Environmental load of solid wood floor production from larch grown at different planting densities based on a life cycle assessment

As one of the main structural units in a building,a solid wood floor has significant strategic research value for low-carbon energy saving.Taking the production line of a solid larch wood floor as a case study,we assessed the environmental load during production based upon a life cycle assessment.Using GaBi 6.0 software,we analyzed the associated carbon sequestration during floor production,with the initial planting density serving as the disturbance factor in a modular analysis.The results indicated that the cutting and finishing steps have relatively intense,negative influences on the environment,whereas transportation,ripping,and trimming do not.Additionally,recycling biomass waste has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.When the initial planting density was 3.0×3.0 m,carbon sequestration was relatively high.Although the emissions of freshwater pollutants,volatile organic compounds,and fine particulate matter（matter with a 2.5-μm diameter） were comparatively high,the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions was still excellent at this planting density.

Ecological Footprint Evaluation of Three Types of Wood Flooring in China based on Their Production Data from 2000 to 2018

To encourage the environmental responsibility of consumers and manufacturers for forest management,it is necessary to evaluate the environmental influences of forest products.Ecological footprint(EF) is an internationally recognized indicator for estimating the natural capital consumption and environmental influences of various forest products.In this study,we developed an accounting model for the EF evaluation of wood flooring,which is a tertiary forest product,by the method of transformation.Next,we used that model to evaluate the EF of three types of wood flooring in China according to their production data from 2000 to 2018.We collected the necessary data by visiting typical enterprises in China and referring to the relevant literature.According to our results,the average EFs of solid wood flooring,engineered solid wood flooring and laminate flooring between 2000 to 2018 were 3.13×10^(6),1.05×10^(7) and 5.07×10^(6) gha,respectively.The total EFs of solid wood flooring,engineered solid wood flooring and laminate flooring from 2000 to 2018 were 5.95×10^(7),1.99×10^(8) and 9.64×10^(7 )gha,respectively.The coefficients of variation(CV) of the EFs for these three types of wood flooring were 0.45,0.87 and 0.76,respectively.The average and total EFs of the engineered solid wood flooring were the largest among the three types of wood flooring.The per capita EF and unit EF for the engineered solid wood flooring were also the highest among the three types of wood flooring.The EFs showed an upward trend with irregular fluctuations from 2000 to 2018 for all three types of wood flooring.It is necessary to reduce the EF of the engineered solid wood flooring and use more environmentally friendly products,such as solid wood flooring,for environmental protection.

Analysis of Wood Floor Industry's Development in China

As an emerging industry,China's wood floor industry dates back to the early 1980s. Despite a late start,it has developed rapidly during the last 20 years.The past decades have witnessed great changes in China's wood floor industry.With high quality,many products"made in China"are available widely abroad nowadays.Current global economic shocks,however,affect China's domestic real estate sector;hence the falling domestic sales of wood floor.The paper aims to identify the current situation of floor industry...