Hi, I am new to eTool, a timber/laminated desk top has a negative GWP value in one of the template. I also got a negative value when created my own. May you clarify?
Timber can show negative impacts in Life Cycle Assessments due to carbon sequestration. As trees grow, they absorb CO2 from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and store it in their biomass, resulting in a net removal of CO2 over the tree’s lifetime. This stored carbon is reflected as a negative impact (carbon uptake) during the material production phase (A1-A3), highlighting the role of timber as a carbon sink.
In eTool, we differentiate between timber sourced from sustainable suppliers (e.g., FSC-certified), which accounts for these biogenic carbon benefits, and timber from unspecified sources, where these benefits may not be reflected.
Additionally, negative impacts related to timber can also arise from Benefits and Loads from Material Reuse, Recycling, and Energy Recovery at end-of-life. This is why we always recommend conducting a whole-of-life carbon assessment to fully understand the impact across all life cycle stages.
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