their production of Environmental Product Declarations for wood products. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?No funds were allocated to training and development. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results were sent for external compliance and auditing consistent with ISO 14044 standards on the approval of life cycle assessment reports. The audit was undertaken by UL Environment. Results were then incorporated into North American Wood Product Environmental Product Declarations that were published by the American Wood Council. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? CORRIM, the Consortium for Research on Renewable Industrial Materials, has derived life cycle inventory (LCI) data for major wood products and wood production regions in the United States. These documents update the current wood product LCI's from a gate to gate to a cradle to gate LCI. These research guidelines were developed to ensure a consistent and comparable approach among the various institutions, panels, and task groups conducting CORRIM research. The guidelines detail the information required, include definitions, conventions and measurement units, and cover a range of methodological issues with particular emphasis on establishing boundaries and analysis limits to scope studies. Fifteen life cycle assessment reports were produced jointly with non-UW partners, including other CORRIM affiliates. These reports are available at: http://www.corrim.org/pubs/reports/2013/phase1_updates/index.asp

Publications