Sometimes companies have a lot of good work going on behind the scenes on sustainability. LP Building Solutions just surprised the industry by announcing that it now has a substantial “carbon negative” portfolio.
What this announcement suggests is that some building products can more than account for the CO2 pollution released in their manufacture. LP demonstrated this through the combination of carefully constructed Life Cycle Assessments and Environmental Product Declarations.
If you want to dive deeper into what was measured and how, I suggest you read LP’s EPD document about its SmartSide Trim & Siding. This EPD process is key to understanding the company’s thorough approach.
Achieving a carbon negative score is multi-phased. It requires minimizing waste in the production and harvesting process, but also getting very proactive about where and how the lumber is grown and transported. The carbon capture “device” that pushes the products into the negative range is the tree itself.
Carefully managed trees, according to LP and ASTM, actually grab more carbon while growing than the entire “cradle to gate” process releases. Presumably, the wood holds on to that carbon as well, because for the most part, it’s being used in a durable manner, turned into building products, not burned for energy.
LP approached their EPDs the right way, with third-party verification. ASTM International has just validated five of the company’s Structural Solutions products as carbon negative, and they’re solid brands you may recognize, or already be using. Here’s a quick summary of what this means for building pros and homebuyers:
Floor to Roof Possibilities. The products currently verified as carbon-negative form some of the most basic building blocks of a new home or major renovation. They include LP TechShield Radiant Barrier, LP WeatherLogic Air & Water Barrier, LP Legacy Premium Sub-Flooring, LP FlameBlock Fire-Rated Sheathing, and LP TopNotch 350 Durable Sub-Flooring. What that portfolio gives you is the ability to introduce carbon negative products repeatedly during the typical building process.
Green Building Certification. These products also can help achieve higher ratings within green building certification programs like LEED and the WELL Building Standard. For example, here’s how they might be applied:
Eco-Friendly Marketing: With increasing consumer awareness about climate change, builders using these products can appeal to Millennial and Gen-Z buyers especially, with a message of pro-active building materials that will not worsen the impacts of the Climate Crisis.
Not every product in a home will be able to achieve a carbon-negative footprint. LP has an advantage, in that many of its products are rooted in sustainable forestry. It’s hard to imagine, for example, a concrete foundation or steel frame or granite countertop that can claim to be storing more CO2 over its lifespan than it releases in production.
But what LP has done, to its credit, is set a high bar that to which other companies can look for insights and inspiration. Some of their processes are replicable, no matter what the product type. For example:
Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs): LP developed LCAs and EPDs for each product, before submitting them to ASTM for validation and consideration.
Zero Waste: LP has long been committed to using renewable resources, and that commitment has paid off. But they don’t just “use” trees. They make sure every fiber they harvest is put to some kind of use. There’s almost no waste at any of their plants.
It’s clear that LP has not been a passive player when it comes to research. They have spent years and assumedly a great deal of money not only to fine tune their operations, but to keep a record of their actions, and be able to tell the story.
In short, their recent announcement doesn’t just affect their bottom line; it changes how they talk about construction and sustainability. And you can bet they won’t be shy about telling you how they’re leading the industry in transparency and genuine concern about their environmental legacy.