Life-Cycle Assessment

Abstract

Life-cycle assessment, or LCA, is an environmental accounting and management approach that considers all the aspects of resource use and environmental releases associated with an industrial system from cradle to grave. Specifically, it is a holistic view of environmental interactions that covers a range of activities, from the extraction of raw materials from the Earth and the production and distribution of energy, through the use, and reuse, and final disposal of a product. LCA is a relative tool intended for comparison and not absolute evaluation, thereby helping decision makers compare all major environmental impacts when choosing between alternative courses of action. This article presents a brief history of the development of LCA methodology and describes the basic components of conducting an LCA, that is, selecting a functional unit; defining the goal and scope of the study; compiling an inventory of relevant energy and material inputs and environmental releases; evaluating the potential environmental impacts; and interpreting the results to help decision makers make a more informed decision. Key issues associated with data collection, impact assessment modeling, and interpretation of the results are also outlined. The article concludes with the movement toward developing life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) which integrates LCA, life cycle costing (LCC) and social life cycle assessment (SLCA), to encompass the three pillars of sustainability, and a summary of the limitations of LCA.