Wood is increasingly perceived as a renewable, sustainable building material. The carbon it contains, biogenic carbon, comes from biological processes; it is characterized by a rapid turnover in the global carbon cycle. Increasing the use of harvested wood products (HWP) from sustainable forest management could provide highly needed mitigation efforts and carbon removals. However, the combined climate change benefits of sequestering biogenic carbon, storing it in harvested wood products and substituting more emission-intensive materials are hard to quantify. Although different methodological choices and assumptions can lead to opposite conclusions, there is no consensus on the assessment of biogenic carbon in life cycle assessment (LCA). Since LCA is increasingly relied upon for decision and policy making, incorrect biogenic carbon assessment could lead to inefficient or counterproductive strategies, as well as missed opportunities. This article presents a critical review of biogenic carbon impact assessment methods, it compares two main approaches to include time considerations in LCA, and suggests one that seems better suited to assess the impacts of biogenic carbon in buildings.

This article presents rolling horizon simulation models and performance analysis of partially and fully integrated sales and operations planning (S&OP) against traditional decoupled planning in a multi-site make-to-order (MTO) based manufacturing supply chain. Three simulation models are developed illustrating, respectively, the fully integrated S&OP model, which integrates cross-functional planning of sales, production, distribution, and procurement centrally; the partially integrated S&OP model, in which the joint sales and production planning is performed centrally while distribution and procurement are planned separately at each site; and the decoupled planning model, in which sales planning is carried out centrally while production, distribution, and procurement are planned separately and locally. A solution procedure is provided for each model so that a more realistic planning process can be simulated. Performances of rolling horizon simulation models are evaluated against those of the fixed horizon deterministic models. The results demonstrate that while deterministic models are important for theoretical studies, they are insufficient for decision support and performance evaluations in a real business environment. A rolling horizon simulation model is required to provide more realistic solutions. The effects of demand uncertainties and forecast inaccuracies are incorporated in the evaluation. The study is carried out based on a real industrial case of a Canadian-based oriented strand board (OSB) manufacturing company.

Pine Wood Treated with a Citric Acid and Glycerol Mixture: Biomaterial Performance Improved by a Bio-byproduct