Modeling Wood Packaging (kg) in Ecoinvent: Unit Issue with Wood Products

Question

Hi everyone,

I’m currently working on an LCA model for stone and glass wool, and we're including packaging materials like wood pallets. The problem is that the amount of wood I have is measured in kg, but when searching in Ecoinvent, all I can find are wood products in volume units (m³) or as items (pallets), which don’t match the units I have. For example, "glued solid timber" is given in m³, but I only know the amount in kg.

My question is: Can I change the reference unit in Ecoinvent to mass (kg) and still get accurate results in my model? I’m worried that if I change the reference unit, the data might not correspond correctly, since the provider's data is in volume (m³).

Thanks for any insights!

Answer 1

Yes you could change the unit, but it is better to add a new flow property and thus unit to the wood flow that allows a conversion from m3 to kg.