environment magazine

By Rupert Oliver, environmental consultant, American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC)

A major international effort is underway to ensure that Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) become a key part of the material selection process in the building sector. Despite their growing significance, awareness of EPDs amongst most material suppliers is still relatively low. The American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) has begun to address this issue in the wood sector through a major project launched at the end of last year. The project aims to promote compilation and use of EPDs in line with international standards by European and Asian joinery and furniture manufacturers of hardwood-based products. The innovative project, which is being undertaken by PE International (PE), may offer lessons for other suppliers to the building sector.

By Alexander Offei and M Nurudeen Iddrisu. Ghana forestry Commission, London Office

Ghana is recognised as one of the most advanced tropical African countries in established forest policy, legislation, forest inventory, management planning, and in having a National Forest Standard and principles, criteria and indicators for judging the quality of forest management and usage.

The tropical forests of Ghana contain a wide range of timber species suitable for the construction industry, decking, flooring, panels and builder’s woodwork.

By Miles Brown BSc, MSc, CBiol, MSB, AIEMA & Victor Kearley BSc, PhD, FIWSc

Biomass is a generic term for a wide range of organic materials including wood, which are used to generate electricity and/or heat. Waste wood is just one form of biomass for which there is rapidly growing interest in the UK. This paper review outlines some of the issues involved.

A key difference between using biomass and fossil fuels is that with biomass, if sustainably managed, the carbon dioxide (CO2) released from combustion is in theory re-absorbed by replacement growth via photosynthesis. The process therefore remains essentially carbon neutral, so unlike the combustion of fossil fuels, the only contribution to greenhouse gas (GHG) emission comes from processing and transport. Generation of low carbon energy is of increasing interest to the government, as implementation of the 2008 Climate Change Act means that the UK has a series of legally binding targets en route to a long-term goal of reducing GHG emissions to 20% of 1990 levels by 2050.