A Functionality Based Wood Substitutability Index

Abstract

Recent progress in Life Cycle Impact Assessment highlighted the need to assess the loss of resources' functional value when assessing the life cycle impacts of resource depletion. To be able to assess the loss of functional value of resources due to scarcity and depletion, there is a need to assess the potential substitutions among different resources to fulfill the same functionality. In this sense, the main objective of this study is the development of a method for obtaining a substitution index (SI) for wood, quantifying to what extent the wood is substitutable by other available resources for the different functions it can fulfill. The aim of our method is to characterize wood through its functions and inherent properties by using following parameters (availability, price, current usage). As a result, we obtained SI for five functions of wood, classified by country and region. The results showed that wood substitution varies between each of its functions and also for each region. In general, replacing wood with other resources is a challenge for most regions and most functions, with SI usually below 0.5 on a scale from 0 to 1, where 0 indicate that there is no substitution and 1 indicate that the resource can be thoroughly replaced.

Preparation of Melamine/Rice Husk Powder Coated Shellac Microcapsules and Effect of Different Rice Husk Powder Content in Wall Material on Properties of Wood Waterborne Primer

“…As a natural resource, wood has the characteristics of lightweight and high strength and is rich in natural color and pattern [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. It is widely used in the manufacture of furniture and other daily necessities [ 4 ]. Although wood is a renewable resource, its growth cycle is slow, and the wood itself has defects such as wet expansion and dry shrinkage, easy cracking, easy decay, and unstable size [ 5 , 6 , 7 ].…”