Purpose
Organizational life cycle assessment (O-LCA) is still a rather young proposal, but moving towards becoming more broadly accepted as a scientifically mature and practical method. The UNEP/SETAC flagship project “LCA of organizations” concluded its “road-testing” phase and is glad to announce the publication of the final report “Road testing organizational life cycle assessment around the world: applications, experiences and lessons learned.” The full report can be accessed at http://www.lifecycleinitiative.org/download/6060. This article shortly summarizes the flagship project phases and main outcomes, particularly the report recently launched, and pinpoints future actions.Methods
In 2015, the “Guidance on Organizational Life Cycle Assessment” was published. During the following 2 years, the flagship project accompanied 12 organizations in the road testing of that O-LCA Guidance. They represent four world regions, different sectors and sizes. The road testers’ case studies and their feedback are the basis of the Road-testing Report.Results and discussion
The Road-testing Report aims to complement the O-LCA Guidance through the road testers’ experience, thus delivering advice for future practitioners and inspiration to method developers. It includes executive summaries of the O-LCA road testers’ case studies and the main results of a comprehensive survey through which the road testers share their experience, feedback, and lessons learned. The road testing confirmed the application potential of the O-LCA method and the positive outcomes of the road testing have shown that no immediate updates to the O-LCA Guidance are needed, but some priority actions were identified in order to further ease the application of O-LCA.Conclusions
Three main tasks for the coming years are identified by the authors: firstly, the challenges highlighted during the road testing should be addressed in the future by the LCA community; specific methodological difficulties of certain kinds of organizations, like the service sector, should be targeted; and finally, the potential revealed by the organizational perspective can be deployed in adjacent LCA fields. The flagship project team hopes that this second publication, together with the great acceptance of the O-LCA Guidance and the contribution of third parties, will pave the way to make O-LCA a mainstream tool.The novelty of the O-LCA method and the existing differences with the established product LCA practice, as well as the unique structure each organization, pose a broad range of methodological and application challenges, in addition to the general methodological gaps in LCA. In order to provide practitioners with lessons learned for future applications and boost future method development efforts, the paper discusses those challenges.
MethodsThe challenges included in this paper were mainly identified from a survey administered to the road testers and from experiences during the piloting process. These are complemented with case studies from literature. The focus of the paper is on challenges exclusive to the organizational approach, although some additional issues common to product LCA but intensified in organizational LCA are also included. Each issue is characterized and exemplified, recommendations of reference standards are analyzed, and possible solutions discussed.
Results and discussionWith the goal and scope of O-LCA, some challenging issues were to select part of an organization as the reporting organization, and the operability of the reporting flow. Regarding the system boundary, the challenges were which parts of the supply chain should be included in the study, problems when setting the system boundary for the service sector, how to include supporting activities, and how to prepare the right system boundary diagrams. Regarding the inventory stage, the discussion starts with alternatives to the categorization of the inventory into activities and the aggregation of those activities into groups. It includes an equivalence table for an easier transfer from other organizational frameworks (ISO 14069 and the GHG Protocol). Some challenges during impact assessment and interpretation were the assessment of local impacts, scoping performance tracking, and the use of O-LCA results for an organization’s strategy.
ConclusionsThe review of challenges is not meant as a complete overview of all possible challenges—new challenges may arise in future case studies. Further application testing is needed, along with research to support a future revision of the O-LCA Guidance, in line with the issues highlighted in this paper and new challenges may arise in future case studies. O-LCA has the potential to contribute in the future implementation of the life cycle concept in environmental management systems, in the development of organizational footprint metrics for region-specific impacts, and in the social dimension of life cycle assessment.
相似文献This paper presents the implementation of O-LCA by a Brazilian cosmetics manufacturer. The case study was developed within the framework of the road testing of the “Guidance on organizational LCA” of the UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative. The aim is to illustrate methodological choices and implementation challenges encountered by the company, i.e., related to the broad product portfolio. The study demonstrates that O-LCA allows quantifying and managing environmental impacts throughout global supply chains and for every individual product.
MethodsO-LCA provides the methodological framework for applying LCA to organizations, and a set of application options based on the structure and experience of organizations. The reporting organization is NATURA Brazil in 2013. The 2600 products in the portfolio are modeled in this first exercise of the company through the bestsellers at each of its ten product category groups. A hybrid approach is considered for data collection: top-down approach for modeling corporate activities and bottom-up approach for upstream and downstream life cycle phases. The data sources are NATURA’s recordings, data gathered from suppliers, estimates from mass and energy balances, and life cycle inventory databases. The approach to acquire direct data or use life cycle databases depends on the representativeness of each raw material or packaging.
Results and discussionThe results show that major impacts could be detected during use phase that demands water and energy to use rinse-off products (the use phase of NATURA’s products contributed over 41% to most impact categories), and in the supply chain, and generated during the obtaining of plant origin ingredients and materials for packaging. Overall, the whole NATURA had in 2013 a potential impact on climate change of 1.4 million tonnes of CO2 eq, a natural land transformation of 1.3 million m2, and a fossil depletion of 0.23 million tonnes of oil eq, among other impacts. Apart from the results at the organizational level, individual results for product bestsellers were calculated and are presented here.
ConclusionsThe study confirmed the applicability of the O-LCA model at NATURA, addressed operational issues related to broad product portfolios, considering several dimensions such as data quality and availability, LCA software, and data management. Despite NATURA’s existing practices and previous knowledge in modeling environmental impacts of products and corporate activities, managing the large amount of data involved prove being a complex task. The company identified gaps and opportunities able to guide future method implementation and LCA-based management.
相似文献Purpose
The purpose of this study is to analyze the suitability of organizational life cycle assessments (O-LCAs) for higher education institutions (HEIs) with special attention to the benefits and particularities of those adopting environmental management systems (EMSs) verified according to Environmental Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS).Methods
A thorough analysis following ISO/TS 14072 and UNEP Guidance was carried out using the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) EMS verified by the EMAS for guiding principles to develop the methodological proposal. The self-sufficiency of UPV EMS for developing an O-LCA was tested at the university pilot unit. The four steps of the O-LCA were applied to the pilot.Results and discussion
A reporting organization, the organization to be studied (boundaries and scope), was defined in consideration of the environmental units (EU) of the EMS. Operational control was selected as a consolidation method. Reporting flows and system boundaries are also discussed. A three-scope scheme of the GHG protocol is introduced and combined with the ISO 14072 boundary definition to support better alignment with the HEI structure. For the life cycle inventory analysis, a mechanism for identifying activities and processes as well as their material and energy flows is proposed in consideration of the particularities of HEIs. A procedure for the prioritization of data collection efforts and cutoffs was developed. The procedure integrates current EMAS actions based on the significance of environmental aspects combined with the influence of reporting organizations under their control. Impact categories focus on midpoint indicators along with an additional inventory level indicator as part of the life cycle impact assessment (LCIA). Unfortunately, due to a lack of quality data available, LCIA can only be assessed in part with little interest in outcomes. Partial results are presented.Conclusions
An EMS verified by EMAS is proven to be useful in the assessment of O-LCA for HEIs. However, EMAS requirements do not ensure the availability of all data needed to develop an O-LCA. An accounting system should complement a lack of data if it is properly structured. Considerable efforts are required to obtain an accurate result. EMS and the accounting system may be able to provide information that supports an O-LCA approach based on a coherent prioritization of data collection efforts and cutoff procedures along with a set of justified impact category indicators. Overall, organization managers must be in favor of such an assessment to meet the requirements of successful implementation.The social aspects of municipal solid waste management (MSWM) systems are underpinning their sustainability and effectiveness. The assessment of these systems from a life cycle perspective is widespread throughout environmental life cycle assessment (LCA), but few studies have used social life cycle assessment (S-LCA). The present study is an innovative review with the objective to analyse and describe the current level of development of S-LCA applications in MSWM, and to identify the main methodological challenges and best practices, aiming at recommending approaches to harmonise future S-LCA applications in MSWM.
Materials and methodsA systematic review of the literature found 36 relevant scientific articles. These were submitted to bibliometric and content analysis, which includes an analysis of how methodological aspects of the four phases of S-LCA were applied in comparison with best practice and existing guidelines.
Results and discussionThere was a predominance of case studies in developing countries (59%) and evaluation of the stages of collection/transportation, pre-processing (sorting) and landfilling (55%). There were more studies focusing on stakeholders, “workers” and “local communities” and in the impact subcategories “employment”, “working hours”, “health and safety/working conditions”, “community involvement/participation” and “health and safety/living conditions of community”. There was great variability in the application of the method (47% of the studies included methodological developments). However, the 39% based on UNEP guidelines were closer to a methodological consensus.
ConclusionIn general, studies need more detail and clarity in describing the methodological decisions used. Improvements are needed for issues that limit the S-LCA method, including the difficulties of covering the entire life cycle, relating impacts to the functional unit, standardizing impact assessment methods, addressing allocation and data quality issues and interpretation of results and their limitations. Improvements can be achieved by using participatory methods in the selection of categories, subcategories and impact indicators, as well as by clarifying the definition of a product system and detailing “cut-off criteria” of processes/organizations and the impact of these decisions on results.
相似文献The life-cycle assessment (LCA) method is typically applied to products, but the potential and demand for extending its use also to other applications are high. In this respect, this paper proposes an LCA concept to be used for the assessment of human beings as new study objects, namely Life-LCA. Key challenges of such a new approach and potential solutions for those are identified and discussed.
MethodsThe Life-LCA concept was developed based on a detailed desktop research. Several Life-LCA-specific challenges were identified and categorized under three research questions. One of these questions focusses on the conceptual design of a Life-LCA method while the others are addressing operational issues, which are the definition of the new study system and the practical assessment of complex human consumption behaviors. Methodological solutions are proposed, e.g., based on suggestions provided in the existing methods product LCA and organizational LCA (O-LCA).
Results and discussionConceptual challenges arise from the general diversity, complexity, and temporal development of human lives and consumption behaviors. We introduce Life-LCA as a two-dimensional method that covers both, the new human life cycle (dimension 1) and the life cycle of the consumed products (dimension 2). Furthermore, the two types Individual Life-LCA and Lifestyle-LCA are differentiated. Especially, the definition of a general system boundary for Life-LCA and data collection and evaluation face many operational challenges. For example, the social behavior of human beings is a new factor to be considered which causes new allocation problems in LCA. Moreover, the high demand for aggregated LCA data requires specific rules for data collection and evaluation as well as a new bottom-up product clustering scheme.
ConclusionsLife-LCA, either used for the assessment of individual lives or lifestyles, has the potential to raise environmental awareness of people by making their specific environmental impacts comprehensively measurable and thus, tangible. However, many challenges need to be solved in future interdisciplinary research to develop a robust and applicable method. This paper conceptualizes such an approach and proposes solutions that can serve as a framework for ongoing method development.
相似文献One aim of LCA-based rating tools developed by the apparel industry is to promote a change in demand for textiles by influencing consumer preferences based on the environmental footprint of textiles. Despite a growing consensus that footprints developed using attributional LCA (aLCA) are not suitable to inform decisions that will impact supply and demand, these tools continue to use aLCA. This paper analyses the application of the LCA methods to wool production, specifically the application of aLCA methods that provide a retrospective assessment of impacts and consequential (cLCA) methods that estimate the impacts of a change.
MethodsAttributional and consequential life cycle inventories (LCIs) were developed and analysed to examine how the different methodological approaches affect the estimated environmental impacts of wool.
Results and discussionLife cycle impact assessment (LCIA) of aLCI and cLCI for wool indicates that estimated global warming and water stress impacts may be considerably lower for additional production of wool, as estimated by cLCIA, than for current production as estimated by aLCIA. However, fossil resource impacts for additional production may be greater than for current production when increased wool production was assumed to displace dedicated sheep meat production.
ConclusionsThis work supports the notion that the use of a retrospective assessment method (i.e. aLCA) to produce information that will guide consumer preferences may not adequately represent the impacts of a consumer’s choice because the difference between aLCIA and cLCIA results may be relatively large. As such, rating tools based on attributional LCA are unlikely to be an adequate indicator of the sustainability of textiles used in the apparel industry.
相似文献The safeguard subject of the Area of Protection “natural Resources,” particularly regarding mineral resources, has long been debated. Consequently, a variety of life cycle impact assessment methods based on different concepts are available. The Life Cycle Initiative, hosted by the UN Environment, established an expert task force on “Mineral Resources” to review existing methods (this article) and provide guidance for application-dependent use of the methods and recommendations for further methodological development (Berger et al. in Int J Life Cycle Assess, 2020).
MethodsStarting in 2017, the task force developed a white paper, which served as its main input to a SETAC Pellston Workshop® in June 2018, in which a sub-group of the task force members developed recommendations for assessing impacts of mineral resource use in LCA. This article, based mainly on the white paper and pre-workshop discussions, presents a thorough review of 27 different life cycle impact assessment methods for mineral resource use in the “natural resources” area of protection. The methods are categorized according to their basic impact mechanisms, described and compared, and assessed against a comprehensive set of criteria.
Results and discussionFour method categories have been identified and their underlying concepts are described based on existing literature: depletion methods, future efforts methods, thermodynamic accounting methods, and supply risk methods. While we consider depletion and future efforts methods more “traditional” life cycle impact assessment methods, thermodynamic accounting and supply risk methods are rather providing complementary information. Within each method category, differences between methods are discussed in detail, which allows for further sub-categorization and better understanding of what the methods actually assess.
ConclusionsWe provide a thorough review of existing life cycle impact assessment methods addressing impacts of mineral resource use, covering a broad overview of basic impact mechanisms to a detailed discussion of method-specific modeling. This supports a better understanding of what the methods actually assess and highlights their strengths and limitations. Building on these insights, Berger et al. (Int J Life Cycle Assess, 2020) provide recommendations for application-dependent use of the methods, along with recommendations for further methodological development.
相似文献The long-term marginal electricity supply mixes of 40 countries were generated and integrated into version 3.4 of the ecoinvent consequential database. The total electricity production originating from these countries accounts for 77% of the current global electricity generation. The goal of this article is to provide an overview of the methodology used to calculate the marginal mixes and to evaluate the influence of key parameters and methodological choices on the results.
MethodsThe marginal mixes are based on public energy projections from national and international authorities and reflect the accumulated effect of changes in demand for electricity on the installation and operation of new-generation capacities. These newly generated marginal mixes are first examined in terms of their compositions and environmental impacts. They are then compared to several sets of alternative electricity supply mixes calculated using different methodological choices or data sources.
Results and discussionRenewable energy sources (RES) as well as natural gas power plants show the highest growth rates and usually dominate the marginal mixes. Nevertheless, important variations may exist between the marginal mixes of the different countries in terms of their technological compositions and environmental impacts. The examination of the modeling choices reveals substantial variations between the marginal mixes integrated into the ecoinvent consequential database version 3.4 and marginal mixes generated using alternative modeling options. These different modeling possibilities include changes in the methodology, temporal parameters, and the underlying energy scenarios. Furthermore, in most of the impact categories, average (i.e., attributional) mixes cause higher impact scores than marginal mixes due to higher shares of RES in marginal mixes.
ConclusionsAccurate and consistent data for electricity supply is integrated into a consequential database providing a strong basis for the development of consequential Life Cycle Assessments. The methodology adopted in this version of the database eliminates several shortcomings from the previous approach which led to unrealistic marginal mixes in several countries. The use of energy scenarios allows the evolution of the electricity system to be considered within the definition of the marginal mixes. The modeling choices behind the electricity marginal mix should be adjusted to the goal and scope of individual studies and their influence on the results evaluated.
相似文献Winter road maintenance in the Nordic climate is demanding due to challenging weather conditions, high precipitation, and icy conditions. As a leading country in the transition to low-emission transport, Norway must work to reduce their emissions while providing a safe level of service through winter maintenance operations. This article investigates the environmental impacts of winter road maintenance (WRM) in Norway both today and under a climate change scenario predicted for 2050.
MethodsLife cycle assessment (LCA) is used to evaluate the environmental impact of the functional unit “average winter road maintenance in Norway on national and county roads per km.lane.” The ReCiPe (hierarchy) method was used to identify and categorize emissions related to WRM to show how different factors affect the system and to reveal hidden emissions hotspots. Real-time data from WRM vehicles were used to determine how fuel consumption is affected by gradient and weather. Producers and operators provided other relevant information on WRM vehicles. Official reports supplied information on deicer quantities used and the total distance driven by WRM vehicles in Norway.
Results and discussionThe quantity of deicer used is the main source of emissions contributing toward all impact categories. The effect of deicer is likely to be even higher in certain impact categories. The environmental impact of the deicer after application is not included. The representation of WRM in existing emissions data is limited despite the considerable amount of deicer applied and the long distances that WRM vehicles travel. The results document how energy use throughout the system is another important source of emissions. Various parameters, such as road gradient, vehicle properties, driver behavior, and weather, affect the fuel consumption of WRM vehicles, with weather being the most important of these.
ConclusionsSignificant potential for emissions reductions from WRM was found, and WRM operations should be included in cold-climate road LCA studies. The environmental impacts of deicer application are especially high compared to the mechanical clearing of roads and contribute strongly to impact categories such as terrestrial, freshwater, and human toxicity and to the formation of particulate matter.
相似文献Life cycle sustainability analysis (LCSA) is being developed as a holistic tool to evaluate environmental, economic and social impacts of products or services throughout their life cycle. This study responds to the need expressed by the scientific community to develop and test LCSA methodology, by assessing the sustainability of a concentrated solar power (CSP) plant based on HYSOL technology (an innovative configuration delivering improved efficiency and power dispatchability).
MethodsThe methodology proposed consists of three stages: goal and scope definition, modelling and application of tools, and interpretation of results. The goal of the case study was to investigate to what extent may the HYSOL technology improve the sustainability of power generation in the Spanish electricity sector. To this purpose, several sustainability sub-questions were framed and different analysis tools were applied as follows: attributional and consequential life cycle assessment, life cycle cost (LCC) analysis and multiregional input-output analysis (MRIO), and social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) in combination with social risk assessment (with the Social Hotspots Database). Visual diagrams representing the sustainability of the analysed scenarios were also produced to facilitate the interpretation of results and decision making.
Results and discussionThe results obtained in the three sustainability dimensions were integrated using a “questions and answers” layout, each answer describing a specific element of sustainability. The HYSOL technology was investigated considering two different operation modes: HYSOL BIO with biomethane as hybridization fuel and HYSOL NG with natural gas. The results indicated that the deployment of HYSOL technology would produce a reduction in the climate change impact of the electricity sector for both operation modes. The LCC analysis indicated economic benefits per MWh for a HYSOL NG power plant, but losses for a HYSOL BIO power plant. The MRIO analysis indicated an increase in goods and services generation, and value added for the HYSOL technology affecting primarily Spain and to a lower extent other foreign economies. The social analysis indicated that both alternatives would provide a slight increase of social welfare Spain.
ConclusionsThe methodological approach described in this investigation provided flexibility in the selection of objectives and analysis tools, which helped to quantify the sustainability effect of the system at a micro and meso level in the three sustainability dimensions. The results indicated that the innovation of HYSOL power plants is well aimed to improve the sustainability of CSP technology and the Spanish electricity sector.
相似文献Life cycle management (LCM) implies a specific sustainability perspective which extends environmental management along the product life cycle, with the aim of decreasing negative environmental impact throughout the product chain. Research has identified that the adoption of LCM in the industry depends upon its situational adaptation to the organizational context. Even so, little is known about the specifics of this adaptation. With this paper, our aim is to add knowledge on LCM adoption and adaptation.
MethodsA systematic analysis of empirical material on life cycle (LC) activity in six multinational corporations (MNCs) is conducted, by applying a secondary analysis of qualitative data (Heaton 2008). In order to study instances of LCM adoption and adaptation, we focus on the acts and situations of LC promoters. The identified instances are analyzed through the lens of situated problem-solving (Kuhn and Jackson 2008).
Results and discussionSixty-seven instances of LC promotion were identified and analyzed, resulting in the identification of eight categories of problem-situations typically encountered by LC promoters. The identified problem-situations represent different situations when the organizational appropriateness of the LC approach is at stake and to which responses tailored to the organization are put forward by a LC promoter. The results bring to the fore the ubiquity of organizational and creative problem-solving, highlighting the role of LC promoters as change agents for LCM adoption, and depict the development of LCM as an emergent practice, rather than an implementation process.
ConclusionsThis paper provides a first systematic analysis of LC promoters enacting a variety of responses to organizationally challenging LC situations, thus detailing the adaptation necessary for embedding LCM in the industry. Findings show that the development of LCM to a great extent is about the promotion of a LC approach, and that LC promoters need organizational knowing, in addition to LC knowing, to make the LC approach relevant to management and business.
相似文献Goal, Scope and Background
In recent years several different approaches towards Social Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA) have been developed. The purpose of this review is to compare these approaches in order to highlight methodological differences and general shortcomings. SLCA has several similarities with other social assessment tools, although, in order to limit the expanse of the review, only claims to address social impacts from an LCA-like framework are considered. 相似文献Waste recycling is one of the essential tools for the European Union’s transition towards a circular economy. One of the possibilities for recycling wood and plastic waste is to utilise it to produce composite product. This study analyses the environmental impacts of producing composite pallets made of wood and plastic waste from construction and demolition activities in Finland. It also compares these impacts with conventional wooden and plastic pallets made of virgin materials.
MethodsTwo different life cycle assessment methods were used: attributional life cycle assessment and consequential life cycle assessment. In both of the life cycle assessment studies, 1000 trips were considered as the functional unit. Furthermore, end-of-life allocation formula such as 0:100 with a credit system had been used in this study. This study also used sensitivity analysis and normalisation calculation to determine the best performing pallet.
Result and discussionIn the attributional cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment, wood-polymer composite pallets had the lowest environmental impact in abiotic depletion potential (fossil), acidification potential, eutrophication potential, global warming potential (including biogenic carbon), global warming potential (including biogenic carbon) with indirect land-use change, and ozone depletion potential. In contrast, wooden pallets showed the lowest impact on global warming potential (excluding biogenic carbon). In the consequential life cycle assessment, wood-polymer composite pallets showed the best environmental impact in all impact categories. In both attributional and consequential life cycle assessments, plastic pallet had the maximum impact. The sensitivity analysis and normalisation calculation showed that wood-polymer composite pallets can be a better choice over plastic and wooden pallet.
ConclusionsThe overall results of the pallets depends on the methodological approach of the LCA. However, it can be concluded that the wood-polymer composite pallet can be a better choice over the plastic pallet and, in most cases, over the wooden pallet. This study will be of use to the pallet industry and relevant stakeholders.
相似文献Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a data-intensive methodology; therefore, experts usually focus collection efforts on a few activities, while generic data on remaining activities are taken from databases. Even though increased availability of databases has facilitated LCA takeoff, assuring data quality is fundamental to ensure meaningful results and reliable interpretation.
MethodsEcoinvent has become a global reference for inventory data. Its current version released three impact partition modeling options—the recycled content, “allocation at the point of substitution” (APOS), and consequential models—whose adequate choice is crucial for yielding meaningful assessments. Tutorials and manuals describe the distribution algorithm that backs each system model, to ground decision-making regarding the best fit to a study’s goals. We performed a systematic literature review to investigate—within the papers published on the International Journal of LCA (IJLCA)—how transparently authors addressed the system model choices.
Results and discussionAbout 70% of LCA practitioners continued to use earlier versions of ecoinvent after version 3 was launched in 2013. The number of papers using versions 3.x only showed an increased growth trend 2 years later. Eighty-three papers actually adopted the newest version of the database. From those, only 29 papers clearly mentioned the adopted system model. Our SLR also suggests a trend regarding authorship profile of LCA-related studies: the number of studies conducted by practitioners aware of the intricacies of sound modeling of background and foreground data might have been surpassed by those conducted by non-LCA specialists who use LCA as a supporting tool for investigations in applied fields, and merely scratch the surface.
ConclusionsOur results point to a need for a caveat: ecoinvent users must take time to understand the general concept behind each system model and practice one of the most important actions when performing an LCA—state methodological choices clearly.
相似文献To reduce the environmental impact of the building sector, environmental targets considering the full life cycle of buildings can be supportive. In recent years, various benchmarks based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) have been developed as part of regulations, labelling systems, sustainability rating tools and research studies. The objective of this paper is to critically analyse 23 existing benchmarking systems focusing on the benchmark methodology but also on the benchmark applications and communication.
MethodsThe critical literature review consists of two parts. In a first part, the choices related to the assessment method, functional equivalent, definition of benchmark values, benchmark scope, benchmark applications and benchmark communication are compared. In the second part, benchmark values are compiled from literature and statistically analysed.
Results and discussionThe comparative analysis allows to identify the main approaches and methods used in benchmarking systems. For each evaluation aspect, the strengths and weaknesses of the various approaches are highlighted. The statistical analysis provides insight in the spread of benchmark values. Important variations are found between the literature sources which can be explained by differences in benchmark approach, scope, system boundaries and applications.
ConclusionsBased on the comparative analysis, recommendations are formulated for the development of LCA benchmarks for the building sector. The results of the statistical analysis furthermore provide reference values which can be used for the validation of future benchmarks. For global warming, the statistical values for the full life cycle impacts (i.e. embodied and operational impacts) range from about 15 up to 35 kg CO2 eq/m2.a.
相似文献Access, affordability and sustainability of raw material supply chains are crucial to the sustainable development of the European Union (EU) for both society and economy. The study investigates whether and how the social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) methodology can support responsible sourcing of raw materials in Europe. The potential of social indicators already available in an S-LCA database is tested for the development of new metrics to monitor social risks in raw material industries at EU policy level.
MethodsThe Product Social Impact Life Cycle Assessment (PSILCA) database was identified as a data and indicators source to assess social risks in raw material industries in EU-28 and extra-EU countries. Six raw material country sectors in the scope of the European policy on raw materials were identified and aggregated among those available in PSILCA. The selection of indicators for the assessment was based on the RACER (Relevance, Acceptance, Credibility, Ease, Robustness) analysis, leading to the proposal of 9 social impact categories. An S-LCA of the selected raw material industries was, thus, performed for the EU-28 region, followed by a contribution analysis to detect direct and indirect impacts and investigate related supply chains. Finally, the social performance of raw material sectors in EU-28 was compared with that of six extra-EU countries.
Results and discussionConsidering the overall social risks in raw material industries, “Corruption”, “Fair salary”, “Health and safety” and “Freedom of association and collective bargaining” emerged as the most significant categories both in EU and extra-EU. EU-28 shows an above-average performance where the only exception is represented by the mining and quarrying sector. An investigation of the most contributing processes to social impact categories for EU-28 led to the identification of important risks originating in the supply chain and in extra-EU areas. Therefore, the S-LCA methodology confirmed the potential of a life cycle perspective to detect burdens shifting and trade-offs. However, only a limited view on the sectoral social performance could be obtained from the research due to a lack of social data.
ConclusionsThe S-LCA methodology and indicators appear appropriate to perform an initial social sustainability screening, thus enabling the identification of hotspots in raw material supply chains and the prioritization of areas of action in EU policies. Further methodological developments in the S-LCA field are necessary to make the approach proposed in the paper fully adequate to support EU policies on raw materials.
相似文献Purpose
The paper introduces the publication on “Global Guidance Principles for Life Cycle Assessment Databases”; it focuses on the development of training material and other implementation activities on the publication.Methods
The document is the output of the “Shonan Guidance Principles” workshop. The publication provides guidance principles for life cycle assessment (LCA) databases; this includes how to collect raw data, how to develop datasets, and how to manage databases. The publication also addresses questions concerning data documentation and review, coordination among databases, capacity building, and future scenarios. As a next step, the publication is used to prepare training material and other implementation activities.Results
The publication was launched at the LCM 2011 Conference. Since then outreach activities have been organized in particular in emerging economies. Further developments with regard to the guidance principles are foreseen as part of a flagship project within phase 3 of the Life Cycle Initiative. Training material is being developed that will include how to set up databases and develop datasets. The topic has been taken up by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in its Rio?+?20 Voluntary Commitments: UNEP and Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) through the UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative commit to facilitate improved access to good quality life cycle data and databases as well as expanded use of key environmental indicators that allows the measurement and monitoring of progress towards the environmental sustainability of selected product chains.Conclusions
The adoption of the “Global Guidance Principles” publication as a de facto global standard is expected to facilitate the work of database teams, especially, in developing countries, and the collaboration in regional networks. These efforts are supported by the development of training material and other implementation activities. 相似文献In contrast to water consumption, water pollution has gained less attention in water footprinting so far. Unlike water scarcity impact assessment, on which a consensus has recently been achieved, there is no agreement on how to address water quality deterioration in water footprinting. This paper provides an overview of existing water footprint methods to calculate impacts associated with water pollution and discusses their strengths and limitations using an illustrative example.
MethodsThe methods are described and applied to a case study for the wastewater generated in textile processing. The results for two scenarios with different water quality parameters are evaluated against each other and the water scarcity footprint (WSF). Finally, methodological aspects, strengths and limitations of each method are analysed and discussed and recommendations for the methods application are provided.
Results and discussionTwo general impact assessment approaches exist to address water quality in water footprinting: the Water Degradation Footprint (WDF) calculates the impacts associated with the propagation of released pollutants in the environment and their uptake by the population and ecosystem, while the Water Availability Footprint (WAF) quantifies the impacts related to the water deprivation, when polluted water cannot be used. Overall, seven methods to consider water quality in water footprinting were identified, which rely upon one or a combination of WDF, WAF and WSF. Methodological scopes significantly vary regarding the inventory requirements and provided results (a single-score or several impact categories). The case study demonstrated that the methods provide conflicting results concerning which scenario is less harmful with regard to the water pollution.
ConclusionsThis paper provides a review of the water pollution assessment methods in water footprinting and analyses their modelling choices and resulting effects on the WF. With regard to the identified inconsistencies, we reveal the urgent need for a guidance for the methods application to provide robust results and allow a consistent evaluation of the water quality in water footprinting.
相似文献