A life cycle assessment (LCA) is a tool to objectively evaluate the overall environmental impacts associated with a product. LCA assesses the product and the inputs (energy, raw materials, water, etc.) and outputs (pollution to soil, water, oil, etc.) in a product’s life cycle from raw material extraction to final disposal. LCA is not a risk assessment tool because it stops at quantifying emissions without assessing their impacts. Additionally, LCA is a data-intensive methodology and data limitations (out-of-date, lack of data, or omissions) are common.

LCA is a useful tool to identify, prioritize and target actions to minimize negative environmental impact. LCAs can also be used to compare the environmental impact of alternative raw materials.

A number of LCAs have been completed for various wood-based products including:

• Wood as a building material
• Wooden furniture
• Comparison between single-use diapers with absorbent gels, commercially

laundered cloth diapers, and home-laundered cloth diapers

• Comparison of wood, concrete, and steel as building materials
• Comparison between using wood, aluminum and plastic to build a video/TV unit

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• Comparison between solid wood, linoleum and vinyl as raw materials for flooring
• Comparison between wood, PVC and aluminum as raw materials to build window frames.

Some of the drawbacks of LCAs include:

• They account for environmental factors but not economic and social aspects
• LCAs do not address the renewable aspect of wood
• LCAs are undertaken on a case-by-case basis and thus, limited by the boundaries of the assessment.

A list of resources on LCA can be found in Section V.