Carbon Analysis of Wood Composite Panels

Abstract

Wood composite panels (WCP) are well known for their environmentally friendly attributes of being sustainable, renewable, biodegradable, and predominantly made from wood residues generated during lumber and plywood production. This paper focuses on the ability of WCPs to store carbon for long periods of time in nonstructural applications such as cabinets, furniture, and flooring. WCPs, include particleboard, medium density fiberboard (MDF), and hardboard–engineered wood siding and trim (EWST). These panels are anticipated to have an average service life of 25–30 years. In 2019, there was an estimated 291 million cubic meters (m3) of WCPs in use in North America that corresponds to a carbon pool of 354 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents. This WCP carbon pool is enough to offset 24 years of cradle-to-gate cumulative carbon emissions (fossil and biogenic sources) emitted during production of these panels. In other words, producing and using WCPs stores carbon for long periods because the amount of carbon emitted during the production of the panels is far less than what the panels themselves are capable of storing over their lifetime of product use.