Introduction to Life Cycle Assessment

1. Introduction to Environmental Life Cycle Assessment
2. The Idea and Principles of LCA
3. LCA: Goal and Scope of the Study
4. Life Cycle Inventory – General Idea
5. Scope of an LCA
6. Identifying the Boundaries of Analysis
7. System Boundaries
8. Life Cycle Inventory
9. Life Cycle Inventory – General Idea
10. Life Cycle Inventory – Important Considerations
11. Life Cycle Inventory – Modeling the System and Results
12. Life Cycle Inventory – Modeling the System and Results
13. Impact Assessment
14. Life Cycle Impact Assessment
15. Life Cycle Impact Assessment: Environmental impacts
16. Life Cycle Impact Assessment: Basis: The Inventory Table
17. Characterization of Environmental Impacts
18. Calculating Environmental Impacts
19. Environmental Concerns over the Life Cycle
20. Interpretation of the Results
21. Interpretation - Objectives
22. Interpretation - Elements
23. Summary of Life Cycle Assessment

In the previous sections you have learnt about Sustainability and about environmental impact categories and discovered the basic idea of Life Cycle Thinking. The products and processes you deal with at work and in your personal life affect the environment, adversely or beneficial. But how can you ensure that you are doing the best possible job in realizing the benefits of technology with minimal environmental damage? A tool that helps you with your decision making in seeking to achieve this balance is Life Cycle Assessment.

In principle, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) provides a way of quantifying the diverse effects on the environment caused by products throughout their entire life cycle.

Learning Outcomes for this Section

After completing this section, you should be able to:

• Explain the idea and general principles of Environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
• Describe the procedure and the major steps of conducting an LCA
• Explain the principles of Life Cycle Assessment in terms of Goal and Scope definition, System Modelling, Life Cycle Inventory, Life Cycle Impact Assessment and Interpretation
• Assign environmental parameters contributing to different environmental impacts
• Explain the role of the individual taking responsibility for the environmental consequences of their decisions
• Define relevant environmental inventory parameters

References

• Eyerer, P,  Ganzheitliche Bilanzierung, Springer-Verlag, 354059356X 
• Rubin, ES,  Introduction to Engineering and the Environment, McGraw-Hill, 0072354674 
• ISO 14040-Series,  Environmental Management – Life Cycle Assessment, ISO,  
• Meadows, DL,  Die Grenzen des Wachstums, Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 3421026335 
• Enquete-Kommission "Schutz des Menschen und der Umwelt" des Deutschen Bundestages (Hrsg.),  Verantwortung für die Zukunft : Wege zum nachhaltigen Umgang mit Stoff- und Materialströmen, Economica-Verlag GmbH, 3870815035