LCA Methodology Research Articles

General prevention and risk minimization in LCA: a combined approach.

Methods for life cycle assessment of products (LCA) are most often based on the general prevention principle, as opposed to the risk minimization principle. Here, the desirability and feasibility of a combined approach are discussed, along with the conditions for elaboration in the framework of LCA methodology, and the consequences for LCA practice. A combined approach provides a separate assessment of above and below threshold pollution, offering the possibility to combat above threshold impacts with priority. Spatial differentiation in fate, exposure, and effect modelling is identified to play a central role in the implementation. The collection of region-specific data turns out to be the most elaborate requirement for the implementation in both methodology and practice. A methodological framework for the construction of characterization factors is provided. Along with spatial differentiation of existing parameters, two newly introduced spatial parameters play a key role: the sensitivity factor and the threshold factor. The practicability of the proposed procedure is illustrated by an example of its application. Providing a reasonable data availability, the development of separate LCA characterization factors for the respective assessment of pollution levels above and below environmental threshold values seems to be a feasible task that may add to LCA credibility.

환경친화적인 제품 설계를 위한 효율적인 환경성평가 방법론 개발

To save time, effort and cost and at the same time to satisfy the quality of the research while conducting LCA, the study suggests a collection range of data regarding the process within a range of keeping the credibility of research. In order to do so, the paper first distinguished the Life cycle stages as exclusion degree on the basis of the simplicity of data collection. And it suggested six specific simplified LCA methodologies based on the streamlined LCA methods that were suggested by SETAC, and achieved validation about each method through the case studies applied to cell phone, vacuum cleaner, and computer. Improving research quality and efficiency of time and accuracy of expenses to enhance the ease of research conduct were considered when assessing each result according to different methods, and then priority was decided.

Assessment of the sustainability of technology by means of a thermodynamically based life cycle analysis.

Life cycle analysis is one of the tools in the assessment of the sustainability of technological options. It takes into account all effects on the ecosystem and the population which may endanger the possibilities of current and future generations. However, the main bottleneck in current LCA methodologies is the balancing of different effects, being all quantified on different scales. In this work, a methodology is proposed, which allows one to quantify different effects of the production, consumption and disposal of goods, and services on a single scale. The basis of the methodology is the second law of thermodynamics. All production, consumption and disposal processes affecting the ecosystem and the population, are quantified in terms of loss of exergy. The exergy content of a material is the maximum amount of energy which can be transformed into work at given environmental conditions. Next to the elaboration of the methodology, the new approach is illustrated by examples of the production of synthetic organic polymers, inorganic building insulation materials and different waste gas treatment options.

Identification and assessment of environmental aspects in an EMS context: an approach to a new reproducible method based on LCA methodology

Identification and assessment of environmental aspects are crucial to an environmental management system, since significant aspects are decisive for other parts of the system. Stringency and transparency in identification and assessment are necessary if this process is to be reproducible. Reproducibility is in turn important for the credibility of the entire management system. A survey of the identification and assessment processes within the integrated forest product company Stora Enso has shown inadequacies regarding the reproducibility. Positive features and areas of improvement have been identified. The results of the survey are the basis for the development of a new, more reproducible method. This paper includes an approach for this new method that focuses on the identification process. The method is based on life cycle assessment methodology according to the international standards ISO 14040-42 and the documentation format in ISO 14048. The environmental aspects are aggregated in a classification and characterisation into impact categories. The categories are then used as operations environmental performance indicators.

Proposal of a method for allocation in building-related environmental LCA based on economic parameters

Application and development of the LCA methodology to the context of the building sector makes several building specific considerations necessary, as some key characteristics of products in the building sector differ considerably from those of other industrial sectors. The largest difference is that the service life of a building can stretch over centuries, rather than decades or years as seen for consumer products. The result of the long service life is that it is difficult to obtain accurate data and to make relevant assumptions about future conditions regarding, for example, recycling. These problems have implications on the issue of allocation in the building sector, in the way that several allocation procedures ascribe environmental loads to users of recycled or reused products and materials in the future which are unknown today. The long service life for buildings, building materials and building components, is associated with the introduced concept of a virtual parallel time perspective proposed here, which basically substitutes historical and future processes and values with current data. Further, the production and refining of raw material as a parallel to upgrading of recycled material, normally contains several intermediate products. A suggestion is given for how to determine the comparability of intermediate materials. The suggested method for allocation presented is based on three basic assumptions: (1) If environmental loads are to be allocated to a succeeding product life cycle, the studied actual life cycle has to take responsibility for upgrading of the residual material into secondary resources. (2) Material characteristics and design of products are important factors to estimate the recyclable amount of the material. Therefore, a design factor is suggested using information for inherent material properties combined with information of the product context at the building level. (3) The quality reduction between the materials in two following product life cycles is indicated as the ratio between the market value for the material in the products. The presented method can be a good alternative for handling the problem of open-loop recycling allocation in the context of the building sector if a consensus for the use of the fictive parallel time perspective and the use of the design factor can be established. This as the use of the time perspective and design factor is crucial to be able to deal with the problem of long service lives for buildings and building materials and the specific characteristics of the same building materials and components built into different building contexts.

Integrating life cycle cost analysis and LCA

The private sector decision making situations which LCA addresses mustalso eventually take theeconomic consequences of alternative products or product designs into account. However, neither the internal nor external economic aspects of the decisions are within the scope of developed LCA methodology, nor are they properly addressed by existing LCA tools. This traditional separation of life cycle environmental assessment from economic analysis has limited the influence and relevance of LCA for decision-making, and left uncharacterized the important relationships and trade-offs between the economic and life cycle environmental performance of alternative product design decision scenarios. Still standard methods of LCA can and have been tightly, logically, and practically integrated with standard methods for cost accounting, life cycle cost analysis, and scenario-based economic risk modeling. The result is an ability to take both economic and environmental performance — and their tradeoff relationships — into account in product/process design decision making.

Current activities of the national LCA project in Japan

The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) has launched a national project, ‘Development of Assessment Technology of Life Cycle Environmental Impacts of Products’ (commonly known as the LCA Project). The activities of this project will be continued for 5 yeas since fiscal 1998 with an overall budget of total 850 million yen. The LCA Project aims to develop a highly reliable LCA database and LCA methodology which can be readily used throughout Japan. In this paper, the overall plans and current activities of project are indicated.

On the limitations of life cycle assessment and environmental systems analysis tools in general

The potential and limitations of life cycle assessment and environmental systems analysis tools in general are evaluated. More specifically this is done by exploring the limits of what can be shown by LCA and other tools. This is done from several perspectives. First, experiences from current LCAs and methodology discussions are used including a discussion on the type of impacts typically included, quality of inventory data, methodological choices in relation to time aspects, allocation, characterisation and weighting methods and uncertainties in describing the real world. Second, conclusions from the theory of science are practised. It is concluded that it can in general not be shown that one product is environmentally preferable to another one, even if this happens to be the case. This conclusion has important policy implications. If policy changes require that it must be shown that one product is more (or less) environmentally preferable before any action can be taken, then it is likely that no action is ever going to take place. If we want changes to be made, decisions must be taken on a less rigid basis. It is expected that in this decision making process, LCA can be a useful input. Since it is the only tool that can be used for product comparisons over the whole life cycle, it can not be replaced by any other tool and should be used. Increased harmonisation of LCA methodology may increase the acceptability of chosen methods and increase the usefulness of the tool.

Modelling the valuesphere and the ecosphere: Integrating the decision makers’ perspectives into LCA

Methods for Life Cycle Impact Assessment have to cope with two critical aspects, the uncertainty in values and the (unknown) system behaviour. LCA methodology should cope explicitly with these subjective elements. A structured aggregation procedure is proposed that differentiates between the technosphere and the ecosphere and embeds them in the valuesphere. LCA thus becomes a decision support system that models and combines these three spheres. We introduce three structurally identical types of LCA, each based on one coherent but different set of values. These sets of values can be derived from the Cultural Theory and are labeled as ‘egalitarian’, ‘individualistic’, and ‘hierarchic’. Within Life Cycle Impact Assessment, a damage oriented assessment model is complemented with both a newly developed precautionary indicator designed to address unknown damage and an indicator for the manageability of environmental damages. The indicators for unknown damage and for manageability complete the set of indicators judged to be relevant by decision makers. The weights given to these indicators are also value-dependent. The framework proposed here answers the criticisms that present LCA methodology does not strictly enough separate subjective from objective elements and that it fails to accurately model environmental impacts.

Modelling the Valuesphere and the Ecosphere:

Methods for Life Cycle Impact Assessment have to cope with two critical aspects, the uncertainty in values and the (unknown) system behaviour. LCA methodology should cope explicitly with these subjective elements. A structured aggregation procedure is proposed that differentiates between the technosphere and the ecosphere and embeds them in the valuesphere. LCA thus becomes a decision support system that models and combines these three spheres. We introduce three structurally identical types of LCA, each based on one coherent but different set of values. These sets of values can be derived from the Cultural Theory and are labeled as ‘egalitarian’, ‘individualistic’, and ‘hierarchic’. Within Life Cycle Impact Assessment, a damage oriented assessment model is complemented with both a newly developed precautionary indicator designed to address unknown damage and an indicator for the manageability of environmental damages. The indicators for unknown damage and for manageability complete the set of indicators judged to be relevant by decision makers. The weights given to these indicators are also value-dependent. The framework proposed here answers the criticisms that present LCA methodology does not strictly enough separate subjective from objective elements and that it fails to accurately model environmental impacts.

LCA as a support to decision-making for product replacement.

The evaluation of environmental impacts, using the LCA methodology, allows to choose amongst several products those that are less polluting. LCA has numerous applications, that can be of interest, to either the public or the private sector. This paper analyses a particular application that uses the information obtained from an LCA study as a method of support to decision-making processes for the early replacement of products. The aim of the replacement has to be the minimisation of environmental impacts resulting from the production of goods.

The national LCA project in Japan

In 1995, nineteen industry associations, thirty-one enterprises and ninety-six individuals convened to inaugurate the LCA Japan Forum. This organization was established for the primary intention of exchanging information on common underlying problems and new measures regarding LCA among the industries, academia, and government research institutes of Japan. The LCA Japan Forum has proclaimed the urgent need to establish an LCA methodology encompassing a public inventory database and a Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) corresponding with the environmental situation in Japan in order to popularize LCA throughout the nation.

The use of life cycle methods by seven major companies

We studied how 7 large international companies are applying life cycle methodology to their products. The study comprised questions about the involvement of the purchasing department and also about the inclusion of toxics in the life cycle studies. The participating companies are using 5 different life cycle methods. None of them used the “full LCA”. The use of life cycle methods is mostly unfrequent. At the companies studied, use of LCA methodology was not internalised but rather at the starting stage. In 4 cases reasons for development of the life cycle studies are coming from outside the company. Five of the seven companies mentioned problems gathering valid data. The results of life cycle studies are used for different applications. In five cases results of the life cycle methods are used for activities which may lead to environmental impact reduction. Three companies developed life cycle methods for a data base. The use of the results for purchasing purposes occured at 2 companies. Only in one case was the purchasing department involved in the development of the life cycle method. This restricted involvement limits the potential environmental impact of life cycle studies. None of the companies uses or intends to use the life cycle method for toxics reduction. Two companies used “risk assessment” and one company a “black list” for this purpose. In all the studies the attention to toxics was insufficient to prevent potential shifts of hazard to the work environment.

다부품 시스템의 적용을 위한 전과정평가 기법

A multi-component system like an automobile is composed of several thousands of components and considerable parts of them are fabricated and manufactured outside of the product manufacturers. The manufacturing and assembly of these products represents a complex chain of processes controlled by a network of original equipment manufacturers(OEMs) and suppliers. This makes it difficult to get precise information of a great number of components which are required in order to carry out an LCA study of a multi-component product system. In this paper, a practical and systematic LCA methodology for a multi-component system, with which a time and cost effective study can be carried out for a highly complex system is developed. The life cycle inventory for a multi-component system is established based on the ecological data of modules and sub-modules by using a combination of top-down and bottom-up approaches.

Symposium: International Comparison of LCA Methodologies date: March 4th, 1999; Place: Tokai University Member’s Club, Kasumigaseki, Tokyo, Japan

Symposium: International Comparison of LCA Methodologies date: March 4th, 1999; Place: Tokai University Member’s Club, Kasumigaseki, Tokyo, Japan

Elements in a new sustainable industrial culture Environmental assessment in product development

In the last few years the environmental focus in the manufacturing industry has shifted from the manufacturing processes to the products themselves, as these are accountable for the environmental impacts in all life cycle phases. The paper describes for three industrial cases how a newly developed LCA methodology can assist the product developer in development of more environmentally friendly products. Finally, common experience gained will be discussed.

Application dependency of lca methodology: Key variables and their mode of influencing the method

The reason to perform an LCA is essentially to use it in support of a decision. A decision gives rise to a change somewhere in society compared to a scenario in which this decision was not taken. The key requirement for the LCA in any application is therefore, that it shall reflect the environmental change caused by the decision. It is found, that the need to differentiate LCA methodology for the use in different applications is born by a few key characteristics of the decision to be supported.

LCA of concrete and steel building frames

The effects on the external environment of seven concrete and steel building frames representative of present-day building technology in Sweden were analysed using LCA methodology. Objects of the study included frame construction and supplementary materials. Several-storey offices and dwellings were studied. The functional unit was defined as one average m2 of floor area during the lifetime of the building. Inventory data were elaborated for concrete and steel production, the building site, service life, demolition and final disposal. Parameters included were raw material use, energy use, emissions to air, emissions to water and waste generation. The inventory results were presented and evaluated as such, in addition to an interpretation by using three quantitative impact assessment methods. Parameters that weighed heavily were use of fossil fuels, CO2, electricity, SOx 2 NOx 2 alloy materials and waste, depending on what assessment method was used. Over the life cycle, building production from cradle to gate accounted for about the same contribution to total environmental loads as maintenance and replacement of heat losses through external walls during service life, whereas demolition and final disposal accounted for a considerably lower contribution.

Life cycle assessment standards

The newly emerging LCA standards provide an opportunity to review and improve upon the current LCA methodology. As more industrial practitioners enter the arena, the opportunity arises to not only demand environmental improvement from industrial service and product providers but also to fill LCA data gaps. A framework is suggested for improvement in the current LCA framework that focuses on the business relationships of the industrial practitioner. The framework seeks to promote environmental improvement from industrial sectors through the identification of state-of-the-art technologies used throughout a life cycle. Basing LCAs on the best performers in an industry will create a market for a high level of environmental performance, disperse the responsibility of inventory data gathering, and improve upon the advancements already anticipated through the widespread application of LCA.

Design for excellence

The cross-regional mobility of waste has become an important approach to achieve a higher waste recycling rate in some countries. However, there is a lack of study to examine the associated environmental impacts. To address this gap, a life cycle thinking based environmental assessment model with 12 indicators was developed. The foreground data obtained in this study came from multiple sources and the background data was mainly obtained from GaBi Professional. Three main scenario settings including 51 sub-scenarios were developed. The results show that at current situation in Australia, the environmental impact in terms of GWP 100 years shows -6.73E+11 kg CO 2 -Equiv., AP -2.92E+09 kg SO2 -Equiv., EP -5.18E+07 kg Phosphate-Equiv., and Land occupation 3.55E+06 m 3 . The results showed that if the recycling rate passed 50%, the environmental impacts deduction value of recycling will surpass the environmental impacts. Amongst the waste materials, steel is a critical contributor to the environmental impacts for most environmental indicators. This study revealed that if the cross-regional mobility of C&D waste increases the overall recycling rate of the waste generated in all regions involved, it can reduce the environmental impacts of the waste, and vice versa. This study gains the knowledge of environmental impacts of the cross-regional mobility of C&D waste, which is largely overlooked in previous studies. Meanwhile, it provides the index and fundamental data for the development of LCA methodology in assessing the performance of C&D waste management. Future studies should seek for more local background data and up-to-date environmental impacts data.