Sustainable Design

Services / Sustainable Design / LCA

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Services

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a process for assessing the environmental aspects associated with a product over its entire life cycle. LCA can be used for a number of applications, including:

  • Analysis of the energy input and carbon output of the life cycle stages to the overall environmental impact, usually with the goal to prioritise improvements on products or processes
  • Comparison between products for internal or external communications
  • Optimisation the environmental performance of a business
  • Assess the carbon outputs of a product or system to calculate the offsets required to balance emissions

Detailed full-scale LCA can be a very time consuming and expensive process, therefore it is often more effective to perform a ‘streamlined LCA’ (SLCA). The SLCA approach uses a ‘system boundary’ or ‘scope’ to set out what will and won’t be considered in assessing the lifecycle phases. International Standard ISO 14040:2006 (British Standards, 2006) defines the system boundary as a “set of criteria specifying which unit processes are part of a product system”. SLCA identifies approximately 80% of the major impacts associated with a product’s lifecycle.

IDC has produced a streamlined LCA process that helps clients access the knowledge to help make sustainable design decisions. This service is offered in the following two options:

 

Streamlined Life Cycle Assessment Option 1

This is option provides a product carbon footprint using secondary data to estimate the carbon emissions outputted by the materials and energy used to provide the product. Using secondary data eliminates the need for extensive data collection and analysis; providing cost effective results quickly.

This option will involve the following tasks:

- Building a simple process map
- Checking boundaries and prioritisation
- Calculating the footprint for the following life cycle stages:
· Raw Materials / Resource extraction
· Distribution (worldwide)
· Use
· End of life / Disposal
- Compiling the process and results in a report

 

Streamlined Life Cycle Assessment Option 2

The second option that we offer provides a more detailed approach and is guided by BSI’s “PAS 2050 – Specification for the assessment of the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of goods and services”. Doing a more detailed SLCA may highlight cost and carbon saving opportunities that less detailed approaches may not.

Option 2 will involve the following tasks:

- Building a detailed process map
- Checking boundaries and prioritization
- Collection of data
- Calculating the footprint for the following life cycle stages:
· Raw Materials / Resource extraction
· Manufacture Processes
· Manufacture transport
· Distribution (worldwide)
· Use
· End of life / Disposal
- Compiling the process and results in a report


Note: Optional additional services include verification of data and graphical; communication of the result

IDC/ Services / Sustainable Design / LCA