The major new life cycle assessment study (LCA) from the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) will compile life cycle inventory data for sawn lumber and veneers of selected top species, including two of the most prolific American hardwoods – white oak and red oak – from point of extraction through to delivery to importers’ yards in Europe and South-east Asia.

Probably the most popular of the American species, oaks (Quercus) represent around 40% of the hardwood resource of the eastern US. The new LCA has been commissioned by AHEC as a direct response to green specification requirements and to competitors’ (both wood and non-wood) increasing use of scientific data to support environmental claims. It is likely to include the development of LCAs and carbon footprints for products where American oak species are particularly prevalent – doors, flooring and furniture.

The study will provide AHEC with science-based research data to support its marketing and challenge its competitors. As a discrete component, the assessment of the carbon footprint of American red oak and white oak will have particular resonance in Europe, where questions about CO2 emissions related to the transport of American hardwoods are raised. While it may be reasonable to respond that the largest part of the journey is by sea, with relative low emissions, independent science-based facts and figures will have a real impact on the marketing messages for these popular species.

Both the American oaks are available in lumber and veneer in a range of grades and specifications. The long clear lengths, compared with the shorter character grade oak from Europe, are attractive for buyers, and oak’s availability for furniture, joinery and flooring has maintained its market strength.

The study, which will be carried out by experts PE International, will also provide LCA and carbon footprint data for some finished products such as interior doors, flooring and furniture. In each case a product manufactured in popular species such as American white and red oak will be compared with products manufactured in a representative range of alternative materials, both wood and non-wood. Complex supply chain patterns mean that this will cover both the product manufacture in a typical EU location as well as an East Asian location, followed by re-export to a typical European market.

Red oak in Yale University's School of Forestry

In 2010 three projects have demonstrated the beauty and adaptability of American oak. Hopkins Architects chose American red oak for, appropriately, the stairs and walls of the new Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies building, which scored LEED platinum, the highest category in the US system which is roughly equivalent to BREEAM.

In the colonnade of the Universita Statale, the hub of the 2010 Milan Furniture Fair, architect Matteo Thun built his three ‘beacons’ in lightly finished American red oak to demonstrate the life cycle of products. These basket shaped installations housed bijoux, fabric offcuts and discarded cutting patterns from clothes designer Marni.

And in Ghent, architect Joris Van Huychem chose American white oak as “the best solution” for the University auditorium because of its colour and acoustic qualities.

Visit www.americanhardwood.org

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