Life Cycle Assessment Software Packages Research Articles

An Integrated Approach for Eco-Design and Its Application in LED Lighting Product Development

Lighting products are essential for our modern life nowadays, but they also produce high negative impacts on the environment. Although there are tools and methods available for reducing the environmental impact of lighting products, it is a challenging task to integrate them throughout the product development process. To overcome the challenge, this research developed an approach to integrate tools/methods relevant for the eco-design through product development process to reduce the environmental impact of lighting products. Six types of methods, such module design, and 30 tools, such as lifecycle assessment software packages, are considered in the integrated approach. The product specification with eco-constrains is established for implementation at each design stage to ensure the product eco-features. The approach was applied in the development of an LED table lamp which was then assessed in comparison with a benchmark LED lamp regarding environmental lifecycle impact and lighting performance. The comparative assessment results indicate that the LED lamp developed with this approach is much better than the benchmark lamp.

Comparison of U.S. Midwest corn stover ethanol greenhouse gas emissions from GREET and GHGenius

This paper evaluates differences in life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of corn stover ethanol produced in the U.S. Midwest, as estimated by the life cycle-based software GHGenius 4.03a, GREET 2013, and GREET 2015. Life cycle assessments are not typically conducted using more than one software package, but comparisons such as the analysis in this paper provide a critical review of a fuel product system. In particular, differences in the data and assumptions become evident for life cycle stages of the same fuel product when compared between life cycle assessment software packages. Using default settings in the three software packages, life cycle greenhouse gas emissions predictions ranged from 2.75 to 47.8 gCO2 equivalent per MJ of ethanol (gCO2e MJ−1), which presents a difference of as much as 45 gCO2e MJ−1. Assumptions regarding nitrogen fertilizer, land management, on/off-site enzyme production, and material/energy inputs included/excluded had substantial effects on life cycle greenhouse gas emissions. A consistent corn stover ethanol pathway using equivalent model assumptions and material/energy inputs was developed and implemented in each of the software packages, resulting in life cycle greenhouse gas emissions ranging from 40.7 to 42.0 gCO2e MJ−1. The difference in life cycle greenhouse gas emissions was considerably reduced to 1.3 gCO2e MJ−1 at most between software packages; however, individual emissions sources such as nitrogen fertilizer production, fertilizer application, corn steep liquor, glucose, sodium hydroxide, and biomass electricity still exhibit variation between software packages (e.g., up to 7.3 gCO2e MJ−1 E100 for equivalent glucose input), mainly due to different emissions factors data. Life cycle greenhouse gas emissions appeared consistent because emissions sources that vary between software packages offset each other. Differences in greenhouse gas emissions determined for corn stover ethanol point to the need to improve the life cycle modelling and replicability of life cycle studies on this biofuel pathway. Such inconsistencies are relevant in a carbon economy because the same product will have a different value in different jurisdictions as a result of differences in life cycle assessment software packages.

Environmental assesment of intensive egg production: A Spanish case study

Abstract Food production in intensive farming systems can be unsustainable in several ways. Although hen egg is consumed worldwide as a very valuable and cheap source of protein, there is an evident lack of studies concerning the environmental performance of egg production. The European Union produces approximately 7 million tonnes of useable eggs per annum and Spain is one of the largest egg producers. In this work, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology was applied to analyse the environmental impacts of intensive egg production using as a model a Spanish farm with 55,000 laying hens, producing about 13 million eggs per year. High quality inventory data was obtained directly from this facility. The main factors involved in egg production were included (hen feed, water, electricity, transport, cleaning elements, packaging material, replacement of exhausted laying hens, wastes and gas emissions). Inventory data were analysed using the ReCiPe Midpoint (H) V1.12/Europe Recipe H, the ReCiPe Endpoint (H) V1.12/Europe Recipe H methods and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol V1.01/C02 eq (kg) by means of the LCA software package SimaPro v8. LCA results showed that, according to normalization results, natural land transformation was the most prominent category, followed by terrestrial ecotoxicity and freshwater ecotoxicity. The most important source of harmful environmental impacts in all the categories under assessment was the production of the hen feed and, to a lesser extent, the purchase of new laying hens to replace the old ones. On the contrary, water consumption and the employment of chemicals for cleaning barely influenced the impact. One aspect that was noteworthy was the beneficial effect on environmental impact produced by the sale of old laying hens for meat production, especially on the urban land occupation and metal depletion categories. Additionally, the carbon footprint of egg production was calculated and a value of 2.66 kgCO2eq per dozen eggs was obtained. Environmental improvement actions should be directed mainly towards optimizing the hen feed formulation, not only from an economic perspective, but also considering the environmental aspects involved.

Erratum to: Criteria for the evaluation of life cycle assessment software packages and life cycle inventory data with application to concrete

Erratum to: Criteria for the evaluation of life cycle assessment software packages and life cycle inventory data with application to concrete

In response to “Criteria for the evaluation of life cycle assessment software packages and life cycle inventory data with application to concrete” by Seto et al. (2016)

In response to “Criteria for the evaluation of life cycle assessment software packages and life cycle inventory data with application to concrete” by Seto et al. (2016)

Criteria for the evaluation of life cycle assessment software packages and life cycle inventory data with application to concrete

Life cycle assessment (LCA) software packages have proliferated and evolved as LCA has developed and grown. There are now a multitude of LCA software packages that must be critically evaluated by users. Prior to conducting a comparative LCA study on different concrete materials, it is necessary to examine a variety of software packages for this specific purpose. The paper evaluates five LCA tools in the context of the LCA of seven concrete mix designs (conventional concrete, concrete with fly ash, slag, silica fume or limestone as cement replacement, recycled aggregate concrete, and photocatalytic concrete). Three key evaluation criteria required to assess the quality of analysis are adequate flexibility, sophistication and complexity of analysis, and usefulness of outputs. The quality of life cycle inventory (LCI) data included in each software package is also assessed for its reliability, completeness, and correlation to the scope of LCA of concrete products in Canada. A questionnaire is developed for evaluating LCA software packages and is applied to five LCA tools. The result is the selection of a software package for the specific context of LCA of concrete materials in Canada, which will be used to complete a full LCA study. The software package with the highest score is software package C (SP-C), with 44 out of a possible 48 points. Its main advantage is that it allows for the user to have a high level of control over the system being modeled and the calculation methods used. This comparative study highlights the importance of selecting a software package that is appropriate for a specific research project. The ability to accurately model the chosen functional unit and system boundary is an important selection criterion. This study demonstrates a method to enable a critical and rigorous comparison without excessive and redundant duplication of efforts.

Life Cycle Assessment Used to Determine Potential Midpoint Environment Impact Factors and Water Footprint of Field-grown Tree Production Inputs and Processes

Previously published life cycle assessment (LCA) studies regarding the global warming potential (GWP) of tree production have shown that the carbon footprint during the cradle-to-grave life cycle of a tree can reduce atmospheric CO2. This study provides another unique contribution to the literature by considering other potential midpoint environmental impacts such as ozone depletion, smog, acidification, eutrophication, carcinogenic or non-carcinogenic human toxicity, respiratory effects, ecotoxicity, and fossil fuel depletion for 5-cm-caliper, field-grown, spade-dug trees. Findings from this study validate using data from various literature sources with a single-impact focus on GWP and compiled and calculated in a spreadsheet or using a LCA software package with embedded databases (SimaPro) to generate comparable GWP estimates. Therefore, it is appropriate to use SimaPro to generate midpoint environmental impact estimates in LCA studies of field-grown trees. The authors also compared the midpoint environmental impacts with other agricultural commodities [corn (Zea mays), soybean (Glycine max), potato (Solanum tuberosum), and wool] and determined that trees compare favorably, with the exception that fossil fuel depletion for the trees was greater than the other products as a result of the high equipment use in harvesting and handling trees. In addition, the water footprint (WF) associated with tree production is also determined through LCA using the Hoekstra water scarcity method in SimaPro. The propagation-to-gate WF for the three tree production systems ranged from 0.09 to 0.64 m3 per tree and was highly influenced by irrigation water, which was the major contributor to WF for each production system. As expected, the propagation stage of each tree represented significantly less WF than the field production phase with larger plants and lower planting densities, even with more frequent irrigation/misting in liner production.

Life cycle assessment of nanocomposites made of thermally conductive graphite nanoplatelets

Polymers typically have intrinsic thermal conductivity much lower than other materials. Enhancement of this property may be obtained by the addition of conductive fillers. Nanofillers are preferred to traditional ones, due to their low percolation threshold resulting from their high aspect ratio. Beyond these considerations, it is imperative that the development of such new fillers takes place in a safe and sustainable manner. A conventional life cycle assessment (LCA) has been conducted on epoxy-based composites, filled with graphite nanoplatelets (GnP). In particular, this study focuses on energy requirements for the production of such composites, in order to stress environmental hot spots and primary energy of GnP production process (nano-wastes and nanoparticles emissions are not included). A cradle-to-grave approach has been employed for this assessment, in an attributional modeling perspective. The data for the LCA have been gathered from both laboratory data and bibliographic references. A technical LCA software package, SimaPro (SimaPro 7.3), which contains Ecoinvent (2010) life cycle inventory (LCI) database, has been used for the life cycle impact assessment (LCIA), studying 13 mid-point indicators. Sensitivity and uncertainty analyses have also been performed. One kilogram of GnP filler requires 1,879 MJ of primary energy while the preparation of 1 kg of epoxy composite loaded with 0.058 kg of GnP 303 MJ. Besides energy consumption in the filler preparation, it is shown that the thermoset matrix material has also a non-negligible impact on the life cycle despite the use of GnP: the primary energy required to make epoxy resin is 187 MJ, i.e., 62 % of the total energy to make 1 kg of composite. Raw material extraction and filler and resin preparation phase exhibit the highest environmental impact while the composite production is negligible. Thermosetting resin remains the highest primary energy demand when used as matrix for GnP fillers. The result of the sensitivity analysis carried out on the electricity mix used during the GnP and the composite production processes does not affect the conclusions.

The Ecocraze, a Case Study: Negotiating a Greener Product Design Landscape

Changes in consumer demand for 'green' or 'eco' products is becoming increasingly apparent, as global campaigns such as in regard to climate change gain traction, due to western and, increasingly the developing world's appetite for goods and services. The machine that created such concerns in the pioneering days of capitalism has turned to marketing and spin to cash in on this 'ecocraze'. Manzini has proposed that the ecological crisis we face is based on a crisis of the commons, a lack of contemplative time, and a proliferation of remedial goods (Manzini 2006). Seemingly, purchasing patterns are the same as the unsustainable buying behaviors that started the environmental crisis dominating world news. There lies the interplay between designing for consumers, and designing to the core principles of sustainability, where avoiding, reducing, reusing, recycling and regenerating are somewhat detached from a purely consumer driven market. Whether products are environmentally preferable or not is another story, but generally this could be verified with life cycle assessment (LCA), which unfortunately is often above and beyond the means of the designer. This paper explores case studies of contemporary design that do make large shifts to lower environmental impact, by analyzing them from an LCA perspective. The streamlined models were completed in the Simapro (TM) LCA software package, with data taken from current life cycle inventories, past studies and primary sources, and looks at the shifts that the products may have realized, which could have been verified at the design stage rather than retrospectively. The quantitative results are compared to a standard product default or orientation. The paper explores whether the products allow users to enact behaviors or decisions needed if environmental impacts are to be reined in.

Green Decisions

This article discusses the introduction and implementation of environmental regulations in manufacturing industry. Manufacturers are responding to customer demand for environmentally friendly products. Several vendors such as PTC and Siemens PLM Software make products that track environmental performance of products, parts, materials, and suppliers. Many products are integrated with a company’s supply chain and product development systems. IBM offers Environmental Product Lifecycle Management, which includes software and consulting services, and assists clients in analyzing every phase their product passes through to ensure environmental compliance. A number of lifecycle assessment software packages have been released in recent years to help designers. Sustainable Minds develops software, for example, that is intended to give engineers pertinent supplier and material information, which allows them to weigh each design decision from an environmental standpoint. Engineers call upon lifecycle analysis software to ensure their products comply with environmental regulations. Meanwhile, the number of manufacturers who will need to meet those regulations represents a growing market for software makers.