ESSE 2210

Engineering and the Environment

ASSO D
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

creative pa::ionat. rational c:onficil nt

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Methodology
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Introduction
• Technology has both benefits and adverse
: environmental effects.
£) Pr~Yng
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Polir'-!I.Jtlur Ill · • Products and processes are complex and
environmental consequences can be far-reaching.

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Rr.s.ou.-ces
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• Life cycle assessment is a tool for systematic
· evaluation of the environmental impact of a product

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.. throughout each stage of its life cycle .
• It is also called as life cycle analysis 1 eco balance or
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• cradle to grave analysis.

• It considers all the environmental impacts right from
~ the extraction of raw material to its final disposal.

• It considers both qualitative and quantitative aspects.

•
Introduction
• Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) refers to the process of compiling and evaluating the
inputs} outputs and the potential environmental impacts of a product system
throughout its life cycle.
• But LCA also refers to the result of this process.
• LCA has come a long way} and it continues to change.
• Since a decade or so ago} there has been a broadly accepted set of principles that
can be claimed as the present-day LCA framework.
• The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has issued a series of
standards and technical reports for LCA1 referred to as the 14040 series.
• This series consists of the documents listed in Table 1.
 Table 1: ISO documents on life cycle assessment (LCA).
Number I Type I Title II Year I
14040 International standard Principles and framework 111996,2006
14041 !International standard Goal and scope definition and inventory analysis 11998[11
14042 International standard L1
ife cycle impact assessment l2oooUJ
14043 !International standard L1
ife cycle interpretations l2oooUJ
14044 International standard Requirements and guidellines l2oo61:21
14047 !Technical report I Examples of application of ISO 14042 12003
14048 !Technical report I Data documentation format 12001
14049 !Technical report I Exam plies of application of ISO 14041 12000
l1]Updated in 2006 and merged into 114044.

lfJReplaces 14041,14042, and 14043.

 INPUT$ PROCESSES

Raw Materials Aquisition Atmospheric emissions

Raw Materials
+
Manufacturing

+ Waterborne waste
Operation I Use I Maintenance

Energy
+
Recycle I Waste Management

System Main
boundary product OUTPUTS
 NEED

• To study the impact of our goods ,services and technology on our environment.
• To identify the environmental consequence of a decision or a proposed change
in the system under study.
• To identify and implement ways of improving environmental foot print.
• Decisions made today will be viewed as ({right" decisions in future.
• An LCA provides the framework for incorporating environmental effects into the
decision making process.
Methodology

Steps in a life cycle assessment

• Goal Definition and Scoping
• Inventory Analysis
• Impact assessment
• Interpretation and improvement
analysis
Methodology
• Typically, LCA starts by defining goal and scope, then proceeds to the
inventory analysis, then optionally continues to impact assessment, and it
ends with the interpretation.
• However, an LCA study is a highly iterative process, so that the LCA
practitioner may need to go back to goal and scope after the preliminary
inventory work, to move back from impact assessment to inventory analysis,
to have a look at the interpretation in an early stage, etc.
• Here, we will discuss the main idea and content of the four phases in separate
subsections.
Stepl: Goal Definition and Scoping
• There is no explicit ISO definition of the first phase of LCA. However, it obviously
centers around formulating the question and stating the context of answering
this question.
• In the goal and scope definition, no data is collected and no results are
calculated.
• Rather, it is a place where the plan of the LCA study is defined as clearly and
unambiguouslyas possible.
• Likewise, in an LCA report, it should help the reader to quickly find out the
precise question addressed and main principles chosen.
• The choices made here have an influence on the rest of the LCA procedure. For
instance, depending on the intended audience, a critical review may be needed,
and it may be important that an external expert takes this task.
Stepl: Goal Definition and Scoping
-Satisfying new legal requirement
-Setting an industry standards for other to follow
r ---+1

• Motivation for the study _ ___. -Determining the feasibility of new technologies

-Identifying the processes which pose the greatest

• The intended use of the results S environmental burden
-Determining if the new technologies meet the
environmenta I expectations

The resources available to conduct the study-----. -Financial

-Personnel
!

The point of view of the analysi -An engineer

-A Consumer
-A government regulator

The LCA scope defines what is included in or excluded from the

analysis.
References
Rubin, E.S. and Davidson, C. 2001.1ntroduction to Engineering and the Environment.
McGraw- Hill water resources and environmental engineering series. ISBN 0-07-235467-
4.
• EPA/600/R-06/060. 2006. Life cycle assessment; principles and practice, National Risk
Management Research La bora tory, Cincinnati, Ohio 45268
• Chaffee,C. and Yaros,B. R. 2014. Life cycle assessment for three types of grocery bags-
recyclable plastic; compostable, biodegradable plastic and recycled plastic paper,
Boustead Consulting & Associates Ltd.
• Dias,A. C., Arroja, L. and Capela, I. 2007. Life Cycle Assessment of Printing and Writing
Paper Produced in Portugal. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 12 {7)
521-528
• Curran, M.A. 2012.Life Cycle Assessment Handbook: A Guide for Environmentally
Sustainable Products, John Wiley & Sons {US).