Abstract
Ecodesign — Carbon Footprint — Life Cycle Assessment — Life Cycle Sustainability Analysis. A Flexible Framework for a Continuum of Tools Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a tool for answering questions related to environmental impacts of products. It is a comprehensive tool, addressing the entire life cycle, and addressing the full spectrum of environmental impacts. There are two opposite movements occurring: LCA is getting smaller, and it is getting broader. This presentation presents the general framework for a broader life cycle sustainability analysis (LCSA), and shows how the practical work related to doing an LCA, a carbon footprint, or an analysis for ecodesign, can be seen as special cases.
Highlights
Life cycle assessment (LCA) has been defined by ISO as the “compilation and evaluation of the inputs, outputs and the potential environmental impacts of a product system throughout its life cycle” [1, p.2]
The method for ecodesign should in the end be derivable from the standard LCA, and the standard LCA in its turn should be a limiting case of the more general life cycle sustainability analysis (LCSA). This presentation presents the general framework for LCSA, and shows how the practical work related to doing an LCA, a carbon footprint or ecodesign, can be seen as special cases
The EU directive [15] on ecodesign for energy-using products (EuPs) writes that “the energy consumption of EuPs in stand-by or off-mode should be reduced to the minimum necessary for their proper functioning”, it at the same time acknowledges that a more complete analysis provides the ultimate benchmark: “ a comprehensive approach to environmental performance is desirable, greenhouse gas mitigation through increased energy efficiency should be considered a priority environmental goal pending the adoption of a working plan.”
Summary
Abstract –Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a tool for answering questions related to environmental impacts of products. It is a comprehensive tool, addressing the entire life cycle, and addressing the full spectrum of environmental impacts. There are two opposite movements occurring: LCA is getting smaller, and it is getting broader. This presentation presents the general framework for a broader life cycle sustainability analysis (LCSA), and shows how the practical work related to doing an LCA, a carbon footprint, or an analysis for ecodesign, can be seen as special cases. Keywords – life cycle sustainability analysis, life cycle assessment, carbon footprint, ecodesign
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