Human Health Categories Research Articles

Improving environmental and economic sustainability of cutlery manufacturing in adeveloping nation through energy reduction and energy transition initiatives.

Manufacturing industries are vital for economic development, but they cause significant environmental damages. As there are scarce research studies for this industrial sector from developing countries, this article reports a comprehensive environmental and economic analyses for cutlery manufacturing in Pakistan. SimaPro 9.5 was used as a modelling software tool, while ReCiPe 2016 methods were used to evaluate various midpoint and endpoint environmental impacts. Various economic indicators were used to evaluate the economic performance of different alternative scenarios. The results revealed that injection molding process, due to its energy-intensive nature caused the most environmental impacts as compared to other manufacturing processes. Global warming and terrestrial ecotoxicity were the most affected impact categories with values of 11.8 kg CO2 eq and 12.0 kg 1,4-DCB, respectively. Meanwhile, at endpoint level, human health category was most damaged as compared to others. Based on technical process intervention and energy transition, four different alternative scenarios were developed. In comparison with baseline scenario, the alternative scenario with double-cavity mold resulted in a reduction of more than 30% for various impact categories. The other three alternatives were grounded on the use of solar energy (50% or 100%) and injection mold with double or single cavity. Overall, the alternative scenario with 50% solar energy and double-cavity mold was the best solution that showed more than 50% reduction in most of the impact categories, less than 3-year payback time, 2.12 million (Pakistani Rupees) net present value, and 36.3% of return on investment. This study clearly shows the importance of renewable energy resources and simple changes in process technology for improving sustainability performance. The relevant stakeholders can effectively use the results and methodology of this study as a reference and guide for future research and practical interventions, especially in developing countries.

Life Cycle Assessment Comparison between an Earthbag Building and a Conventional Sahrawi Cement Blocks Building.

Growing environmental awareness has prompted a resurgence in traditional building techniques that rely on natural or recycled materials since many believe that structures made from these resources are ecologically friendly. Using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for construction materials offers valuable insights into the impacts produced during their production and construction processes. This study aims to assess the environmental impacts of two different constructions-an Earthbag Building (EB) and a conventional Sahrawi Cement Blocks Building (CBB). It also determines whether it is more environmentally beneficial to construct traditionally, utilizing local materials and aligning with the principles of the circular economy, which is one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Europe. This study specifically examines a cradle-to-gate LCA, using the software Simapro v. 9.4.0.1. Results show that in 21 out of the 22 impact categories analyzed, the CBB performs worse, in some cases presenting an impact of 70% higher than the EB. The highest impact is obtained for fine particulate matter formation and Global Warming related to Human Health categories, whilst impact categories related to water consumption and eutrophication obtained an impact of less than 0.001 for both constructions.

Life Cycle Assessment of Selected Ammonia Production Technologies From the Perspective of Ammonia as a Fuel for Heavy-Duty Vehicle

Abstract One of the promising options for the decarbonization of industry dependent on heavy-duty vehicles is to use alternative fuels such as ammonia. The study investigates the environmental impact of five selected ammonia production technologies and compares them to diesel fuel: ammonia based on hydrogen from steam methane reforming (gray), ammonia based on steam methane reforming with carbon capture and storage (blue), ammonia based on hydrogen from electrolysis with electrical energy supplied by: PV (green PV), wind (green wind), and nuclear plant (pink). Environmental impact is assessed using the ReCiPE method based on three midpoint and two endpoint categories: climate change, fossil depletion, freshwater consumption, human health, and ecosystem quality. The climate change results per 1 MJ (LHV) are as follows: gray ammonia at 0.148 kg CO2 eq., blue ammonia at 0.0701 kg CO2 eq., green ammonia PV at 0.0197 kg CO2 eq., green ammonia wind at 0.01039 kg CO2 eq., pink ammonia at 0.00565 kg CO2 eq., and diesel (including its stoichiometric combustion) at 0.0851 kg CO2 eq. The life cycle assessment (LCA) was performed using the lca for experts (GaBi) software, with Sphera's comprehensive Managed LCA Content as the primary data source for the life cycle inventory. The study indicates nuclear and renewable-based routes to be the best options in terms of the climate change and human health categories; however, their high impact on freshwater consumption and ecosystem quality is revealed. Still, ammonia is proven to be an effective solution toward decarbonization, as compared to diesel, given its blue, green, or pink source.

Flash-calcined sediments versus raw sediments: A comparative life cycle assessment of SCMs

The urgent need for reducing CO2 emissions and achieving sustainable development goals has prompted governments worldwide to adopt strategies such as Net-Zero targets for mitigating the environmental impact of various industries. Cement production, a major contributor to global emissions, has attracted significant attention due to its substantial carbon footprint. Simultaneously, the challenge of sediment disposal poses a pressing environmental concern. This study focuses on the environmental sustainability of cement and mortar production, particularly through the incorporation of dredged sediments as supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs). This research addresses a knowledge gap regarding the sustainability of flash calcined sediments (FCS) versus dried ground sediments (DGS) as SCMs. Using life cycle assessment (LCA), it examines their environmental performance, benefits, drawbacks, and the impact of sediment treatment. This approach sets it apart from prior research solely focused on the substitution effect of ordinary Portland cement (OPC). Substituting OPC with FCS/DGS sediments at 5–30% can reduce CO2 emissions by 6.44–15.51% with respect to the 52.5 MPa equivalent cement functional performance. FCS scenarios have shown a lower Global Warming Potential (GWP) than observed in cement with DGS except at a substitution rate of 15%. The study also highlighted the influence of cement functional performance, fuel type, and flash calcination techniques on the overall environmental performance. For mortar assembly, the findings revealed that utilizing FCS for 30% substitution of OPC has more environmental saving benefits than using DGS. Cement production, as well as the leaching behavior of trace elements, significantly affect the toxicity to ecosystems and human health categories. Future research should address the full burdens of sediments and develop appropriate allocation factors to accurately assess their environmental impact, especially if their classification shifts from waste to a valuable resource. This will ensure a comprehensive evaluation with respect to their effects on marine ecosystems and navigation improvement.

Environmental impacts and effects on greenhouse gas emissions in shrimp feed production system for aquaculture – A case study in India

Attributional life cycle assessment study examines the environmental impact of raw materials, machinery, and unit operations. In the present work, an attributional life cycle assessment (LCA) was employed to assess the environmental and greenhouse gas impacts of a shrimp feed production system. A commercial shrimp feed mill in Tamil Nadu, India, provided inventory data for one-ton shrimp feed (functional unit) for a Cradle-to-Gate evaluation using environmental impact methodologies, specifically Impact 2002+ in SimaPro® (V9.3.0.3) software. The results showed that human health (0.003357 DALY), ecosystem quality (2720.518 PDF × m2 × yr), climate change (2031.696 kg CO2 eq), and resources (71019.42 MJ primary) were the most significantly impacted. The human health category was found to be the most prominent after normalization and weighting (0.47 pt), and strategies were suggested accordingly. The GWP20 and GWP100 measures for long-term climate change were calculated to be 8.7 and 7.33 kg CO2 eq, respectively. Cast iron used in machinery production (GWP 20–15.40%, GWP100–134.5%) and electricity use (GWP 20–6.13%, GWP 100–6.9%) accounted for sizable portions of the burden. Feed production is estimated to contribute 0.2% of global CO2 emissions within the proposed global context. These findings are significant regarding economically and environmentally sustainable shrimp feed production worldwide.

Durability evaluation and environmental implications of blended cement with colloidal nano-silica for use in recycled fine aggregate concrete: Experimental and theoretical study

The incorporation of waste materials in concrete is currently a practical solution to solve certain environmental concerns. Because of the property degradation of the produced concrete owing to the addition of waste materials, using pozzolans in the concrete mix can help improve the mechanical performance of recycled concrete. Therefore, in this research, the mechanical specifications of recycled concrete were evaluated at different volume fractions of recycled fine aggregates (RFA) replacing natural fine aggregates (NFA). In addition, the impact of adding colloidal nano-silica particles on the performance of conventional and recycled concretes was investigated. Various parameters comprising compressive strength, pulse velocity, splitting tensile strength, flexural strength, elastic modulus, and water absorption were carefully examined. The attained experimental results reveal that the mechanical and physical characteristics of concrete degrade with increasing the volume fraction of RFA replacing NFA. Also, increasing the weight percentage of nano-silica replacing cement up to 6% in conventional concrete and that containing RFA improves the mechanical and physical properties, the optimum percentage of which was determined as 4.5%. Furthermore, relationships were recommended for predicting the compressive, splitting tensile, and flexural strengths as well as the elastic modulus of concrete mixes by including the RFA and nano-silica replacement levels, which are in acceptable accordance with the experiments in the present study and those available in the technical literature. Finally, to investigate the environmental effects of recycled concrete with different RFA substitution levels and colloidal nano-silica incorporation, the problem-based CML 2000 and the damage-based IMPACT2002 + methods were applied using SimaPro9 software. Thus, environmental parameters such as acidification, global warming potential (GWP), eutrophication, natural resources, ecosystem quality, and human health were inspected. Subsequently, the GWP results were compared and presented using the CML 2000 and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) approaches. To verify the estimates, all the attained results were examined against those captured from the Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability (BEES) method. Findings show that despite the implementation of different unit measurements in different methods, the environmental effects in the CML 2000 and BEES methodologies are almost the same, suggesting that nano-silica is a raw material with the greatest environmental impact. Additionally, based on the life cycle comparison results of manufacturing one cubic meter of concrete with different mix designs using the damage evaluation approach, IMPACT 2002+, concrete with the RF0NS6 mix design triggered the highest damage extent in natural resource, climate change, ecosystem, and human health categories, respectively. This study fills a significant research gap from an environmental perspective by comprehensively investigating the durability and mechanical specifications of concrete containing RFA and nano-silica pozzolan. The findings presented in this research provide valuable insights into the realm of sustainable construction practices, paving the way for novel advancements in concrete technology.

Assessing biodiesel production using palm kernel shell-derived sulfonated magnetic biochar from the life cycle assessment perspective

Climate change awareness has encouraged further research towards non-fossil production and consumption. Among non-fossils, biodiesel is one of the attractive alternatives to petroleum diesel. Despite the favorable properties of biodiesel, it is still faced with serious challenges regarding feedstock and catalyst used. In line with that, using waste-oriented oils and catalysts is a promising approach to ensure sustainable biodiesel production. Nevertheless, the environmental sustainability of such platforms must be carefully assessed before commercialization. The current study assesses the environmental sustainability of biodiesel production using palm kernel shell-derived sulfonated magnetic biochar through the life cycle assessment approach. Based on the results, biodiesel synthesis from waste cooking oil by palm kernel shell-derived sulfonated magnetic biochar causes 5.86E-04 DALY, 1.29E-06 species.yr, and 9.52E+01 USD2013 per tonne of biodiesel damage to human health, ecosystems, and resources categories. Transesterification and purification steps are responsible for approximately 76%, 76%, and 90% of these damages, respectively. Based on the weighted results, the total environmental impact of waste cooking oil biodiesel produced by palm kernel shell-derived sulfonated magnetic biochar stands at 1.08E+01 Pt per tonne of biodiesel, with the damage to human health category being more pronounced than the other damage categories. Generally, substituting palm oil biodiesel and diesel with waste cooking oil biodiesel produced by the developed catalyst could lead to an 89% and 55% decrease in total weighted impacts. Overall, the catalyst developed in this study could be a favorable alternative to homogeneous catalysts used in biodiesel production, causing much discounted environmental burdens.

Sustainable farming strategies for mixed crop-livestock farms in Luxembourg simulated with a hybrid agent-based and life-cycle assessment model

Agent-based models (ABMs) are particularly suitable to simulate human-natural systems since they allow modelers to consider the behavioral aspects of individuals. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has also been widely used in research, industry, and policy to assess systems' environmental sustainability. In this paper, we introduce a coupled ABM-LCA model to simulate mixed crop-livestock farming activities in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The simulator considers a wide range of aspects related to typical farming business activities and allows the calculation of the environmental and economic impacts of the decisions taken by agents as well. The paper simulates different scenarios. Scenario A is the baseline scenario. Scenario B considers reducing the stocking rate from 1.6 to 1.3 livestock units per ha (LSU/ha). Scenario C aims to reduce the soybean ratio in animals’ feed rations to the minimum possible level that is feasible for each farm. Scenario D simulates an increase in soybean autonomy: the farmer chooses to adopt local soybean (instead of imported one) into the crop rotation if its green consciousness exceeds a pre-fixed threshold. As expected, in scenario B, all impact categories show improvement with respect to the baseline scenario, the highest ones being an almost 25% reduction in freshwater eutrophication, 21% in climate change - human health, and 19% in freshwater ecotoxicity. For natural land transformation, the most significant improvements are obtained in scenarios C (11% reduction) and D (13% reduction). On the other hand, in scenario C, the change in feed composition, combined with an expected decrease in stocking rates, also has a positive effect (about 16% reduction compared to the baseline) on agricultural land occupation, due to the utilization of pasture and locally produced crops. An analysis of the systemic uncertainty calculated at the endpoint indicators level showed low coefficients of variation (CV) for all the scenarios, with scenario A always having the lowest values of CV in every impact category, scenario C having the highest CV in the ecosystem quality and the human health categories and scenario B having the highest CV in the resources category. The consideration of subsidy schemes in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg allows the modelers to better interpret the resulting revenue and cost structures of different scenarios. The results show that the farm profitability stays on the same level when the stocking rate is reduced, and the subsidy granted for reducing nitrogen emissions is in place at the same time. Moreover, the soybean autarky in Luxembourg can be increased to 17% if the farmers are willing to incorporate soybean into their rotation scheme, thus reducing the impacts due to the transportation and production of soybean in South American countries.

The environmental footprint of single-use versus reusable cloths for clinical surface decontamination: a life cycle approach

Global sustainability is a major health concern facing our planet today. The healthcare sector is a significant contributor to environmentally damaging activity. Reusable cloths should be considered as an environmentally friendly alternative to the predominantly used single-use surface wipes in cleaning and disinfection of environmental surfaces in healthcare settings. To conduct a rapid review of current policies on surface decontamination in healthcare settings; then to carry out a life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) of reusable cotton and microfibre cloths versus conventional single-use cloths, with three compatible disinfectants. Seven countries were included in the rapid review of policies. For the LCIA, inputs, outputs, and processes across the life cycle were included, using EcoInvent database v3.7.1 and open LCIA software. Sixteen European-recommended environmental impact categories and eight human health categories were considered. Infection prevention policies examined do not require single-use wipes for cleaning and disinfection. The disinfectant with the highest environmental impact was isopropyl alcohol. The most environmentally sustainable option for clinical surface decontamination was the microfibre cloth when used with a quaternary ammonium compound. The least environmentally sustainable option was cotton with isopropyl alcohol. Impacts were primarily attributed with the use of the disinfectant agent and travel processes.

Environmental footprints of soybean production in China.

As a significant protein source for humans and animals, soybean (Glycine max) has experienced a fast growth with the rapid development of population and economy. Despite broad interest in energy consumption and CO2 emissions generated by soybean production, there are few impact-oriented water footprint assessments of soybean production. This study evaluates the fossil energy, carbon, and water footprints of China’s soybean production so that key environmental impacts can be identified. To provide reliable results for decision-making, uncertainty analysis is conducted based on the Monte Carlo model. Results show that the impact on climate change, ecosystem quality, human health, and resources is 3.33 × 103 kg CO2 eq (GSD2 = 1.87), 6.18 × 10−5 Species·yr (GSD2 = 1.81), 3.26 × 10−3 Disability-adjusted Life Years (GSD2 = 1.81), and 81.51 $ (GSD2 = 2.28), respectively. Freshwater ecotoxicity is the dominant contributor (77.69%) to the ecosystem quality category, while climate change (85.22%) is the dominant contributor to the human health category. Key factors analysis results show that diammonium phosphate and diesel, and on-site emissions, are the major contributors to the overall environmental burden of soybean production. Several policy recommendations are proposed, focusing on trade structure optimization, efficient resource use, and technological improvements. Such policy recommendations provide valuable insights to those decision-makers so that they can prepare appropriate mitigation policies.

Environmental impact of the cultivation of energy willow in Poland

The purpose of the work is to analyze the structure of the environmental impact of energy willow cultivation (Salix spp.) on plantations of various sizes, divided per materials and processes. The research covered 15 willow plantations, ranging from 0.31 ha to 12 ha, located in southern Poland. It was found, among others, that the so-called processes, i.e. the use of technical means of production, dominate the structure of the environmental impact (EI) related to the cultivation of energy willow, and that the cultivation of energy willow on larger plantations has a much lower environmental impact compared to cultivation on smaller plantations. Also, in the case of the environmental impact of processes, the largest environmental impact was recorded in the human health category, which is mainly associated with the consumption of fuel, i.e. diesel. It was determined, e.g., that the cultivation of energetic willow on larger plantations is characterized by a much lower environmental impact (as per the cultivation area), at approx. 108 Pt, compared to the cultivation on smaller plantations, where the value of the environmental impact is 168 Pt. A decisively dominant position in the structure of the environmental impact (EI), related to the cultivation of energy willow, is held by the so-called processes, i.e. the use of technical means of production. Their share in the total environmental impact decreases from 148.5 Pt in the group of the smallest plantations to 77.9 Pt in the group of the largest plantations.

Preparation of geopolymer concrete using Egyptian kaolin clay and the study of its environmental effects and economic cost

Concrete is the basic building material in the world, and cement is the main material used in the production of concrete. However, there is an urgent need to reduce the consumption of cement, where cement production leads to 5–8% of global emissions of carbon dioxide. Geopolymer concrete is an innovative building material produced by alkaline activation of pozzolanic materials such as fly ash, granulated blast furnace slag, and kaolin clay. Geopolymers are widely used in the production of geopolymer concrete due to their ability to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and reduce high energy consumption. During the present study, the environmental impact of two strength grades (30 MPa and 40 MPa) of metakaolin geopolymer concrete (GPC) was evaluated to study its applicability in the construction sector. The kaolin clay extracted from the Aswan quarries was activated by a mixture of sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate solution. To introduce geopolymer concrete in the Egyptian industry sector, its environmental performance, together with its technical performance, should be competitive to the cement concrete used mainly for the time being. The cost of this new concrete system should also be evaluated. The environmental impact of GPC was evaluated and compared with cement concrete using life cycle assessment analysis and IMPACT 2002+ methodology. The cost of production was calculated for 1 m3 of geopolymer concrete and conventional cement concrete. Metakaolin geopolymer concrete achieved a high compressive strength of ~ 56 MPa, splitting tensile strength of 24 MPa, and modulus of elasticity of 8.5 MPa. The corrosion inhibition of metakaolin geopolymer concrete was ~ 80% better than that of conventional cement concrete. Geopolymer concrete achieved a reduction in global warming potential by 61% and improved the human health category by 9.4%. However, due to the heavy burdens of sodium silicate, the geopolymer concrete negatively affected the quality of the ecosystem by 68% and showed a slightly higher impact than cement concrete on the resource damage category for low strength grade of 30 MPa. The high cost of the basic ingredients of the geopolymer resulted in a high production cost of geopolymer concrete (~ 92 US$) that was three times that of cement concrete (~ 31 US$). Based on the environmental results, geopolymer concrete based on locally available metakaolin clay can be applied in the construction sector as a green alternative material for cement concrete.

Life cycle assessment of camelina and crambe production for biorefinery and energy purposes

Abstract Biofuel production can have an adverse environmental impact, mainly in the crop production stage. This study compared the impact of camelina and crambe cultivation under conventional and reduced tillage management using a life cycle assessment (LCA). The study presents the impact of these non-edible crops for various purposes. The LCA was determined by the IPCC 2007 and ReCiPe Endpoint methods and the emission of greenhouse gases for both crops per hectare was similar (1,732–1,772 kg ha−1 CO2 eq.), although when calculated per 1 Mg of dry seeds, this value was more variable (1,152–1,528 kg Mg−1 CO2 eq.). When converted to the oil content, it was 3,368–3,999 kg Mg−1 CO2 eq., whereas when calculated for energy content it was 23.74–27.15 kg GJ−1 CO2 eq. The highest normalised score for all crops and cultivation technologies was determined for fossil depletion, followed by climate change and particulate matter formation, which resulted in a high level of damage in the human health category. The study found that reduced tillage results in lower environmental impact compared with traditional tillage due to lower consumption of production means, although the results do not account for soil carbon change, which should be considered in further detailed analysis.

Aspects of sustainability and design engineering for the production of interconnected smart food packaging.

In the present work, the problem of food wastage and the concept of sustainability are studied. An analysis of Life Cycle Assessment as a tool and of the innovative concept of Cradle to Cradle is also carried out, together with an exhaustive comparison of these two approaches. Based on these concepts, an integrated methodology is proposed for the design of interconnected smart products. The smart packaging systems currently available are studied theoretically and a practical case is analysed using the proposed methodology through the design and Life Cycle Assessment of a smart interconnected container that is able to detect the ethylene emitted by climacteric fruit, thereby minimizing food wastage. For the case under study, a major impact is observed of the selected plastics in the resources category, and of the smart system in the human health category.

Life cycle assessment of cane sugar production: The environmental contribution to human health, climate change, ecosystem quality and resources in México

The cane sugar industry in Mexico depends heavily on the supply of energy, fossil fuels and material resources for its proper operation. The overuse of these resources plus the technical and technological deficiency causes severe environmental consequences. This scientific work aims to analyze the environmental damage attributable to cane sugar production following the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. System boundaries include sugarcane growing and harvesting, sugarcane transportation, sugar milling and electricity cogeneration from bagasse. The associated emissions were acquired from the SimaPro-Ecoinvent database, the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (RSB) and the Agroscope Reckenholz-Tänikon Research Station (ART). The life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) was carried out by SimaPro 8.3.0 software and the characterization method used was IMPACT 2002+. The results show that sugarcane growing and harvesting stage provides the most harmful environmental impacts (52%) followed by electricity cogeneration (25.7%), sugarcane transportation (12.1%) and finally, sugar milling (10.2%). Regarding the environmental contributions at the endpoint categories, the highest percentage of impacts is found in the Human health category (53%), followed by Climate change (21%), Ecosystem quality (16%) and Resources (10%). The LCA in cane sugar production can support the decision-making process to deal with this environmental problem.

Lifecycle Environmental Impact of High-Speed Rail System in the Houston-Dallas I-45 Corridor

Texas has the highest rate of the U.S energy related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and transportation is one of the major contributors. The Houston–Dallas corridor is the busiest routes in Texas. Recently, the development of an intercity High-Speed Rail System (HSR) with Shinkansen N700 series trains has commenced. This study builds the life cycle inventories for vehicles and infrastructure in the HSR system, and conducts a preliminary environmental life cycle assessment. Results indicate that over the design life of the HSR system the total GHG emissions from the vehicle life-time are 9.695 kgCO2eq/VKT, and fossil-fuel usage during vehicle operation is the primary contributor (97%). For the infrastructure, total life-time GHG emissions are 239 kgCO2eq/VKT, out of which, 94% are from the construction stage. Infrastructure is the dominant contributor to end-point impacts in human health category, with 58% of total impact across all damage categories.

Life cycle assessment (LCA) of digested sewage sludge incineration for heat and power production

This paper presents a comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) of an existing digested sewage sludge incineration for heat and power production. Operations of an existing sewage sludge incineration plant based on a fluidized bed combustor (FBC) and a hypothetical cement kiln (CK) facility using sludge as a secondary fuel are described in detail as two different scenarios. The comparison of these two scenarios is performed based on 15 impact categories in the characterization stage. The results show that the sewage sludge incineration scenario based on FBC has a better environmental performance in the most of the impact categories including global warming, respiratory organic and inorganic, aquatic and terrestrial ecotoxicity, terrestrial acidification/nutrition, aquatic acidification, land occupation, and mineral extraction. In the human health category, the scores of the CK scenario precedes the scores of FBC scenario because the residual materials of the incineration in the cement kiln are immobilized with the produced clinkers whereas in the FBC system, they are landfilled. This study aims to show the environmental burdens of each option based on different impact categories in order to give a clear perspective to decision makers for drawing an environmentally friendly and sustainable sludge disposal policy.

Indoor environmental quality in a dynamic life cycle assessment framework for whole buildings: Focus on human health chemical impacts

A framework was developed for integrating indoor environmental quality (IEQ) into life cycle assessment (LCA). The framework includes three main impact types: 1) chemical-specific impacts directly comparable to conventional life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) human health categories, 2) non-chemical health impacts, and 3) productivity/performance impacts. The first part of the framework related to contaminant specific impacts was explored using a green university building as a case study, while the remaining categories will be the subject of future work. Results showed that including IEQ aspects in whole-building LCA revealed LCIA internal impacts in some categories comparable to external impacts. For human health respiratory effects, building-specific indoor impacts from the case study were 12% of global external impacts in conventional LCA. Building-specific indoor cancer toxicity impacts were greater than external impacts by an order of magnitude, and building-specific indoor noncancer toxicity impacts were lower than external impacts by an order of magnitude. Although internal impacts were greater than external impacts in one category – cancer toxicity, the source of the contamination in the other two categories – respiratory effects and noncancer toxicity – was related to intake of outdoor air. The findings of this study underscore the importance of filtration or other treatment of mechanically supplied outdoor or recirculated indoor air, as well as control of pollution from indoor sources such as building materials or cleaning products. These findings may support the use of green building rating systems which include acknowledgment of the aforementioned IEQ-related features.