IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v9y2017i10p1897-d115896.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Environmental Indicators for the Evaluation of Wood Products in Consideration of Site-Dependent Aspects: A Review and Integrated Approach

Author

Listed:
  • Nadine May

    (Chair of Environmental Management and Accounting, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany)

  • Edeltraud Guenther

    (Chair of Environmental Management and Accounting, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany)

  • Peer Haller

    (Institute of Steel and Timber Construction, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany)

Abstract

On the way towards a more biobased economy, the sustainable use of global wood resources remains a challenge as several trade-offs arise, e.g., from an increased energetic use of wood, an increased use of innovative but probably less recyclable wood composites, or from the need to conserve other forest ecosystem services. The aim of this study is to identify existing environmental indicators and methods for an evaluation of the sustainability of wood products in consideration of all life cycle stages, site-dependent aspects and later use in corporate decision-making. We chose a systematic literature review to answer the research questions explicitly and comprehensively. Qualitative content analysis was used to code indicators and scientific methods according to the Pressure-State-Response (PSR) framework. The sample (N = 118) is characterized by a high number of life cycle assessment (LCA) case studies. In 51% of all studies, the study authors use a combination of different methods. A total of 78 indicators and 20 site-dependent aspects could be identified in the sample. The study findings represent a first step towards a holistic environmental assessment of wood products.

Suggested Citation

  • Nadine May & Edeltraud Guenther & Peer Haller, 2017. "Environmental Indicators for the Evaluation of Wood Products in Consideration of Site-Dependent Aspects: A Review and Integrated Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-31, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:10:p:1897-:d:115896
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/10/1897/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/10/1897/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Etzkowitz, Henry & Leydesdorff, Loet, 2000. "The dynamics of innovation: from National Systems and "Mode 2" to a Triple Helix of university-industry-government relations," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 109-123, February.
    2. Schaubroeck, Thomas & Staelens, Jeroen & Verheyen, Kris & Muys, Bart & Dewulf, Jo, 2012. "Improved ecological network analysis for environmental sustainability assessment; a case study on a forest ecosystem," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 247(C), pages 144-156.
    3. Bolin, Christopher A. & Smith, Stephen T., 2011. "Life cycle assessment of pentachlorophenol-treated wooden utility poles with comparisons to steel and concrete utility poles," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(5), pages 2475-2486, June.
    4. Julian Canto-Perello & Maria P. Martinez-Garcia & Jorge Curiel-Esparza & Manuel Martin-Utrillas, 2015. "Implementing Sustainability Criteria for Selecting a Roof Assembly Typology in Medium Span Buildings," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(6), pages 1-18, May.
    5. Aneurin Grant & Robert Ries & Charles Kibert, 2014. "Life Cycle Assessment and Service Life Prediction," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 18(2), pages 187-200, April.
    6. Latinopoulos, D. & Kechagia, K., 2015. "A GIS-based multi-criteria evaluation for wind farm site selection. A regional scale application in Greece," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 550-560.
    7. Joachim H. Spangenberg, 2002. "Institutional sustainability indicators: an analysis of the institutions in Agenda 21 and a draft set of indicators for monitoring their effectivity," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 10(2), pages 103-115.
    8. Stazi, Francesca & Tomassoni, Elisa & Bonfigli, Cecilia & Di Perna, Costanzo, 2014. "Energy, comfort and environmental assessment of different building envelope techniques in a Mediterranean climate with a hot dry summer," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 176-196.
    9. Lindner, Marcus & Suominen, Tommi & Palosuo, Taru & Garcia-Gonzalo, Jordi & Verweij, Peter & Zudin, Sergey & Päivinen, Risto, 2010. "ToSIA—A tool for sustainability impact assessment of forest-wood-chains," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 221(18), pages 2197-2205.
    10. K. Pingoud & A. Lehtilä, 2002. "Fossil carbon emissions associated with carbon flowsof wood products," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 63-83, March.
    11. Lars Gulbrandsen, 2005. "The Effectiveness of Non-State Governance Schemes: A Comparative Study of Forest Certification in Norway and Sweden," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 5(2), pages 125-149, June.
    12. David Moher & Alessandro Liberati & Jennifer Tetzlaff & Douglas G Altman & The PRISMA Group, 2009. "Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: The PRISMA Statement," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(7), pages 1-6, July.
    13. Vanessa Bach & Markus Berger & Natalia Finogenova & Matthias Finkbeiner, 2017. "Assessing the Availability of Terrestrial Biotic Materials in Product Systems (BIRD)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-35, January.
    14. Palosuo, Taru & Suominen, Tommi & Werhahn-Mees, Wendelin & Garcia-Gonzalo, Jordi & Lindner, Marcus, 2010. "Assigning results of the Tool for Sustainability Impact Assessment (ToSIA) to products of a forest-wood-chain," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 221(18), pages 2215-2225.
    15. Jennifer M. Zumsteg & Joyce S. Cooper & Michael S. Noon, 2012. "Systematic Review Checklist," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 16(s1), pages 12-21, April.
    16. K. Pingoud & A.-L. Perälä & A. Pussinen, 2001. "Carbon dynamics in wood products," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 6(2), pages 91-111, June.
    17. von Geibler, Justus & Kristof, Kora & Bienge, Katrin, 2010. "Sustainability assessment of entire forest value chains: Integrating stakeholder perspectives and indicators in decision support tools," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 221(18), pages 2206-2214.
    18. Tarantini, Mario & Loprieno, Arianna Dominici & Porta, Pier Luigi, 2011. "A life cycle approach to Green Public Procurement of building materials and elements: A case study on windows," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 2473-2482.
    19. Borjesson, Pal & Gustavsson, Leif, 2000. "Greenhouse gas balances in building construction: wood versus concrete from life-cycle and forest land-use perspectives," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(9), pages 575-588, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hongpeng Xu & Jing Li & Jianmei Wu & Jian Kang, 2019. "Evaluation of Wood Coverage on Building Facades Towards Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-12, March.
    2. Juan F. Velasco-Muñoz & José A. Aznar-Sánchez & Marina Schoenemann & Belén López-Felices, 2022. "An Analysis of the Worldwide Research on the Socio-Cultural Valuation of Forest Ecosystem Services," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-22, February.
    3. Nadine May & Edeltraud Günther & Peer Haller, 2019. "The sustainable use of wood as a regional resource—an ecological assessment of common and new processing technologies for wood poles [Die nachhaltige Nutzung von Holz als regionale Ressource - eine," Sustainability Nexus Forum, Springer, vol. 27(3), pages 177-201, December.
    4. Xinchang Zhang & Min Chen & Kai Guo & Yang Liu & Yi Liu & Weinan Cai & Hua Wu & Zeyi Chen & Yiyun Chen & Jianguo Zhang, 2021. "Regional Land Eco-Security Evaluation for the Mining City of Daye in China Using the GIS-Based Grey TOPSIS Method," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-18, January.
    5. Juan F. Velasco-Munoz & José A. Aznar-Sánchez & Marina Schoenemann & Belén López-Felices, 2022. "The economic valuation of ecosystem services: bibliometric analysis," Oeconomia Copernicana, Institute of Economic Research, vol. 13(4), pages 977-1014, December.
    6. Adriana Estokova & Marcela Ondova & Martina Wolfova & Alena Paulikova & Stanislav Toth, 2019. "Examination of Bearing Walls Regarding Their Environmental Performance," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-27, January.
    7. Rosemarie Garay & Francis Pfenniger & Miguel Castillo & Consuelo Fritz, 2021. "Quality and Sustainability Indicators of the Prefabricated Wood Housing Industry—A Chilean Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-21, July.
    8. Roman Réh & Ľuboš Krišťák & Miloš Hitka & Nadežda Langová & Pavol Joščák & Miloš Čambál, 2019. "Analysis to Improve the Strength of Beds Due to the Excess Weight of Users in Slovakia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-17, January.
    9. Chuloh Jung & Nahla Al Qassimi, 2022. "Investigating the Emission of Hazardous Chemical Substances from Mashrabiya Used for Indoor Air Quality in Hot Desert Climate," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-16, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Brainard, Julii & Lovett, Andrew & Bateman, Ian, 2006. "Sensitivity analysis in calculating the social value of carbon sequestered in British grown Sitka spruce," Journal of Forest Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 201-228, December.
    2. Braun, Martin & Winner, Georg & Schwarzbauer, Peter & Stern, Tobias, 2016. "Apparent Half-Life-Dynamics of Harvested Wood Products (HWPs) in Austria: Development and analysis of weighted time-series for 2002 to 2011," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 28-34.
    3. Reid Miner, 2023. "The 100-Year Method for Forecasting Carbon Sequestration in Forest Products in Use," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 1-20, October.
    4. Diana Tuomasjukka & Staffan Berg & Marcus Lindner, 2013. "Managing Sustainability of Fennoscandian Forests and Their Use by Law and/or Agreement: For Whom and Which Purpose?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(1), pages 1-32, December.
    5. Benoît Desmarchelier & Faridah Djellal & Faïz Gallouj, 2019. "Towards a servitization of innovation networks: from traditional innovation networks to public service innovation networks for social innovation," Post-Print halshs-03177975, HAL.
    6. Diana Tuomasjukka & Marcus Lindner & David Edwards, 2013. "A Concept for Testing Decision Support Tools in Participatory Processes Applied to the ToSIA Tool," Challenges, MDPI, vol. 4(1), pages 1-22, April.
    7. Eun-Kyung Jang & Yeo-Chang Youn, 2021. "Effects of Wood Product Utilization on Climate Change Mitigation in South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-16, June.
    8. Kevin Joseph Dillman & Áróra Árnadóttir & Jukka Heinonen & Michał Czepkiewicz & Brynhildur Davíðsdóttir, 2020. "Review and Meta-Analysis of EVs: Embodied Emissions and Environmental Breakeven," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-28, November.
    9. Chau, C.K. & Leung, T.M. & Ng, W.Y., 2015. "A review on Life Cycle Assessment, Life Cycle Energy Assessment and Life Cycle Carbon Emissions Assessment on buildings," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 395-413.
    10. Koide, R. & Murakami, S. & Nansai, K., 2022. "Prioritising low-risk and high-potential circular economy strategies for decarbonisation: A meta-analysis on consumer-oriented product-service systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    11. Benoît Desmarchelier & Faridah Djellal & Faïz Gallouj, 2020. "Towards a servitization of innovation networks: a mapping," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(9), pages 1368-1397, July.
    12. Sathre, Roger & Gustavsson, Leif, 2006. "Energy and carbon balances of wood cascade chains," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 332-355.
    13. Sergi Cerezo-Esteve & Eduard Inglés & Jordi Segui-Urbaneja & Francesc Solanellas, 2022. "The Environmental Impact of Major Sport Events (Giga, Mega and Major): A Systematic Review from 2000 to 2021," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-15, October.
    14. Leif Gustavsson & Kim Pingoud & Roger Sathre, 2006. "Carbon Dioxide Balance of Wood Substitution: Comparing Concrete- and Wood-Framed Buildings," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 11(3), pages 667-691, May.
    15. İlkay Unay-Gailhard & Mark A. Brennen, 2022. "How digital communications contribute to shaping the career paths of youth: a review study focused on farming as a career option," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 39(4), pages 1491-1508, December.
    16. Mahin Ghafari & Vali Baigi & Zahra Cheraghi & Amin Doosti-Irani, 2016. "The Prevalence of Asymptomatic Bacteriuria in Iranian Pregnant Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(6), pages 1-10, June.
    17. Elizabeth T Cafiero-Fonseca & Andrew Stawasz & Sydney T Johnson & Reiko Sato & David E Bloom, 2017. "The full benefits of adult pneumococcal vaccination: A systematic review," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(10), pages 1-23, October.
    18. Yoon, Junghyun & Lee, Hee Yong & Dinwoodie, John, 2015. "Competitiveness of container terminal operating companies in South Korea and the industry–university–government network," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 1-14.
    19. Santos Urbina & Sofía Villatoro & Jesús Salinas, 2021. "Self-Regulated Learning and Technology-Enhanced Learning Environments in Higher Education: A Scoping Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-12, June.
    20. Keroglou, I. & Tsoutsos, T., 2024. "Optimal siting of solar desalination plants in Crete, Greece employing a GIS/MCDM approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 224(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:10:p:1897-:d:115896. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.