Life cycle assessment, principles practice and prospects, horne, grant, verghese, csiro publishing 2009. Principles, practice and prospects, by ralph horne, tim grant and karli verghese published by csiro publishing, 2009, 192pp life. Inventory guidelines and principles, epa600r92245, and lca101 from the lcaccess, website. Life cycle assessment carbon footprint water footprint carbon. The future of building life cycle assessment in practice summary as the architectural and construction industries increasingly emphasize sustainability, more comprehensive methods are being developed to evaluate and reduce environmental impacts by buildings. Life cycle thinking forms one of the basic principles of sustainable.
The intent of this practice guide is to help building professionals understand why and how to use lca in their work. Life cycle assessment focuses on the reflective practice of lca, and provides critical insight into the technique and how it can be used as a problemsolving tool. Sorry, we are unable to provide the full text but you may find it at the following locations. Principles and practice by scientific applications international corporation saic 11251 roger bacon drive reston, va 20190 contract no. Carbon accounting corporate accounting and reporting standards. Life cycle assessment, ralph e horne, tim grant, karli verghese.
Three key elements of life cycle assessment tion goal definition and scope life cycle inventory assessment. Life cycle assessment lca is the calculation and evaluation of the environmentally relevant inputs and outputs and the potential environmental impacts of the life cycle of a product, material or service sabs iso, 1998. Current lca practice, as standardized by iso, follows four interrelated phases. Postdoctoral scholar civil and environmental engineering university of california, berkeley alissa kendall, ph. Similarly, social life cycle assessment slca integrates traditional life cycle assessment methodological steps while having social impacts as focus. Interest in lca has accelerated alongside growing demand to assess and reduce greenhouse gas emissions across different manufacturing and service sectors. The cover image of life cycle assessment, featuring two waved white spirog enlarge cover. In iso 14040 1997 life cycle improvement assessment is no longer regarded as a phase on its own, but rather as having an influence throughout the whole lca methodology. Lifecycle assessment lca is a widely used tool for assessing and analysing environmental impacts during the lifecycle of a product in order to compare the environmental performance of products. Epas computational toxicology communities of practice series. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. The emerging field of industrial ecology offers us the tool of life cycle assessment which can provide such a holistic analysis hendrickson, 2004. The use of lca for buildings requires a set of guiding principles. The complete report, entitled lifecycle assessment.
Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading life cycle assessment lca. Lifecycle assessment lca a guide to approaches, experiences and. Life cycle assessment lca, also known as life cycle analysis, ecobalance, and cradletograve analysis is a technique to assess environmental impacts associated with all the stages of a products life from cradle to grave i. Clearly defining the goal and scope of the study including selecting a functional unit. Assistant professor civil and environmental engineering university of california, davis. Principles, practice and prospects horne, ralph, grant, tim, verghese, karli on. Publisher csiro publishing place of publication melbourne, australia. Background and future prospects in life cycle assessment pp. Life cycle impact assessment lcia is a field of active development. Lifecycle assessment lca, also known as lifecycle analysis, ecobalance, and cradletograve analysis is a technique to assess environmental impacts associated with all the stages of a products life from cradle to grave i. This document is an update and merger of two previous epa documents on lca life cycle assessment. Principles, practice and prospects perhaps most topically, what are the implications for climate change of different energy scenar ios, and how can we identify optimal. Journal of environmental assessment policy and management vol.
National technical information service 5285 port royal road springfield, va 22161 telephone. Conducting a life cycle assessment lca there are four main phases of the lca process. Identification of hotspots in the life cycle is often the first objective when dealing with a product. Principles, practice and prospects horne r, grant t, verghese k. Using life cycle assessment for risk management mary ann curran, phd chemical engineer epa nrmrl curran. Life cycle assessment principles, practice and prospects.
Life cycle assessment or life cycle assessment lca, also known as life cycle analysis is a methodology for assessing environmental impacts associated with all the stages of the life cycle of a commercial product, process, or service. Goals and scoping3 the scoping step determines which processes will be included, which environmental concerns will be included. International is0 standard 14040 stanford university. Life cycle assessment is a process to evaluate the environmental burdens associated with a product, process, or activity by identifying and quantifying energy and materials used and wastes released to the environment. Aia guide to building life cycle assessment in practice. Impact estimator allows the tabulated results to be directly exported to msexcel or pdf. Principles, practice and prospects vii 1 page lowe i. Mary ann curran is the epa project officer see below. Further, the methodology is true to the basic principles of lca having a clearly. Ecological comparison of synthetic versus mined diamonds.
Life cycle management aims to minimize the environmental and socioeconomic burdens associated with product or product portfolio throughout its entire life cycle and value chain. Guidance on organizational life cycle assessment practices. Sep 12, 2012 life cycle impact assessment lcia is a field of active development. This training kit consists of 4 parts and more than 700 slides from an introduction, through how to use lcm and to communicate on benefits, to the presentation of. The use of spatial data in granite deposit life cycle assessment. Environmental management life cycle assessment principles and framework iso 14044. The life cycle initiative is pleased to provide the life cycle community worldwide with a series of training materials which focus on life cycle management and some specific tools such as environmental life cycle assessment. A practice guide aot page 4 about this practice guide introduces the use of life cycle assessment lca to analyze the environmental impacts of buildings.
Strengths and limitations of life cycle assessment. Carbon accounting corporate accounting and reporting standards dr. The big ecological questions inhibiting effective environmental management in australia. The major stages in a life cycle are raw materials acquisition, manufacturing, consumer usereusemaintenance, and recycle waste management. Figure 1 shows a general schematic of a life cycle assessment which would need to be carried. Principles, practice and prospects ralph horne, tim grant, karli verghese life cycle assessment lca has developed in australia over the past 16 years in a fragmented way with many different people and organizations contributing to the area at different times, and largely through informal or unpublished work. Lifecycle assessment or life cycle assessment is a methodology for assessing environmental. The development of the ilcd has been coordinated by the european commission and has. Strengths and limitations of life cycle assessment springerlink. Life cycle assessment lca has developed in australia over the past 16 years in a fragmented way with many different people and organizations contributing to the area at different times, and. In practice tools are not always applied in a standardised way but are often combined. Lifecycle assessment or life cycle assessment lca, also known as lifecycle analysis is a methodology for assessing environmental impacts associated with all the stages of the lifecycle of a commercial product, process, or service. For instance, in the case of a manufactured product, environmental impacts are assessed from raw material.
The complete report, entitled life cycle assessment. Highlights lca is a unique tool for addressing crossmedia problems and avoiding the potential transfer of environmental impacts. Mar 20, 2009 life cycle assessment focuses on the reflective practice of lca, and provides critical insight into the technique and how it can be used as a problemsolving tool. Focuses on the important practice of lca in australia, and provides critical insight into the technique and how it can be used as a problemsolving tool. The lca standard iso 14044 is rather general and unspecific in its requirements and offers. Ilcd handbook general guide on lca detailed guidance. Life cycle assessment, principles practice and prospects. Lifecycle assessment lca is a technique for assessing the environmental aspects. Introduction to life cycle assessment 10 the following is just a brief list of the groups that use lcas and of the possibilities that an lca could be used for. Coupling the assessment of environmental and socioeconomic issues may support more comprehensive sustainability assessment of impacts, benefits, and related tradeoffs.
Course objectives understand the key concepts in lca and be able to solve simple lca problems. Life cycle assessment methodology report world steel association rue colonel bourg 120 b1140 brussels belgium t. The last decade has seen prolific publication of new impact assessment methods covering many different impact categories and providing characterization factors that often deviate from each other for the same substance and impact. Identification of hotspots in the life cycle is often the first objective when dealing with a product service not yet analysed, but a quantitative comparison is. Global guidance principles for life cycle assessment databases a basis for greener processes and products united nations environment programme p. Managing the life cycle to reduce environmental impacts.
Carbon accounting corporate accounting and reporting. Life cycle assessment lca, a methodology to assess the environmental impact of products, services, and industrial processes is an increasingly important tool in corporate sustainability management. For instance, in the case of a manufactured product, environmental impacts are assessed from raw material extraction and processing cradle, through the. The future of building life cycle assessment in practice. Life cycle assessment by ralph e horne overdrive rakuten. It describes the distinctive strengths and limitations of lca, with an emphasis on practice in australia, as well as the application of lca in waste management, the built environment. Principles, practice and prospects, by ralph horne, tim grant and karli verghese. Unep 2011 global guidance principles for life cycle assessment databases. Life cycle assessment lca is emerging as one of the most. This course teaches both the theoretical framework as well as stepbystep practical guidelines of conducting lcas in companies and organizations. General guide for life cycle assessment detailed guidance first edition v such are seen as the most appropriate solutions for enabling the efficient use of reliable and robust life cycle approaches in small and medium enterprises sme.
Compiling an inventory of relevant energy and material inputs and environmental releases life cycle inventory lci analysis. Life cycle analysis in preliminary design stages archive ouverte hal. The iso 14000 standard series provides a broadly accepted set of principles and the presentday lca framework. Life cycle assessment lca predicts the impact of a product service in a cumulative manner overall life cycle stages or a defined subset of life cycles stages of a product. The advantages of impact assessment and life cycle assessment lca have been highly documented based on the amount of published academia in the recent years. Life cycle assessment lca has developed in australia over the last 20 years into a technique for systematically identifying the resource flows and environmental impacts associated with the provision of products and services. Epas computational toxicology communities of practice. Life cycle assessment lca is a widely used tool for assessing and analysing environmental impacts during the life cycle of a product in order to compare the environmental performance of products. An introduction to life cycle assessment lca nick santero, ph. Pdf life cycle assessment principles, practice and.
This recent approach towards tracking the environmental impact of a specific product or process has been manipulated to better suit each and every need. A white paper 2 executive summary in most industries worldwide, including the forest products sector, there is an increasing focus on the environmental, social and economic sustainability credentials of companies and products. Identifying best existing practice for characterization. The following document provides an introductory overview of life cycle assessment lca and describes the general uses and major components of lca.
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