The maintenance of linoleum and PVC floor coverings in sweden the significance of the usage phase in an LCA

Goal, Scope and Background  An extensive life cycle inventory of the maintenance of floor coverings has been carried out for the professional cleaning sector in Sweden. Different maintenance methods for linoleum and PVC were inventoried. The objective has been to develop a model for estimating the resource use in the Swedish professional floor cleaning and maintenance sector. Several important actors involved in the Swedish professional cleaning sector participated in the inventory. An agreement could be reached for a limited number of methods and products. The result can be regarded as representative for the maintenance of linoleum and PVC in respect to professional maintenance in Sweden. Methods, Results and Discussion  The maintenance was divided into two different types: periodical and frequent maintenance. It showed that 36 maintenance systems were relevant (each system is a combination of periodical and frequent maintenance) and that the expected impacts from maintenance could be found through an inventory of these 36 systems. The resource use for each system was inventoried and pertaining LCI data was collected. However, it showed that the resource use for the maintenance systems could not be quantified without estimating three so called ‘application-specific context parameters’, which were not depending on the maintenance system but related to the specific type of premises. The three parameters were: the frequency of the periodical maintenance (P); the frequency of the frequent maintenance (P), and; the estimated service life (L) of the floor covering. The prediction of a specific resource use for maintenance of a specific floor covering could thereby not be carried out without the knowledge of the three application-specific parameters. However, all collected data were supplied to a specifically developed calculation program, which made it possible to estimate the impact from the 36 maintenance systems for different choices of estimated service life and maintenance intervals for the periodical and frequent maintenance. Approximately 1300 different scenarios were provided, using different values for F, P and L, respectively, and compared in order to answer several questions of concern to the professional cleaning sector in Sweden. Conclusions  Some of the most important conclusions generated from the scenarios were: The impacts from maintenance proved to be significant compared to the impacts from the floor. In several cases, wax-based systems turned out to be preferable to polish systems. However, the result is sensitive to the chosen cleaning method. When polish systems are chosen, the choice of floor covering may influence the usage phase in a significant way. Recommendation and Outlook  A framework has been provided as a base for further development. Possibly, the data could be improved and supplied with data of other products and materials. Even other types of floor coverings may be considered. The focus has primarily been on energy use and emission of chemicals recorded as dry substance. It is desirable with a development of a method for quantitative assessment of the actual chemicals.