Research progress on life cycle carbon footprint assessment of modern timber construction
The construction industry,as a high-energy-consuming sector,accounts for approximately 40%of global annual carbon emissions,placing a substantial burden on the environment.With the introduction of China's"Dual Carbon"strategic goals in 2020,transitioning towards low-carbon development in the construction sector has become essential.Owing to the inherent carbon-sequestration properties of wood,timber construction holds anatural advantage in carbon emission reduction.Therefore,actively promoting modern timber construction and clarifying its benefits in carbon reduction are emerging as critical research topics.This is especially significant for the low-carbon,high-quality development of the timber industry.Despite the growing focus on carbon footprint assessment in timber construction,significant inconsistencies in research scope and evaluation methods exist among scholars both domestically and internationally.Such discrepancies not only compromise the accuracy of carbon footprint assessments but also pose challenges in formulating unified evaluation standards.This paper systematically reviews relevant research from around the world,categorizing and discussing the current state of carbon footprint evaluation in timber construction,and identifying the leading issues and hot topics in this field.It further explores various carbon footprint evaluation methods for timber construction from a life-cycle perspective,summarizing the research gaps and future directions.This aims to provide reliable evaluation methods and theoretical foundations for studies on the carbon reduction benefits throughout the lifecycle of modern timber construction.Additionally,it outlines key areas for future research:establishing evaluation standards for the carbon sequestration effects of timber;developing a unified and comprehensive database for carbon emission factors of timber;clarifying suitable carbon footprint calculation methods for timber construction;and enhancing research on the carbon footprint during the physical phases of timber construction.