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A BSRIA Guide [Link]

Life Cycle Assessment

An introduction
by David Churcher

BG 52/2013
 1
Acknowledgements

This guide was written as part of BSRIA’s work on the CILECCTA

project which was funded under EU Framework 7 (grant agreement
229061). CILECCTA was a collaborative project involving 17 partners
from 7 European countries that researched and developed an advanced
software tool incorporating life cycle costing and life cycle assessment,
probabilistic analysis and the modelling of as-yet-unmade decisions (also
known as future options).

BSRIA’s technical author was David Churcher and the text was also
reviewed by Hannes Krieg from University of Stuttgart ([Link]).
It was designed and produced by Joanna Smith of BSRIA.

The guidance given in this publication is correct to the best of BSRIA’s knowledge. However
BSRIA cannot guarantee that it is free of errors. Material in this publication does not constitute
any warranty, endorsement or guarantee by BSRIA. Risk associated with the use of material from
this publication is assumed entirely by the user.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical including photocopying,
recording or otherwise without prior written permission of the publisher.
© BSRIA October 2013 ISBN 978-0-86022-725-0 Printed by Lavenham Press

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 contents

GLOSSARY AND LIST OF ACRONYMS 1

1 INTRODUCTION 3

2 STEP 1 – GOAL AND SCOPE 7

2.1 Defining the goal 7
2.2 Defining the scope 9

3 STEP 2 - PROCESSES AND INVENTORIES 16

3.1 Product system and unit process flows 16
3.2 Different ways of categorising the product system 19
3.3 Product processes and system processes 22
3.4 Completeness 22
3.5 Multifunctionality 23
3.6 Allocation at end of life 25
3.7 Collate existing inventories for unit processes 26
3.8 Quality of life cycle inventory data 26
3.9 Primary and secondary data 27
3.10 Building a new life cycle inventory 30

4 STEP 3 - IMPACT ASSESSMENT 35

4.1 Select impact categories and assign LCI results 36
4.2 Apply the characterisation factors to inventory results 39
4.3 Normalising the impact assessment 41
4.4 Grouping impact categories 43
4.5 Weighting impact categories 44
4.6 Data quality analysis 46

5 STEP 4 – INTERPRETATION AND REPORTING 49

5.1 Significant issues 49
5.2 Completeness 50
5.3 Sensitivity 51
5.4 Consistency 52
5.5 Conclusions, Limitations and Recommendations 52
5.6 Reporting the results of the study 53

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 CONTENTS

REFERENCES and BIBLIOGRAPHY 55

List of items comprising the Worked Example

Part 1 - Step 1 Goal Definition 9
Part 2 - Step 1 Scope Definition 15
Part 3 - Step 2 Model the Functional Unit 18
Part 4 - Step 2 Foreground and Background Systems 22
Part 5 - Step 2 Completeness 23
Part 6 - Step 2 Multifunctionality 24
Part 7 - Step 2 End of Life Allocation 25
Part 8 - Step 2 Collate LCIs 26
Part 9 - Step 2 Primary and Secondary Data 29
Part 10 Step 3 Selection of Impact Categories and
Calculation Methodology 38
Part 11 Step 3 Impact Assessment Calculation 39
Part 12 Step 3 Endpoint Impact Assessment 45

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 GLOSSARY

Characterisation factor A unit used to measure an environmental impact category,

where different emissions are related to a single indicator such
as CO2 equivalent
Completeness A measure of how complete an assessment is, in terms of what
percentage of environmental impacts or what percentage of
material weights are included in the assessment
Cradle-to-gate A life cycle assessment carried out from raw materials
extraction through to end of manufacture or production
Cradle-to-grave A life cycle assessment carried out from raw materials
extraction through use to end-of-life
Decision situation One of four different high-level purposes for carrying out a life
cycle assessment
Ecosphere The natural world, where all natural processes are modelled
Emission Gaseous, liquid or solid discharges to the environment as
a result of a process, for example carbon dioxide, methane,
radioactive particles

Endpoint category An environmental impact category that describes the damage

that environmental problems cause – see also Midpoint
category
Environmental impact A form of environmental harm used to collect together a range
category of emissions and burdens – see also Midpoint category and
Endpoint category
Functional unit A performance-based specification for the product system,
usually including a quantity of a substance or service, a quality
level and a timescale
Life cycle assessment A structured method for compiling and evaluating the
environmental impacts and primary energy demand of a
product, material or system throughout its life cycle
Life cycle impact The analysis of the life cycle inventories for the product system
assessment according to a chosen set of midpoint and/or endpoint impact
categories.
Life cycle inventory The list of all inputs (product flows and elementary flows) and
outputs (wastes) that arise from the delivery of the functional
unit of the product system
Midpoint category An environmental impact category that describes an
environmental problem such as acidification – see also Endpoint
category
Multifunctionality The delivery of multiple outputs from a single process, some of
which may not be part of the product system
Output The result of a process that is either directly useful in its own
right or as the input to a subsequent process, for example sawn
timber, or would be useful if it could be harnessed, for example
heat
Product system The object of a life cycle assessment. This may be a single
product, a quantity of a material, a process or a system
comprising multiple products, materials and processes

Reference flow The amount of each process required to achieve the functional
unit
Representativeness A measure of how closely the data in a life cycle inventory
matches the actual requirements of the product system.
Representativeness is assessed in a number of different ways,
including the technologies represented in the inventory data,
the geographical origins of the inventory data and the age of the
inventory datasets
Technosphere The man-made world, where all man-made processes are
modelled

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 LIST OF ACRONYMS

BEES Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability

BREEAM Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment

Method

CML Institute of Environmental Sciences (at Leiden University)

DALY Disability-Adjusted Life Year

DQR Data Quality Rating

EPD Environmental Product Declaration

GHG Greenhouse Gas

GWP Global Warming Potential

HVAC Heating,Ventilating and Air-Conditioning

ILCD International Reference Life Cycle Data System – a publication

of the Institute for Environment and Sustainability of the
European Commission’s Joint Research Centre

IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

ISO International Organization for Standardization

LCA Life Cycle Assessment

LCI Life Cycle Inventory

LCIA Life Cycle Impact Assessment

TRACI Tool for the Reduction and Assessment of Chemical and other
environmental Impacts

WHO World Health Organization

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 INTRODUCTION 1

1 INTRODUCTION

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is one of a number of environmental

management techniques. It is a structured methodology for compiling and
evaluating the environmental impacts* of a product system throughout
its life cycle. It can be applied to any product or process. In construction
and building services it can include manufactured products, processes,
assemblies, entire HVAC systems or even whole buildings.

A life cycle can be assessed in different levels of detail. A cradle-to-grave

life cycle assessment is the most comprehensive, covering materials
extraction, component production, transport to site, installation, operation,
decommissioning and disposal or recycling. Other possible scopes for LCA
are cradle-to-gate, which covers the production of manufactured goods up
to the point where they leave the factory and gate-to-gate which covers
the sourcing of off-the-shelf materials and components and their assembly
into a new product.

Recent studies have shown that in conventional buildings only about 10%
to 20% of the life cycle energy is used in extracting the raw materials and
constructing the building, whereas 80% to 90% of the life cycle energy
is used during the operational phase of the building. Therefore, the full
life cycle of buildings is relevant, not only the construction phase. LCA
can help to systematically assess the entire life cycle. Current government
policy, directed through changes to Building Regulations, is to reduce
the operational energy used in buildings by making them more energy
efficient and this is expected also to affect this balance between upfront
energy consumption and in-use energy consumption.

How to use this guide

Life cycle assessment is a complicated process, and this guide is deliberately
written as an introduction for those who are new to the concept or who
need a reminder of the basics. The LCA process has been divided into four
key steps, as shown in Figure 1. The steps are used to organise the main
text of this guide.
• Step 1- Identify Goal and Scope – define boundaries and the
functional unit - Section 2
• Step 2 - Model the processes and resources involved in the product
system, collate the Life Cycle Inventories of these processes and
resources, and generate any new inventories required - Section 3
• Step 3 - Analyse Life cycle Impacts in terms of mid-points (impact
categories) and end-points (system categories) - Section 4
• Step 4 - Evaluate and Interpret results and generate report for
decision making - Section 5

*In the context of this guide, environmental impacts include primary energy demand throughout the
defined life cycle stages.
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 1 INTRODUCTION

As the dashed arrows in Figure 1 show, each of Steps 1, 2 and 3 can also
be subject to interpretation and reporting. Part of this is because the
work done in each of these steps is fundamentally different and should be
evaluated in its own right. There is also the consideration that the scope
of an LCA study might be to end at Step 2 (Processes and Inventories)
or to continue through to Step 3 (Impact Assessment). Depending on the
scope of the study, the nature of the report produced from Step 4 will vary
accordingly.

Figure 1: The LCA process

Step 1
Goal and Scope

Step 4
Step 2 Interpretation
Processes and Inventories and Reporting

Step 3
Impact Assessment

Note: ISO 14040[1] breaks the LCA process into five phases, with Goal and Scope as two
separate phases.

The worked example

Many of the concepts involved in life cycle assessment are challenging to understand
or to visualise in the abstract. To help explain the ideas, a single worked example is
used throughout the guide. This is split into 12 parts, each in a red box. The example
concerns a design decision between using a split air-conditioning system or a
heavyweight concrete slab with embedded ducts to cool an office space.

This example is for illustration only. Although it is a building services oriented

example, LCA does of course apply to all aspects of building and construction.
All the numerical figures are fictitious and should not be relied upon even as an
approximation of environmental impact.

Existing standards
Life cycle assessment is standardised through a range of ISO documents.
These include:
• ISO 14040: 2006 Environmental management - Life cycle assessment -
Principles and framework[1]. This standard sets out the major steps in
the LCA process but does not describe the LCA technique in detail.
• ISO 14044: 2006 Environmental management - Life cycle assessment -
Requirements and guidelines[2]. This standard supports ISO 14040 with
more detail about each of the LCA steps.

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 INTRODUCTION 1

• ISO/TR 14047: 2012 Environmental management - Life cycle assessment

- Illustrative examples on how to apply ISO 14044 to impact assessment
situations[3]. This standard particularly shows the key elements in the
Impact Assessment phase of LCA (Step 3 in Figure 1).
• ISO/TR 14049: 2012 Environmental management - Life cycle assessment
- Illustrative examples on how to apply ISO 14044 to goal and scope
definition and inventory analysis[4]. This standard particularly shows
the key elements of the inventory analysis phase of LCA (Step 2 in
Figure 1).

As well as the above standards, this guide also draws on material from the
ILCD Handbook[5].

What can LCA be used for?

LCA can be applied to a very wide range of processes and is applicable
across many industries or decision-making situations. These may represent
the manufacture of a product, the delivery of a service, or the assembly of
products and services into a deliverable component, system or asset.

Life cycle assessment has a number of practical applications:

1. It can be used to analyse the life cycle of a certain product
and find environmental “hot-spots”, that is to say stages in the
manufacturing or production process that have disproportionately
high environmental impact, so that these can be prioritised to reduce
the product’s overall environmental impact.
2. It can be used to provide information to politicians and other
decision makers to help them form strategic plans, set policy, propose
legislation, or to inform the design process of a product or service.
3. It can be used to generate information about the environmental
impact of a particular product or class of products that can be
communicated to consumers as part of a marketing or behaviour
change strategy.
4. It can be used as a comparative tool, to indicate the relative
environmental impact of different products that perform the same
function, for example the relative impacts of plastic or copper piping,
or the relative impacts of LED or fluorescent lamps. It can also
be used more widely to compare different primary construction
materials (such as timber-framed versus brick construction), or
different design approaches (such as heavyweight design with thermal
storage versus lightweight design with higher heating and cooling
loads).

The application of LCA will also affect the type of report that is produced
at the end of the assessment.

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 1 INTRODUCTION

What can LCA not be used for?

Life cycle assessment is only concerned with environmental impacts. It
cannot be used for any other kind of assessment. Economic comparisons
are carried out using Life Cycle Costing – see BSRIA’s guide BG 5/2008
Whole-Life Costing Analysis[6] for information about this.

LCA is one of a number of design assessment techniques, when a range of

technical solutions are being compared with each other to determine the
best one overall. Three types of assessment are shown in Figure 2, but there
could also be other more specialist assessments carried out as well.

Figure 2: Options appraisal using parallel assessments

Origin Design
of option Assessment
requirements Comparisons

Client brief Design

option 1 Technical
assessment

Requirements

Design options Economic

assessment
in application (Life cycle
context costing)
Targets

Environmental
assessment (Life Cycle
Design Assessment)
Regulation option X

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 STEP 1 – GOAL AND SCOPE 2

2 STEP 1 – GOAL AND SCOPE

Identifying the Goal and Scope is about defining the specification of

an assessment. Identifying the goal can be thought of as a high-level
specification, and the scope as a lower-level specification. Together they set
the scene for the assessment, define the extent of the work that needs to be
done and clarify the criteria against which the assessment will be judged.

2.1 Defining the The Goal answers the fundamental questions about the assessment – who
goal
has commissioned it and who the target audience is, why the assessment is
being carried out, how the results can be used and whether any deliberate
limitations have been imposed.

It helps if the Goal is set out in a structured way and the ILCD Handbook[5]
suggests the following six sub-sections:
1. Intended application – this explains how the results are intended
to be used and may also include some of the limitations of the
assessment (for example, if it only applies to a particular country or
region).
2. Method, assumption and impact limitations – this explains in full the
limitations that have been imposed. Life cycle assessment studies can
answer a wide range of questions. Practical issues, such as cost or time,
may place restrictions on the way the work is to be done.
3. Reasons for carrying out the study – this explains the drivers and
motivations behind the study and the type of decision it is designed
to support (some possibilities are listed in the Introduction to this
guide).
4. Target audience – this identifies the recipients of the assessment. The
type of audience (internal, third party, general public) determines the
type of report that will need to be produced.
5. Comparisons intended for public disclosure – this explicitly states
whether the assessment has been designed to compare alternatives
and whether the results are to be made public. If this is the case then
ISO 14040[1] and ISO 14044[2] require that certain additional steps are
included in the work.
6. Commissioner of the assessment – this explains which individuals or
organisations have commissioned, funded or otherwise influenced the
study. This is important for transparency and so that the results can be
understood in their proper context.

Setting limitations for the study can also be a useful way of simplifying the
amount of work involved in carrying out an LCA.

One way of limiting the study is just to consider a particular type of

environmental impact such as Climate Change. Obviously this places
restrictions on the practical use of the study results and this limitation
would not be justified if two products were being compared which had
significantly different levels of impact in other environmental categories.

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 2 STEP 1 – GOAL AND SCOPE

Another limitation is to exclude all mass and energy flows that contribute
less than 1% of the total inputs or less than 1% of the environmental
impacts. This can simplify the study dramatically, since this means that a
large number of small inputs can be ignored. This is discussed further in
Sections 3.4 and 5.2.

Limitations can also arise through the general nature of the LCA
methodologies – an assessment using general inventory information such
as a European or global average impact for electricity production would
not be reasonable if it were to be used in a region where most electricity is
generated from renewable sources.

ISO 14044[2] defines three main decision situations where LCA studies can
be used:
• Situation A – decision support at product or single-process level
(typically used for product analysis, product benchmarking or
comparisons, greening the supply chain)
• Situation B – decision support at strategic level (typically used for
developing and informing policy)
• Situation C – retrospective accounting of past decisions, i.e. not
providing support for future decision-making. Situation C is
subdivided into C1, which accounts for interactions between the
selected process and other systems, and C2, which does not account
for such interactions.

Some common types of life cycle deliverable for different applications are
shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Life cycle deliverables for different applications (Based on ILCD Handbook[5] – Provisions and action steps, Table 3.)
Purpose LCA application LCI results LCA study, LCA study, Detailed Decision
data set non- comparative LCI model situation
comparative of system
Product Weak point analysis   A
improvement
Detailed eco-design / design for recycling  A
Product Comparison of specific goods or services  A
comparisons
Benchmarking of specific products against  A
group average
Communication Development of life cycle based Type III   A
environmental declaration (e.g. EPD)
Calculation of indirect effects in   C1
Environmental Management System
Greening the supply chain  A
Across several Development of specific, average or generic  A, B, C1
areas LCI results data sets for different applications or C2
Strategic Policy development – forecasting/analysing  B
decision the impact of pervasive technologies or raw
support materials strategies
Policy information – identifying product  B
groups with greatest potential for
environmental improvement
Accounting Monitoring environmental impacts of an   C1
industry sector, product group or product
Corporate or site environmental reporting  C1

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 STEP 1 – GOAL AND SCOPE 2

As part of the Goal definition, the correct decision situation for the
study (A, B, C1 or C2) should be selected as this affects how later steps
in the process are defined – particularly the rules for life cycle inventory
modelling and the identification of appropriate processes to be included in
the product system. See Section 3.3.

Identifying the target audience helps define the type of critical review
required for the assessment, the way in which the findings should be
presented, and the need for confidentiality.

Defining whether or not the assessment has been designed for public
disclosure helps to make sure that the results of the study cannot be quoted
out of context.

Worked example Part 1 – Step 1 Goal Definition

The goal for the example project is summarised below:

Application/reason for study

The application of this life cycle assessment is to support decision-making during
concept design for a building project in the UK.

Method, assumptions, impact limitations

The alternative cooling philosophies (split air-conditioning system vs. heavyweight
concrete slab with embedded ducts) have been designed to deliver the same level of
occupant comfort (general maximum internal temperature of 23˚C with 50 hours of
overheating expected per year).

This example comes within decision situation A. The interpretation and report should
indicate the environmental impacts of each alternative design.

Audience
This example assessment is intended for internal use only and to be circulated only to
the building design team and the client.

Comparisons for public disclosure

No.

Commissioner
The study has been commissioned by the Lead Designer on behalf of the project
client. The study is based on technical design information provided by the building
services consultant and the project architect.

2.2 Defining the The Scope sets out in more detail what is to be analysed and how. The
scope
ILCD Handbook[5] lists 10 aspects of the scope that are to be described. For
this introductory guide, however, these have been condensed into three
areas of definition.

2.2.1 Deliverables, review, data quality and reporting

The first part of the Scope defines, or confirms, the deliverables to be
provided at the end of the study.

The Scope should also state whether or not a critical review of the study is
required. This is recommended for all studies, but not formally required for
internal deliverables and reports. Whenever it is included in the Scope, the
critical review must be independent of the study itself, and it is also good

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 2 STEP 1 – GOAL AND SCOPE

practice to decide on the nature of the review as early as possible, partly

so that any data collection and modelling can be designed with the review
in mind and also so that the review can be carried out in parallel with the
study rather than waiting until it is all complete.

The Scope also sets out the data quality standard that the study is expected
to meet. Again, this is important so that the collection of data can be
designed to meet the requirements in terms of precision, uncertainty and
representativeness.

Finally, this part of the Scope sets out how the study results should be
reported.

2.2.2 Definition of the system or process

This part of the Scope includes a definition of the product or process that
is being assessed, and a definition of the functional unit for this product or
process. The definition of the functional unit helps to define the system
boundary around the product or process.

The functional unit

The functional unit is a very important concept in LCA, as this is the
definition that all inputs and outputs are related to. The functional unit has
to be consistent with the Goal and Scope of the study. The functional unit
is a way of defining the problem in terms of a sensible unit of performance.
For example, the provision of 100 m2 of brickwork wall for 50 years
without loss of performance. It doesn’t matter whether the wall is built
in-situ or whether it is prefabricated – in fact this might be a comparison
carried out using LCA to find out which method is less environmentally
damaging.

Different examples of functional units include:

• Lighting: Delivering 300 lux to an office desk for 10 hours per day,
5 days per week for 20 years
• Heating: Delivering 150,000 kWh of heat per year to an office
building, with a peak load of 250 kW
• Flooring: Covering 3000 m2 of floor for 60 years
• Shopping bags: Transporting 10 kg of shopping from supermarket to
car and car to kitchen once a week for a year
• Transport: Conveying 100 people 50 miles into central London in
less than 90 minutes.

As can be seen, functional units are usually performance specifications and

they tend to include both a quantity element (the amount of something
delivered) and a timing element (either the rate of delivery, or the overall
duration, or both). The functional unit does not directly specify how the
performance is delivered – comparing alternative solutions may be part of
the reason for carrying out the assessment.

The functional units listed above could be used to compare the design
solutions listed in Table 2.

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 STEP 1 – GOAL AND SCOPE 2

Table 2: Possible design solutions

Lighting Ceiling mounted luminaires
Floor-mounted uplighters plus desk-mounted task lights
Heating Gas-fired boilers
Biomass boiler with gas boiler as back-up/peak load heating
Flooring Carpet tiles that need replacing every 5-10 years
Linoleum flooring (replaced every 25 years)
Hardwood flooring that should last 60 years
Shopping bags Disposable plastic carrier bags (single use only)
Long-life plastic/fabric bags (likely to last 3 or 4 years)
Transport Train service (full train would carry 800 people)
Coach service (two 60-seater coaches)
Cars (average occupancy 1.25 persons)

The reference flow

The reference flow describes the amount of each product or process
required to achieve the functional unit.

For example, taking the lighting example above, the reference flow for a
ceiling-mounted luminaire system with fluorescent lamps might include:
• Two thirds of a 3-tube 1200 mm x 600 mm luminaire (if 10
luminaires are used to light 15 desks then only two thirds of a
luminaire is required per desk)
• 2/3 × 3 × 20/5 = 8 fluorescent tubes (if 3 tubes are fitted in each
luminaire and each tube lasts 5 years)
• 2/3 × 60 W × 10 × 5 × 52 × 20 / 1000 = 2080 kWh of
electricity (if the luminaire has a power rating of 60 W and is
switched on for 10 hours per day, 5 days per week, 52 weeks per
year for 20 years).

The unit for the reference flow and the functional unit should be selected
to make the information easy to reuse – this means that the functional unit
may not agree exactly with the quantities specified in the problem being
assessed. For example, where a problem concerns providing lighting to an
office space containing 35 desks then the functional unit may be defined
as lighting a single desk. A multiplier will then be needed to relate the
functional unit to the actual problem.

Where life cycle assessment is going to be combined with life cycle

costing then it may be sensible to choose a functional unit which has the
same quantity as the standard unit for cost measurement of the appropriate
item (for example 1 m length of internal partition, 1 m2 of flooring, 1 m3
of spoil removal, 1 number of an item such as a door handle, chair, or 20
kW air handling unit).

The system boundary

The system boundary incorporates all the materials, sub-processes and
emissions that are required, or arise as a result of delivering the functional
unit. Figure 3 shows the system boundary for a manufactured product – in
this case a bolt.

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 2 STEP 1 – GOAL AND SCOPE

Notice that some capital items have been deliberately excluded from the
system – this has been done to simplify the assessment. In theory, the
production of a single bolt will use a minute fraction of each item of
machinery used to extract or harvest the raw materials. But at a practical
level, the fractions are so small that the impacts they represent can be
ignored. See also Section 3.4.
Figure 3: Example of a system boundary

cultivation
equipment
production
manufacture
of screwdriver
energy water
transport
to client

iron ore other raw materials

extraction extraction installation/use

transport
to plant

Manufacturing transport distribution

to retail centre
decomposition

transport
to plant
carbon steel
wire production
waste transport
reuse/recycle/landfill

waste transport

However, if the LCA is being done on the use of a particular product, then
the system boundary needs to be extended to include all of the supporting
processes and products that contribute to the costs and benefits of using
the target product. For example, an LCA of a high-specification insulation
system in use being compared with a low-specification insulation in
use would need to include the heating systems and the primary energy
required to heat a building with each type of insulation to a particular
temperature.

Cut-off criteria for the data collection are defined and have to be
documented. Good practice for LCA is a 1% limit; therefore all energy
and material flows that contribute less than 1% of the overall mass and
energy consumptions can be neglected. This 1% rule is also applied
to environmental impacts, meaning that if materials and processes are
expected to contribute more than 1% to the overall environmental
impacts, they have to be included in the assessment, even if their
contribution to overall mass and energy consumption is smaller than 1%.

Cutting off can drastically reduce the effort for data collection and
modelling, while it still gives an acceptable overview of environmental
impacts.

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 STEP 1 – GOAL AND SCOPE 2

2.2.3 Definition of impact categories and calculation methodology

The Scope also includes the specification of which impact categories are
to be covered in Step 3. This is usually done by selecting one of a number
of pre-defined calculation methodologies. Each methodology defines the
impact categories that are used to generate results. Some methodologies
also define a weighting scheme by which different impact categories are
combined into more generic results.

Impact categories are covered in Section 4.1.

Calculation methodologies are usually built into LCA software. Some of

the more commonly used methodologies are:

CML 2001 (European)

In 2001 a group of scientists under the lead of CML (Institute of
Environmental Sciences at Leiden University) proposed a set of impact
categories and characterisation methods for the Impact Assessment step. A
“problem oriented approach” and a “damage approach” are defined. CML
2001 is a specific implementation of the CML-IA characterisation factors.

Eco-indicator 99 (European)
Eco-indicator 99 is the successor of Eco-indicator 95. Both methods use
the damage-oriented approach. The development of the Eco-indicator 99
methodology started with the design of the weighting procedure, with the
emphasis being on the different types of damage that are caused by the
impact categories. The three damage categories are:
1. Damage to Human Health, expressed as the number of years of life
lost and the number of years lived disabled. These are combined as
Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), an index that is also used by
the World Bank and WHO.
2. Damage to Ecosystem Quality, expressed as the loss of species over a
certain area, during a certain time
3. Damage to Resources, expressed as the surplus energy needed for
future extractions of minerals and fossil fuels.

EDIP 2003 (European)

EDIP 2003 is a Danish LCA methodology that is presented as an update of
the EDIP 97 methodology. The main innovation of EDIP 2003 lies in the
consistent attempt to include exposure in the characterisation modelling
of the main non-global impact categories. The EDIP 2003 methodology
represents 19 different impact categories. Some of them are updated
versions of EDIP 97, whereas others are modelled totally differently.

EPD (European)
This is the method used for the creation of Environmental Product
Declarations or (EPDs), as published on the website of the Swedish
Environmental Management Council (SEMCo).

ReCiPe (European)
ReCiPe is the successor of the methods Eco-indicator 99 and CML-IA.
The purpose at the start of the development was to integrate the ‘problem
oriented approach’ of CML-IA and the ‘damage oriented approach’ of

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 2 STEP 1 – GOAL AND SCOPE

Eco-indicator 99. The ‘problem oriented approach’ defines the impact

categories at a midpoint level. The uncertainty of the results at this point
is relatively low. The drawback of this solution is that it leads to many
different impact categories which makes the drawing of conclusions with
the obtained results more ambiguous. The damage oriented approach of
Eco-indicator 99 results in only three impact categories, which makes the
drawing of conclusions easier. However, the uncertainty in the results is
higher. ReCiPe implements both strategies and has both midpoint and
endpoint impact categories. The midpoint characterisation factors are
multiplied with a damage factor to obtain the endpoint characterisation
values.

IPCC 2007 (Single issue methodology)

IPCC 2007 is an update of the method IPCC 2001 developed by the
International Panel on Climate Change. This method lists the climate
change factors of IPCC with a timeframe of 20, 100 and 500 years.

IPCC includes characterisation factors for the direct (except CH4) global
warming potential of air emissions.

Ecological Footprint (Single issue methodology)

The ecological footprint is defined as the biologically productive land and
water a population requires to produce the resources it consumes and to
absorb part of the waste generated by fossil and nuclear fuel consumption.
In the context of LCA, the ecological footprint of a product is defined as
the sum of time integrated direct and indirect land occupation, related to
nuclear energy use and to CO2 emissions from fossil energy use.

BEES (American)
BEES (Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability) is
a software tool developed by the National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST). BEES combines a partial life cycle assessment and
life cycle cost for building and construction materials into one tool.
Results are presented in terms of life cycle assessment impacts, costs, or a
combination of both.

TRACI 2 (American)
The Tool for the Reduction and Assessment of Chemical and other
environmental Impacts (TRACI), is a stand-alone computer program
developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency specifically
for the US using input parameters consistent with US locations. Site
specificity is available for many of the impact categories, but in all cases a
US average value exists when the location is undetermined.

Superseded methodologies
It is important when selecting a methodology for a new Impact Assessment
to avoid methods which have been superseded, unless the Scope of the
assessment specifically indicates otherwise.

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 STEP 1 – GOAL AND SCOPE 2

Some superseded methodologies are:

• CML 1992
• Eco-indicator 95
• EcoPoints 97
• IPCC 2001 GWP.

Worked example Part 2 – Step 1 Scope Definition

1. Deliverables, review, data quality and reporting

The deliverable is covered in the goal.
Critical review is not required for this assessment, but if time allows the final report will be cross-checked by the project
BREEAM assessor.
The required data quality is for a Data Quality Rating of 3 or better. However, if the analyst identifies that some data is
only available with a lower rating then this will be discussed with the Lead Designer.
The assessment report must comply with the requirements for Internal Reports in ISO 14044[2].

2. Definition of the system or process

The system is defined in terms of the functional unit, the reference flow and the system boundary.
The functional unit for this assessment is the provision of 130 kWh of cooling per year to an office space, with a peak
cooling load of 4 kW, for a period of 100 years.
The philosophy for Design A is a split air-conditioning system, whereas Design B is a concrete slab with embedded
ventilation ducts. Because the floor slab in Design B provides the structural floor to the office space and the fresh air
ventilation then these aspects also need to be reflected in Design A.
Design A uses a split system air-conditioner with a coefficient of performance of 2.5. It also includes a lightweight floor
slab and fresh air ductwork in the ceiling void. Design B uses a 300 mm thick in-situ concrete floor slab with a 6 m ×
10 m area of embedded ductwork linked to the mechanical ventilation system supplying fresh air. Both systems use the
same wall, raised floor and suspended ceiling designs.
The reference flow for Design A is for a single split system with a peak load of 4 kW, with an annual electricity
consumption of 65 kWh/year, and a life expectancy of 12.5 years (meaning 8 installations over a 100-year period). To
provide comparability with Design B, Design A also includes 60 m2 of lightweight concrete floor slab (permanent metal
formwork, reinforcing mesh and 7.5 m3 of concrete to give a 125 mm thick concrete slab), and 10 m of ductwork
(assuming the ductwork runs the length of the office).
The reference flow for Design B is for 18 m3 of reinforced concrete and 40 m of embedded ductwork. The slab is
assumed to have a life expectancy of 100 years so it will not need to be replaced.
The system boundary for Design A includes the manufacture and supply of the indoor and outdoor split system units
and connecting pipework, the disposal of waste during the production process and the disposal of the 7 units that are
decommissioned during the 100-year period. It also includes the manufacture and installation of the lightweight floor slab
and the fresh air ductwork that is installed in the ceiling void.
The system boundary for Design B includes the manufacture and installation of the concrete floor slab with cast-in
ductwork.

3. Definition of impact categories and calculation methodology

The mid-point impacts for this assessment are to be calculated using the CML 2001 methodology. This includes the
following impact categories:
• Abiotic depletion • Human toxicity
• Acidification • Freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity
• Eutrophication • Marine aquatic ecotoxicity
• Global warming potential • Terrestrial ecotoxicity
• Ozone layer depletion • Photochemical oxidation.

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3 Step 2 - processes and inventories

3.1 Product The content of the system boundary is often called the “product system”.
system and unit
process flows
The product system consists of sub-processes – see Figure 4. Each sub-
process may itself be broken down into more and more sub-processes until
the level of the unit process is reached. Unit processes are the smallest
sub-division of activity within life cycle assessment. For example, in Figure
4, “transport” might be broken down into road, rail and air transport
sub-processes. These may they be sub-divided into different unit processes
according to the types of van or lorry, types of locomotive and types of
aeroplane used. These are separate unit processes because they each have
different sets of inputs and outputs.

Each unit process has input flows and output flows – the outputs from
one process may be the inputs to the next process in which case these
are intermediate flows – see Figure 5. Figure 4 also shows the input and
output flows for the whole system – these are classed as either product
flows if they represent other product systems, or elementary flows if they
represent inputs from or outputs to the environment without previous or
subsequent human transformation.

Because life cycle inventories are often compiled from existing datasets,
each unit process is defined in terms of a unit of production or supply.
Where the product system requires more or less of a process then the
inventory for the contributing unit process is multiplied accordingly.

The product flows feeding into the product system can themselves be
broken down into their own unit processes, their own product and
elementary inputs and outputs. Extending this idea, then ultimately every
product system can be broken down into just elementary input and output
flows. If the environmental impacts of every elementary input and output
can be assessed, then the overall environmental impact of the product
system can be calculated.

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 STEP 2 - PROCESSES AND INVENTORIES 3

Figure 4: Flows into, within, and out of a product system

raw materials
acquisition

product flows product flows other

other transport product
product e.g. materials, services, e.g. goods and services systems
systems parts, consumables or recycled materials
production
or recycled and components for reuse
materials and
components for reuse.
energy
supply
use
elementary flows
environment
resources e.g. elementary flows
environment
crude oil or other reuse
interventions with recycling e.g. emissions to air,
the ecosphere such discharges to water and soil
as land use.
waste
treatment

From ISO 14040[2]; modified

Figure 5: Unit processes and flows within a product system

product flows
Analysed product system
products entering from or leaving
to another product system

elementary flows input unit intermediate unit output

flow process 1 flows process 2 flow
material or energy entering (or leaving)
the analysed product system that have product, material product, material or energy product, material
been drawn from (or released into) the or energy flow flow occurring between or energy flow
environment without (subsequent) that enters a unit unit processes of the that leaves a unit
human transformation. process analysed system process

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 3 STEP 2 - PROCESSES AND INVENTORIES

Worked example Part 3 – Step 2 Model the Functional Unit

The functional unit can be modelled for each of the design alternatives. High level process maps to illustrate the
principles are shown below.

Design A (Split System Air-conditioning)

Technosphere

Split system 1 unit Electricity

Installation (UK mix)
indoor unit
8 installations
Split system 1 unit Transport
outdoor unit Use

8 removals
Refrigerant 5m
pipework Waste
disposal

Lightweight 7.5m3
concrete floor

Ventilation 10m
ductwork

Design B (Heavyweight Concrete Slab with Embedded Ducts)

Technosphere

Heavyweight 18m3 Electricity

Installation (UK mix)
concrete slab
1 installations
cast-in 40m Transport
ductwork Use

Nil

Waste
disposal

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 STEP 2 - PROCESSES AND INVENTORIES 3

3.2 Different ways 3.2.1 Process levels within the system boundary
of categorising Processes within the system boundary can be organised according to their
the product
system relationship to the physical product or service being delivered. The ILCD
Handbook[5] defines four distinct levels which are used iteratively to break
down the product system into all its constituent processes.
• Level 0 - The product or system being broken down
• Level 1 - The goods that end up physically incorporated in the
product being analysed (this does not apply to services)
• Level 2 - The goods and services that come into contact with or
provide a supporting function for the analysed product or system
• Level 3 - Processes that do not touch the analysed product system
but instead run in the background providing services to the system.

The sub-division is iterative, so once something has been identified as

Level 1, 2 or 3, it is then further broken down as a Level 0 item into its
own Level 1, 2 and 3 constituents, and so on.

This method can be helpful to organise complex lists of sub-processes and

unit processes. However, the Level 0-3 organisation chart is not a substitute
for a real process map of the product system since the organisation chart
cannot show process loops or a low-level item contributing to many
higher level items.

Examples of Level 0-3 breakdown

Two example of the use of the Level 0-3 breakdown are shown in Figures
6 and 7 (overleaf), for a heating system and a lamp respectively. These show
how the principles apply to complex systems and simple products.

3.2.2 The technosphere and the ecosphere

Processes can also be categorised according to how they interact with the
wider world which is divided into the Technosphere and the Ecosphere.

The Technosphere is where all technical systems are modelled, including

production processes, transport processes and, in the case of building
services, installation processes. The product system being analysed is a
subset of the Technosphere.

The Ecosphere is where all environmental mechanisms are modelled

including emissions. The Technosphere is a subset of the Ecosphere. This
reflects the argument above that breaking down all product systems into
their product and elementary inputs and outputs ultimately leads to only
elementary flows between the Ecosphere and the product system. It is
these flows to and from the Ecosphere that generate the environmental
impacts that are assessed in Step 3 – Impact Assessment.

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 3 STEP 2 - PROCESSES AND INVENTORIES

Figure 6: Process levels in a heating system

L0: Heating system

Installation

L1: Boiler, hot water L2: Building L3: Maintenance of

pipework, radiators. insulation, the building fabric
control valves commissioning

L0: Pipework L0: Commissioning

L0: Boiler L0: Radiator L0:
the heating system

L1: Steel casing, heat L1: Steel pipe,

brass joints, L1: Steel, valve,
exchanger, burner, L1: None L1:
insulation painting
flue

L2: Monitoring
L2: Gas, servicing L2: Installation L2: Installation equipment needed for L2:
the commissioning

L3: Marketing by the

L3: Marketing by the L3: Admin by the
L3: commissioning L3:
boiler manufacturer pipework installer
engineer

Figure 7: Process levels within a lamp

L0: LED lamp

Installation

L1: Plastic casing, L2: Light fitting L3: Daylight design

LED, connector

L0: Plastic casing L0: LED L0: Metal connector L0: L0:

L1: Glass,
L1: Plastic semi-conductor, L1: Brass L1: L1:
wire

L2: L2: L2: L2: L2:

L3: L3: Electricity L3: L3: L3:

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 STEP 2 - PROCESSES AND INVENTORIES 3

3.2.3 Foreground and background systems

The boundary around the product system can be divided into foreground
and background systems. The difference between foreground and
background is the relationship to the product system being assessed.
Foreground systems are specific to the product system and may represent
the producer’s own direct processes whereas background systems are
generic contributions and may be bought in from external suppliers.

For example, if the product system is a more thermally efficient insulation

board then the foreground system would include the manufacture of
the boards and their installation on site (maybe requiring special fixings
or jointing procedure). The background system would include any off-
the-shelf products, materials or processes that went into the board’s
manufacture.

In terms of life cycle inventories, there is more chance of background

systems already being captured in an inventory database, whereas
foreground systems may require new inventories to be developed.

Foreground systems are those found in Level 1 and Level 2 (see Section
3.2.1) whereas background systems are those found in Level 3.

Figure 8 shows a division between foreground and background systems. It

also shows the Technosphere and the Ecosphere around the product system.
It can be seen that product flows into and out of the product system go to
the Technosphere and that elementary flows go to the Ecosphere.

Figure 8: Foreground and background systems within the technosphere and ecosphere

ECOSPHERE

TECHNOSPHERE
analysed product system (e.g. product)
background systems foreground systems Process

product or
waste flow

Elementary
flow

cut off
(excluded
product or
waste flow

cut off
(excluded
elementary
flow)

From ILCD Handbook[5], modified

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 3 STEP 2 - PROCESSES AND INVENTORIES

Worked example Part 4 – Step 2 Foreground and Background Systems

In this example, the Foreground systems are those concerned with the manufacture,
installation and use of the split air-conditioning system (Design A), and the
manufacture, installation and use of the concrete slab with embedded ducts (Design
B).

All other processes could be considered as part of the background system. These are
the installation of the lightweight floor slab and the ventilation ductwork from Design
A, and the electricity and transport processes used in both designs.

3.3 Product The definition of the scope of the LCA study and the functional unit may
processes and
system processes
mean that the analysis includes more than just the direct product being
used. It is often the case that more complex scenarios also need to take
account of the wider system and the consequences of the product system’s
performance.

For example, a cradle-to-gate analysis of a split system indoor unit would

incorporate all the separate components and the production processes
to assemble them into a component. A cradle-to-grave analysis of a split
air-conditioning system being compared with a concrete slab / embedded
duct system would incorporate all the components and systems needed to
deliver the same required level of comfort and in this case would include
the energy needed to operate the systems, the maintenance activities, and
the replacement of components at the end of their useful lives.

Identification of processes in Decision Situation B (see Section 2.1) is

much more complicated than for Situations A, C1 or C2. For example, in
LCA applications that come within Situation B, the assessment needs to
take account of the knock-on effects on primary and secondary markets,
the mix of short-term and long-term processes, and other consequential
outcomes. The process identification also involves more sophisticated
approaches to multifunctionality and end-of-life. Further discussion is
outside the scope of this guide but readers interested in this should refer to
the ILCD Handbook[5].

3.4 Completeness Figure 8 also shows that some flows are marked as excluded, or cut off.
This is a pragmatic response to the complexity that soon develops as a
product system is broken down into its unit processes each with its own
product and elementary flows.

Excluding certain flows means that products that only contribute very
small impacts to the overall model are taken out of the calculations,
simplifying the analysis. The LCA term for this is Completeness. In LCA
software, completeness is defined in percentage terms. For example, setting
the completeness of an assessment to be 99% means that all those flows or
processes that together contribute less than 1% of the total environmental
impact are omitted from the analysis. The way in which this figure
simplifies the Impact Assessment calculations can be seen in LCA software
where the complexity of the process map increases dramatically as the level
of completeness approaches 100%.

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 STEP 2 - PROCESSES AND INVENTORIES 3

An alternative way of expressing this idea is by defining the cut-off of the

analysis. Cut-off is the inverse of completeness.

Worked example Part 5 – Step 2 Completeness

The required completeness for the study is 90%, consistent with level of precision of
7% to 10% (see Table 5 in Section 4.2).

3.5 Multi- Many processes actually deliver multiple outputs. For example, a waste
functionality incineration plant produces three outputs – heat, electricity and steam – as
well as emissions (ash, CO2 etc). If the product system is only interested
in one of these outputs, say the electricity, then a hierarchy of strategies is
suggested so that only the appropriate impacts are counted in the analysis.

The first choice method is to split the multifunctional process into two or
more separate processes and then just select the sub-processes that produce
the desired output. For example, modelling the production of copper
tubing in a factory that produces copper and steel tubing can be done by
isolating the inputs and outputs just for the copper tubing production line.

The second choice is to expand the system boundary so that it includes

the additional outputs being produced by the process. For example, when
modelling a lighting system for a building there is usually an amount of
heat that is generated as a by-product of producing light. This heat output
cannot be separated out as it is an intrinsic part of the process. So the
system boundary should be extended to also include heating and cooling
as, in theory, a lighting system that generates a lot of heat will reduce the
need for primary heating or will increase the need for cooling.

The third choice is to allocate the appropriate proportions of specific

inputs, sub-processes and emissions to each output. This is also called
‘partitioning’. In the copper tubing example, the material inputs can be
clearly identified with each output (copper sheet for copper tubing, steel
sheet for steel tubing). But general inputs such as factory lighting and
heating have to be spread across all outputs. Allocation is a more complex
procedure because there are different ways that the proportions can be
calculated, and these can depend on the nature of the process being
allocated:
• Economic allocation: divide the common inputs, sub-processes and
emissions in proportion to the economic value of each output, so
if output A represents 90% of the economic value of the factory’s
production then it is allocated 90% of the common items.
• Physical allocation: divide the common inputs, sub-processes and
emissions in proportion to the weight, length or volume of each
output.
• Transportation allocation: particularly for transport processes –
divide the inputs and emissions according to the time or distance,
and mass or volume being transported.

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 3 STEP 2 - PROCESSES AND INVENTORIES

The choice of allocation method can materially affect the proportions

allocated to each output. For example, consider the outputs produced by a
saw mill: timber planks, sawdust and bark as shown in Figure 9. Allocation
by mass gives very different proportions to allocation by economic value.

Figure 9: Effects of different methods of allocation

Physical allocation - mass Economic allocation

50% 80%

Saw mill Plank Lumber Plank

Plank
45% 5% 19% 1%

Sawdust Bark Sawdust Bark

These differences can have a significant effect on the results of the

assessment. The method for allocation should be stated in the Scope for the
study and explained in detail.

Worked example Part 6 – Step 2 Multifunctionality

This example includes a number of multifunctional processes. The method for dealing with the multifunctionality is
explained in the following table:

Process Description of Method for dealing with multifunctionality

multifunctionality
Heating and lighting Heating and lighting is supplied Heating and lighting cannot be metered just for the AC Split line.
on the AC Split unit to the factory from central Expanding the system boundary to cover the whole factory would cause
production line sources, covering three separate a similar problem for the LCI of the high thermal mass design. Solution is
production lines. to apportion heating and lighting according to floor area and production
time across the 3 production lines.
This is included in Process A.4 in part 8 of the worked example.
Heavyweight Concrete floor provides structural The structural aspects of the concrete flooring can be accommodated
concrete floor support to the office space as well by expanding the system boundary to include this. This means that a
as a heat sink for thermal storage. lightweight concrete floor is included in the system boundary for the AC
Split system.
This is included as Process A.1 in part 8 of the worked example.
Ventilation supply The concrete floor system also This can be accommodated in the AC Split system by expanding the
provides fresh air ventilation to system boundary to include the fresh air ventilation system (ductwork
the office space. only since both systems will require fans to supply the fresh air to the
office space).

This is included as Process A.3 in part 8 of the worked example.

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3.6 Allocation at Allocation is also used to account for end-of-life reuse or recycling. In
end of life
this case, the product system is divided between a waste stream and a
reuse/recycle stream. Closed loops are where the non-waste output is
reintroduced as an input to the same product system, and open loops are
where the non-waste output is used as an input to another product system.
See Figure 10.

Figure 10: Closed and open loops for end-of-life allocation

50% 50%
Virgin material Waste
Product system life cycle

50% 50%

Secondary material Recycling

Virgin Virgin Virgin

material material material

Product system Recycling Product system Recycling Product system

1 life cycle 2 life cycle 3 life cycle

Waste Waste Waste

An example of closed loop allocation is the manufacture of steel. Recycled

steel is introduced as a secondary material and this replaces some raw
materials.

An example of open loop allocation is car tyres→road surfacing→hardcore.

Used car tyres are shredded and used as a replacement material in some
asphalt road surfaces. Worn out asphalt is crushed and used as a material for
hard-standings or path/highway sub-bases.

Allocations can give rise to complex hierarchical and circular relationships

and for this reason the calculation of environmental impacts is most easily
carried out by software. The complexity of these aspects of the process map
will also affect (or be affected by) the selection of the system boundary.

Worked example Part 7 – Step 2 End of Life Allocation

The allocation of all end-of-life products is to the waste stream, with a default
position that all materials will be sent to landfill.
It could be argued that the waste from the concrete slab could be crushed and used
as aggregate in low-grade concrete or as hard-core. But, in order to model this,
both system processes would need to be expanded to include a follow-on process
using the crushed concrete. In the context of this example, expansion of the system
process was felt to be too complex.

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3.7 Collate Once the inputs, outputs and emissions related to the functional unit
existing
inventories for
have been identified, any existing life cycle inventories for those inputs,
unit processes outputs and emissions can be looked up in databases or selected within the
software being used for LCA. These must be consistent with the quality
and other criteria laid down for the inventory analysis. Where an inventory
does not already exist, or an appropriate substitute inventory cannot
be found then a new inventory will need to be created – see also the
discussion regarding primary and secondary data in Section 3.9.

A life cycle inventory is a statement of all the environmental impacts

caused by a given product or process.

Worked example Part 8 – Step 2 Collate LCIs

The LCA software being used to analyse this worked example has been examined, and the following unit processes have
been identified from the existing datasets to be used in the product system inventory. The unit processes have been
given reference numbers so that they can be easily referenced from other parts of the worked example.

Split air-conditioning system + Lightweight Concrete Heavyweight Concrete Floor with Embedded Ductwork
Floor + Ventilation Ductwork

A.1 Concrete floor (7.5 m3) B.1 Heavyweight concrete slab (18 m3)
A.2 Refrigerant pipework (5 m) B.2 Cast-in ductwork (40 m)
A.3 Ventilation ductwork (10 m) B.3 Electricity, UK mix, medium voltage (20 kWh)
A.4 Electricity, UK mix, medium voltage (150 kWh) B.4 Transport, 7.5-16t lorry EURO3 (800.2 tkm)
A.5 Transport, 7.5-16 t lorry EURO3 (301 tkm)

Processes not included in the software dataset Processes not included in the software dataset

A.6 Split system indoor unit B.5 Installation of concrete floor (18 m3 & 40 m duct)
A.7 Split system outdoor unit
A.8 Installation of concrete floor (7.5 m3)
A.9 Installation of ventilation system (8 instances)
A.10 Removal of ventilation system (8 instances)

3.8 Quality of life Life cycle inventories have been built up over a number of years from
cycle inventory
data
a wide range of different studies and research activities. One of the
important decisions to be made in connection with LCA is about the
quality of the life cycle inventory data available. This can be judged in a
number of different ways, but if the data is judged not to be of the quality
required for the overall study then new or improved life cycle inventories
will need to be developed – see Section 3.10.

LCI data quality can be assessed in a number of ways in relation to the

requirements of the LCA study:
• Its representativeness – the degree to which the data matches the
needs of the LCA in terms of the geographic focus, the processes
and technologies included and the age of the inventory data against
how much it might have changed since.

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• Its completeness – the percentage of flows and processes that the

LCI includes.
• Its consistency and reproducibility – the degree to which similar
assumptions have been applied across the inventories being used and
the confidence that an independent assessor would reach similar
results if the inventory were to be reconstructed.

These data quality issues are helpful in deciding between different

inventories when these are available, but must also be considered in the
light of the overall aims and objectives of the LCA study.

For example, for a UK-based analysis it will be most appropriate to use an

inventory based on UK data. But if this is not available then a European
or Global average inventory may be a better choice than a single country
inventory unless that country has particular similarities to the UK. In this
case, a European electricity supply inventory would probably be a better
match to the UK than a French inventory which would represent a much
higher proportion of nuclear generation.

It would also be worth noting the date when the inventory was compiled
– it is better if inventories for the highest contributing processes are as
recent as possible as these will take account of changes in technology and
standards.

Data quality is covered in more detail in Section 4.6.

3.9 Primary and 3.9.1 The difference between primary and secondary data
secondary data
Primary data is data that is collected specifically for the analysis that is
being undertaken. In the case of life cycle assessment, this would be a life
cycle inventory that has been drawn up from first principles and relates
directly to the product system being assessed.

Secondary data is data that has been collected for other purposes. In the
case of life cycle assessment, this would be a life cycle inventory of a
component or material that is not necessarily the same as the one specified,
but where the assumptions and limitations built into the life cycle
assessment mean that the inventory is good enough to be used. Secondary
data may also relate to generic products or materials, where the inventory
is an average of different actual products or an analysis of a hypothetical
product that represents the range of actual products on the market.

Primary data is much more expensive and time-consuming to compile

than secondary data, which usually just has to be accessed from an existing
database. LCA software packages usually come with access to a range of
pre-existing databases, such as the Ecoinvent or GaBi life cycle inventories.
Table 3 indicates when use of primary or secondary data is preferable,
acceptable or questionable, depending on whether the system is in the
foreground or the background, and depending on how the LCA will be
used.

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Table 3: Preference and acceptability for primary and secondary inventory data
System
Data
Foreground Background

Primary (Specific) Preferred Preferred

Secondary (generic) Questionable Acceptable

Intended use

Internal use, for Publicly available

example to improve comparative studies
the environmental
Data performance of a product

Primary (Specific) Preferred Preferred

Secondary (generic) Acceptable Questionable

As can be seen, primary data is preferred for both foreground and

background systems. But where this is not available or there are not the
resources to generate primary inventory data specifically for the analysis,
then secondary data is acceptable for background systems, but not so
acceptable for foreground systems.

Similarly, it is preferred to use primary data whether the LCA is intended

to be used internally or publicly. Where primary data is not available and
cannot be generated, secondary data is acceptable for internal LCAs, but
should only be used for public LCAs as a last resort.

Part of the decision whether the secondary data is acceptable depends on

the time, effort and expense that would be spent collecting primary data,
particularly in relation to materials or processes that are very complicated
to analyse because of the number or complexity of inputs. In many cases
it would be better to use secondary data which has been thoroughly
researched, than to attempt a collection of new primary data with
insufficient resources.

3.9.2 Collecting primary data

Collecting primary data is a costly and labour intensive exercise. Usually
a questionnaire guides the data collection, but whether the supplier or
manufacturer is able to fill this in on their own or needs to be taken
through the process by the LCA analyst depends on their knowledge
of LCA, the complexity of the product system for which data is being
collected, and their willingness to supply the data.

The chances of data collection are improved by designing a questionnaire

that is divided into logical sections, that only asks for the data that will
actually be used, and that is clearly explained with helpful notes (not just
how to fill in the questionnaire but also why the data is needed).

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 STEP 2 - PROCESSES AND INVENTORIES 3

Good contacts with the people who will be supplying the data will also
help – finding the right person to talk to, and explaining in enough detail
exactly what data is needed and why, are two of the reasons that the
collection of primary data is so expensive.

More information about constructing a life cycle inventory from scratch is

given in Section 3.10.

3.9.3 Accessing secondary data

Secondary data is usually available through databases. These are generally
produced by LCA consultancies or by trade bodies who make the
information available as part of their support activities.

Well-known general purpose databases of LCI data include EcoInvent

(which is also packaged into third-party software), GaBi, DuboCalc, and
IVAM LCA Data.

Worked example Part 9 – Step 2 Primary and secondary data

The table shows the breakdown between secondary data from existing data sets and
primary data that has been collected specifically for this assessment.

Process Process Available Primary or

ref. within secondary data?
dataset?
A.1 Concrete floor (7.5 m3) Yes Secondary
A.2 Refrigerant pipework (5 m) Yes Secondary
A.3 Ventilation ductwork (10 m) Yes Secondary
A.4 Electricity, UK mix, medium voltage Yes Secondary
(150 kWh)
A.5 Transport, 7.5-16 t lorry EURO3 Yes Secondary
(301 tkm)
A.6 Split system indoor unit No Primary
A.7 Split system outdoor unit No Primary
A.8 Installation of concrete floor (7.5 m )
3 No Substituted with
secondary data
A.9 Installation of ventilation system No Substituted with
(8 instances) secondary data
A.10 Removal of ventilation system No Substituted with
(8 instances) secondary data

As we can see from this table, all the processes that could be found within the
existing software data sets have been accepted as secondary data that is good enough
for the purposes of the assessment. Five processes that are not found in the existing
data sets have been noted as needing new primary data, or have been substituted
with other processes where secondary data is available and deemed to be suitable. In
this assessment, this substitution is limited to background processes.

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 3 STEP 2 - PROCESSES AND INVENTORIES

3.10 Building a A new life cycle inventory is usually only developed when the secondary
new life cycle
inventory
data in available databases does not include a product, material or process
needed for the product system, or when the data in the database is not
sufficiently precise (for example, where the database includes a product
made in USA when the LCA really needs the inventory for a product
made in UK).

This exercise is illustrated by thinking about the life cycle inventory for a
product that is not in the standard EcoInvent database, such as the indoor
unit for an air conditioning split system rated at 10 kW. The inventory will
be for the product at the factory, so this will be a cradle-to-gate inventory.

This section explains the process of creating a new inventory for a process
that is not already contained in the data set. This is a partial creation
of new primary data, as some information is coming directly from the
production process of the AC Split System Indoor Unit, but it still relies
on some secondary data particularly in connection with processing raw
materials. The work involved in creating a new inventory should not be
underestimated. A useful reference to indicate the extent of work that can
be required is the report written on the development of a partial life cycle
inventory for a new model of VW Golf[7].

3.10.1 Step 1 – Map out the Technosphere

The Technosphere is mapped at high level and in detail. The high-level
map is mainly generic – see Figure 11. There is no Use Phase or End of
Life consideration as this is only a cradle-to-gate assessment. This high level
map also does not show how supplied materials or services draw on inputs
from the Ecosphere (raw materials and natural processes).

Figure 11: High level Technosphere process map for life cycle inventory

TECHNOSPHERE

Materials Energy and

Suppliers Production transport suppliers

1 unit (new)

Waste for re-use

or disposal

3.10.2 Step 2 – Develop the directory of sub-processes

The detailed map presents all the product and elementary flows, based
on the decomposition of the product system into its sub-processes. If the
product system is complex then it is often helpful to construct a directory
of unit processes as an intermediate step. This directory is most easily
represented as a tree structure – see Figure 12.

For this product system, many of the components are bought in from
suppliers with only the plastic casing of the unit being manufactured
alongside the assembly line.

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 STEP 2 - PROCESSES AND INVENTORIES 3

The detailed inventory analyses have been simplified by omitting the

many materials and components that make up a small proportion of the
total unit weight (such as fasteners, wiring, clips and springs). In practice,
the break-point between materials and components that are included and
those that are excluded will be driven by the level of completeness that the
assessment has to achieve, supported by a complete material/component
inventory of the unit. The breakdown of the product system into its
component parts also does not include packaging materials.

Figure 12: Detailed Technosphere directory for life cycle inventory

AC Indoor Unit: Technosphere

Aluminium
Copper
Plastic
Refrigerant
Steel
Electricity from grid
Natural gas from grid
Lorry 38 tonne, diesel engine
Aluminium waste
Copper waste
Plastic waste
Production
Indoor unit assembly line
Unit casing
Bottom frame moulding
Side panel moulding
Top frame moulding
Mounting plate
Manufacturing dyes
Fan assembly
Fan rotor
Fan motor
Side plate
Electronics
Control board
Cooling coil

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 3 STEP 2 - PROCESSES AND INVENTORIES

3.10.3 Step 3 – Develop the detailed Technosphere process map

For the detailed Technosphere process map, each of the constituent unit
processes, materials and wastes is shown, along with the quantity of each
that is used to produce one unit of the product system. The level of detail
that this process map contains is dependent on the Goal and Scope of
the overall assessment. For example, for a life cycle assessment from first
principles, then each sub-component is broken down into its constituent
materials and processes so that the detailed process map shows a list of
basic materials and their quantities. It may not be possible to represent all
the unit processes, materials and wastes on a single detailed process map. In
this case, the map must be broken down into sections or sub-units.

The development of the detailed process map can be a very time-

consuming exercise but may be necessary. The example shown in Figure
13 follows this approach.

The figure for transport by 38-tonne lorry includes all the transport of
the bought-in components from their own manufacturers’ factories to
the assembly factory plus the raw plastic that is bought in to mould the
unit casing plus the waste material that is sent to a waste disposal facility
– a total of 35.5 kg which has to travel an average of 200 km, making
7.1 tonne-kilometres. In addition, the raw materials for the bought-in
components also have to travel to their places of manufacture. This is
assumed to be all the material and waste except for the plastic – a total of
10.5 kg which has to travel an average of 100 km, making an additional
1.05 tonne-kilometres.

The figure for diesel fuel consumption is based on a fuel efficiency of

7.8 mpg (= 36.5 l/100 km) from Department for Transport research.
A 38-tonne lorry has a maximum payload of approximately 23 tonnes.
If the assumption is made that this lorry always travels fully laden with
its maximum payload, then 8.15 tonne-kilometres is equal to the lorry
travelling 0.35 km which gives a fuel consumption of 0.13 litres. The
density of diesel is approximately 0.83 kg/l so the weight of diesel
consumed is 0.11 kg. Of course, if research indicates that for the product(s)
being assessed then lorries travel partly-laden then this will need to
be taken into account in the calculation of fuel consumed per tonne-
kilometre, for example in the case of HVAC ductwork.

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 STEP 2 - PROCESSES AND INVENTORIES 3

Figure 13: Detailed Technosphere process map

TECHNOSPHERE

20 kWh
Aluminium 10% 2 kg Electricity
primary (UK mix)
Production

265 MJ
Aluminium 90% Natural gas
Secondary

1 unit (new) 0.11 kg Diesel fuel

5 kg
Copper

0.3 kg Aluminium
20 kg Waste
Plastic

0.5 kg
1.2 kg Copper waste
Refrigerant R134a Lorry 38 t,
diesel engine
8.15 tkm
5 kg
1.5 kg Plastic waste
Steel

Note: The quantities in Figures 13 and 14 and in the accompanying text

are all fictitious and shown for illustration only.

However, if the assessment can legitimately use existing inventories for the
component parts then this simplifies the process map - see Figure 14.
Figure 14: Component part Technosphere process map

TECHNOSPHERE

8 kWh
1 Electricity
Fan motor
Indoor unit (UK mix)
assembly

76 MJ
1 Natural gas
Fan rotor

1 unit (new) 0.09 kg Diesel fuel

1
Control board

20 kg
Plastic

1.2 kg Lorry 38 t,
Refrigerant R134a
diesel engine
7.1 tkm
5 kg
1 Plastic waste
Cooling coil

In this example, the bought-in components have been listed as

Technosphere processes, with one each of the fan motor, fan rotor, control

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 3 STEP 2 - PROCESSES AND INVENTORIES

board and cooling coil being used to make one indoor unit. The waste
streams have been simplified to remove the waste associated with the
bought-in components, since their waste will be allowed for in their own
inventories. The quantities of electricity and natural gas have also been
reduced so that the quantities given are just those associated with the
assembly line for the indoor units. The transport process and diesel fuel
are reduced to 7.1 tonne-kilometres and 0.09 kg. These cover just the
transport of the components and the plastic.

For complex system products, it may not be possible to show all the detail
on a single process map, in which case a series of Technosphere process
maps may be created. In these situations, the directory created in Step 2
provides a means of cross-reference between all the process maps.

It is also good practice to index all processes (index numbers have not
been shown on the process maps in Figures 13 and 14) so that processes
can be easily referenced in reports and also so that process flows that cross
from one process map to another can be easily followed.

3.10.4 Step 4 – Data collection for the process map

The process quantities shown on the detailed process map(s) have to be
measured. For some processes, such as supply of raw materials or sub-
components, this should be a relatively straightforward exercise of counting
or weighing each input.

However, for other inputs such as energy or water use, or the use of tools
or equipment, then special metering or other measurement activities may
need to be introduced. Where direct measurement of a widely used input
is not possible, then one of the methods for dealing with multifunctionality
as described in Section 3.5 will need to be adopted.

Allocation of the use of tools or equipment will usually be based on an

assessment of how many production cycles a tool or piece of equipment
will last. For example, if one of the processes is to drill 5 holes in a blank
to form a part for the system product then the number of holes obtained
from each new drill bit can be calculated by counting the number of drill
bits used over a 3-month period and the number of blanks processed. Thus
the fraction of a drill bit for processing one blank can be derived, and the
appropriate quantity used in the process map. The same method can be
used for any consumable that contributes to the unit process.

Data collection for a new life cycle inventory is not a trivial exercise
and it can be seen how even quite simple product systems can involve a
significant amount of time, effort and expense.

3.10.5 Step 5 – Collection of the resultant inventory

When all unit processes have been analysed into their product and
elemental flows, then any duplicate environmental impacts can be
grouped and sub-totalled. For example, if two or more unit processes
require extraction of iron ore then only one entry is required in the
inventory. Likewise, if 10 different processes all emit carbon dioxide to
the atmosphere then the overall inventory just needs to record the total
amount.
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 STEP 3 - IMPACT ASSESSMENT 4

4 Step 3 - Impact assessment

Sub-steps within life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) are shown in Figure
15:
Figure 15: Sub-steps within life cycle impact assessment

Select impact categories, category

indicators and characterisation

Assign LCI results to the selected

impact categories

Multiply inventory results by the

characterisation factors

LCIA results

Normalise the impact assessments

against reference information

Dimensionless, normalised
LCIA results
Data quality
analysis
Group impact categories into sets

Apply weightings to vary the

revelance of different categories

Normalised and weighted

LCIA results

The first three sub-steps are necessary to carry out any form of impact
assessment. The subsequent steps are optional and may be used to report
the results in different ways that may be easier for the target audience
to understand or may simplify comparison between competing product
systems.

Whichever form of Impact Assessment is selected, there should also be a

step of data quality analysis.

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 4 STEP 3 - IMPACT ASSESSMENT

4.1 Select impact Impact categories come in two types – midpoint categories and endpoint
categories and
assign LCI
categories. Midpoints are concerned with environmental problems whereas
results endpoints are concerned with the damage that those environmental
problems then cause. This is illustrated in Table 4, which shows the
midpoints and endpoints in relation to two different emissions.

Definitions of impact categories and linkages between environmental

activities (such as the emission of x kg of carbon dioxide, or the use of
y litres of fresh water, or the consumption of z kg of iron ore) and the
impact categories are usually made by experts or intergovernmental bodies
through characterisation models. For example, the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has defined climate change in terms of
increased infrared radiation, which in turn is affected by the amount of
certain gases emitted into the atmosphere. These are collectively termed
greenhouse gases (GHGs) and the IPCC has defined what the different
GHGs are – see Table 4 below.
Table 4: Midpoints and endpoints
Emission → Midpoint → Endpoint
Example CFC Destroy ozone, measured in Less ozone allows increased
ozone depletion potential. radiation which leads to skin
cancer, crop damage, marine
life damage etc.

NOx Eutrophication, measured in Excessive use of e.g. fertilisers

eutrophication potential. can cause unnaturally algae
blooms in watercourses and
seas.

Acidification, e.g. acid rain, Can cause damage to

measured in acidification ecosystem; forest damage and
potential. fish kills in lakes and seas

Some of the most commonly-used impact categories, the models that have
been used to categorise them, the inventory results that contribute and the
way the resulting environmental impacts are measured are shown in
Table 5.

Assigning different environmental results to the appropriate impact

category is further complicated by their different levels of effect. For
example, carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) are both greenhouse
gases, but 1 kg of CO2 has a different effect from 1 kg of CH4. The
IPCC, through the work of researchers and scientific bodies, has defined
the relative levels of Global Warming Potential caused by each of the
environmental results assigned to Climate Change. For example, methane
is 25 times as damaging as carbon dioxide when measured over a 100-
year timescale. All other contributory environmental impacts for Global
Warming Potential have been scaled in relation to CO2, as shown in
Table 6.

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 STEP 3 - IMPACT ASSESSMENT 4

Table 5: Summary of commonly-used environmental impact categories

Impact Description Categorisation Relevant Characterisation
category model inventory results factor and unit(s)
Acidification Increase in the acidity of the atmosphere or Regional Acidification Emissions of Acidification
soil due to SO2 and NOx emissions reacting and Simulation acidifying substances Potential (kg SO2 eq)
with water. model to the air
Climate change Change of climate attributed to human activity. Intergovernmental Emissions of Global Warming
The changes to climate are very difficult to Panel on Climate greenhouse gases to Potential (kg CO2
predict, but include more extreme climatic Change model the air eq)
events such as storms or droughts. These will
have an effect on nature and humans.
Ecotoxicity Increased exposure to toxins discharged into Emissions of toxins Ecotoxicity
fresh or marine water, onto land or into the air. to air, land or water Potential (kg 1,4
dichlorobenzene
(DB) eq)
Eutrophication Increase in the levels of macronutrients in soil Stoichiometric Emissions of Eutrophication
and water due to overuse of fertilisers and Procedure between nutrients to the air, Potential (kg N and
NOx emissions from burning fossil fuels. nitrogen and water and soil kg PO4 eq)
phosphorus

Ionising Increased exposure to radionuclides due to Fate-Exposure- Emissions of Ionising Radiation

radiation the nuclear fuel cycle and other industrial Effects-Damage radionuclides to air Potential (kg U235)
processes including phosphate extraction, oil and water
and gas extraction.
Land use The increased use of undeveloped land affects Land competition, Time and area of Land Occupation
biodiversity, soil quality, availability of fresh aggregation of land land used Potential (m2 y)
water. use
Ozone layer Thinning or even removal of the stratospheric World Emissions of ozone Ozone Depletion
depletion ozone layer due to CFC and HCFC emissions. Meteorological depleting gases to Potential (kg CFC-11
Reducing the ozone layer increases the Organisation model the air eq)
amount of ultraviolet radiation reaching the
earth’s surface. This will harm human health,
ecosystems, biochemical cycles and materials.
Photochemical Increased production of “summer smog” Emissions of smog- Photochemical
oxidation inducing chemicals Oxidation Potential
into the air (kg C2H4 eq)
Resource The use of natural resources such as ores, fossil Ultimate reserves Extraction of Abiotic Depletion
depletion fuels and water in excess of the planet’s ability and yearly extraction minerals, water and Potential (m2 water,
to regenerate these resources. rates fossil fuels kg Fe, kg antimony
(Sb) eq, kg oil)

Table 6: 100-year Global Warming Potentials of greenhouse gases relative to CO2

Greenhouse gas Global Warming Potential Principal sources or uses
See Note relative to CO2
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) 1 Respiration, burning of fossil fuels

Methane (CH4) 25 Natural gas, landfill decomposition

Nitrous oxide (N2O) 298 Soil / water-based bacteria, agriculture / livestock

Difluoromethane (CH2F2) 625 Refrigerant (R-32) with zero Ozone Depletion Potential

Tetrafluoromethane / carbon 7,390 Low temperature refrigerant, used in electronics fabrication, zero
tetrafluoride (CF4) ODP
Hexafluoroethane 12,200 Semiconductor etching, solar panel fabrication, zero ODP
(C2F6)
Fluoroform / Trifluoromethane 14,800 Refrigerant (R-23), semiconductor etching, fire suppressant,
(CHF3)
by-product of Teflon manufacture
Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) 22,800 Used in gas-insulated electrical switchgear. Prior use as
tracer gas in magnesium casting, in double glazed units
Note: A more comprehensive table of Global Warming Potentials can be found in Annex A of PAS 2050[9].

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 4 STEP 3 - IMPACT ASSESSMENT

The use of relative Global Warming Potentials means that the impact
category can now be expressed in terms of a single unit – carbon dioxide
equivalent (kg CO2 eq).

Common units have been defined for other impact categories in a similar
way:
• Ecotoxicity, which may be sub-divided for human, marine,
freshwater, terrestrial ecotoxicity – measured in 1,4 dichlorobenzene
equivalent (kg 1,4-DB eq)
• Ozone layer depletion – measured in CFC-11 equivalent (kg CFC-
11 eq), representing the relative damage of other ozone depleting
materials
• Acidification – measured in kg SO2 eq
• Waste disposal – measured in tonnes of solid waste

Worked example Part 10 – Step 3 Selection of Impact Categories and

Calculation Methodology

As per the Scope (see Section 2.2.3, worked example Part 2), the impact categories
for this assessment are:
• Abiotic depletion
• Acidification
• Eutrophication
• Global warming potential
• Ozone layer depletion
• Human toxicity
• Freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity
• Marine aquatic ecotoxicity
• Terrestrial ecotoxicity
• Photochemical oxidation.

The LCI results are assigned to these categories using the rules of the CML 2001
framework.

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 STEP 3 - IMPACT ASSESSMENT 4

4.2 Apply the The results of the life cycle inventory show the long list of environmental
characterisation
factors to
emissions and outcomes that most product systems generate, and gives
inventory results the quantity of each emission or outcome for a single unit of the product
system.

For example, the cradle-to-gate inventory of a single indoor air

conditioning unit uses 0.2 kg of primary aluminium, 1.8 kg of secondary
aluminium, 5 kg of copper, 20 kg of plastic, etc. The inventory for the
production of primary aluminium shows that 1 kg of aluminium generates
the environmental impacts as shown in Table 7.
Table 7: Calculated environmental impacts for 1 kg primary aluminium
Impact category Unit Amount

Abiotic depletion kg Sb eq 0.0699

Acidification kg SO2 eq 0.0563

Eutrophication kg PO4 eq 0.0201

Global warming (GWP 100) kg CO2 eq 11.9

Ozone layer depletion (ODP) kg CFC-11 eq 7.17 × 10-7

Human toxicity kg 1,4-DB eq 57.1

Fresh water aquatic ecotoxicity kg 1,4-DB eq 8.2

Marine aquatic ecotoxicity kg 1,4-DB eq 1230

Terrestrial ecotoxicity kg 1,4-DB eq 0.14

Photochemical oxidation kg C2H4 eq 0.00476

When this is multiplied by the quantity of aluminium in the detailed

process map and then combined with the similar lists from all the other
contributory processes, the overall level of different environmental
emissions and outcomes can be determined, as shown in Table 8.

Worked example Part 11 – Step 3 Impact Assessment Calculation

This impact assessment has only been calculated using the data for the processes that are available in the software
dataset. These processes are those in the upper half of Worked example Part 8 (processes A1 to A5 and B1 to B4 only).
This is therefore just an illustration of the results that come from the impact assessment calculation.

Impact category Unit Split air-conditioning Heavyweight ducted floor

system system

Abiotic depletion kg Sb eq 7.05 16.2

Acidification kg SO2 eq 6.15 16.3
Eutrophication kg PO4 eq 1.6 4.3
Global warming (GWP 100) kg CO2 eq 2670 6300
Ozone layer depletion (ODP) kg CFC-11 eq 0.0001 0.000248
Human toxicity kg 1,4-DB eq 445 1170
Fresh water aquatic ecotoxicity kg 1,4-DB eq 176 466
Marine aquatic ecotoxicity kg 1,4-DB eq 384,000 988,000
Terrestrial ecotoxicity kg 1,4-DB eq 5.82 15.6
Photochemical oxidation kg C2H4 eq 0.201 0.495

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 40
Table 8: Environmental impacts for a new Split System
4

Impact category Unit Total Aluminium Copper tube, Acrylonitrile- Refrigerant Ferrite, at Electricity, Heat, Articulated

Life Cycle Assessment_3.indd 40

sheet, primary technology butadene co- R134a, at plant/GLO medium natural lorry
product, mix, polymer, ABS, plant/RER voltage, gas, at transport,
product mix, consumption at plant/RER production/ industrial Euro 0, 1, 2,
aluminium mix, at plant, GB, at grid/ furnace/ 3, 4 mix, 40t
semi-finished diameter GB RER total weight,
sheet product 15mm, 1mm 27t max

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at plant RER thickness, payload RER
EU-15

Life Cycle Assessment

Abiotic depletion kg Sb eq 1.32 0.0352 0.0326 0.897 0.0786 0.0171 0.0947 0.162 0.00281

Acidification kg SO2 eq 0.539 0.0287 0.0284 0.26 0.152 0.0116 0.0419 0.0143 0.00182

Eutrophication kg PO4 eq 0.0812 0.00134 0.00223 0.0405 0.0153 0.00493 0.014 0.00245 0.000415
STEP 3 - IMPACT ASSESSMENT

Table 8: Environmental impacts for a new Split System

Global warming
kg CO2 eq 251 6.35 4.9 86.9 119 2.26 12.3 18.9 0.406
(GWP 100)

Ozone layer depletion (ODP) kg CFC-11 eq 0.0113 6.69 × 10-7 9.04 × 10-7 5.19 × 10-7 0.0113 1.43 × 10-7 2.78 × 10-7 2.31 × 10-6 7.71 × 10-10

Human toxicity kg 1,4-DB eq 32.7 2.96 0.284 6.74 5.17 11.4 3.47 2.7 0.0127

Freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity kg 1,4-DB eq 11.5 0.0179 0.00418 5.07 2.28 1.71 2.2 0.203 0.000337

Marine aquatic ecotoxicity kg 1,4-DB eq 19400 259 54.5 5740 4890 1590 5660 1230 4.9

Terrestrial ecotoxicity kg 1,4-DB eq 0.165 0.0147 0.00429 0.0347 0.0583 0.00762 0.0391 0.00644 0.000115

Photochemical oxidation kg C2H4 eq 0.0271 0.00126 0.00114 0.0149 0.00589 0.000856 0.00167 0.00129 4.18 × 10-5

Note: The aluminium sheet in this table is a manufactured product that takes both primary and secondary (recycled) aluminium as its raw materials, so the impact assessment figures
will be related to but not the same as the environmental impacts for primary aluminium shown in table 7.

This result is the Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA).

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 STEP 3 - IMPACT ASSESSMENT 4

4.3 Normalising the Normalising the impact assessment is a way of showing which category has
impact assessment
the greatest environmental impact relative to some pre-set benchmark –
this is the calculation of the dimensionless results referred to in Figure 15.
One commonly used benchmark is the annual environmental impact of
the average citizen. This is quantified across the range of impact categories,
and then the results of the impact assessment are expressed as the relevant
percentage for each category.

For example, three different product systems that each deliver the
functional unit being analysed can be compared to see which of them has
the greatest or least impact in particular categories. A hypothetical case is
shown in Figure 16. This shows that, dependent on the product system
chosen, the most damage is done in the areas of ozone layer depletion,
resource depletion and human toxicity. The least impact is in the area of
land use, and in this instance all three alternatives are similar.

This normalised presentation can be used to identify those areas of

environmental impact where more investigation may be needed, and
conversely to identify those areas which could be omitted from any more
detailed analysis.

Normalisation is not permitted in ISO-compliant LCA studies where

product system comparisons are to be made available to the public, as
the normalisation step can bring in subjective influences in a formerly
objective study.

Figure 16: Normalised impact assessments

Product A Product B Product C

30
Percentage of citizen-year impact

20

10

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 4 STEP 3 - IMPACT ASSESSMENT

4.4 Grouping impact Grouping is an optional step according to ISO 14040[1] and ISO 14044[2].
categories

The purpose of grouping is to make the results of impact assessment

easier to interpret. This can be done in one of a number of ways, but two
commonly-used principles are explained below.
4.4.1 Grouping according to geographic extent of impact
Impact categories can be grouped according to how widespread their
environmental impacts are. Typical groups would include:
• Global impacts (e.g. Climate Change, Ozone Layer Depletion)
• Regional impacts (e.g. Acidification, Ionising Radiation, Land Use)
• Local impacts (e.g. Eutrophication, Resource Depletion, Human
Toxicity, Ecotoxicity).

Once environmental impacts are grouped according to their geographic

extent, it can be seen more easily whether the outcome is for more severe
local impacts rather than global impacts, or vice versa. The allocation
of impact categories to different geographic extent is not fixed. The
groupings above are suggestions only. A specific set of groupings could be
defined in the Scope section of the LCA study.

4.4.2 Grouping according to value choices

Impact categories can be grouped according to a subjective scale of high,
medium or low importance. The composition of these groupings will
depend on the concerns of the stakeholders and it is to be expected that
national policy makers, producers, consumers and pressure groups will all
have different views of what is more or less important.

Because of this variability, and the difficulty of reaching consensus

regarding the relative importance of different environmental impacts, this
step should be considered very carefully before a commitment is given to
implement it.

4.5 Weighting One of the most obvious complexities with LCA is that environmental
impact
categories
impacts in different impact categories cannot simply be added together to
arrive at a total environmental impact – they use different units so have to
be presented separately.

Therefore it may be the case that when a comparison is done, product A

has high impacts in some categories where product B has low impacts and
vice versa. There is no simple way to determine which is “better” as this is
a subjective judgement depending on what the decision-maker considers
to be more or less important.

There are different ways to combine a set of midpoint impact categories

into one or more endpoint impact categories. Endpoints are usually
defined in terms of the ultimate harm or damage done, for example
impact on human health, impact on the natural environment, or impact on
resource depletion (see Figure 17), or can be further grouped into a single
impact score combining all categories.

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 STEP 3 - IMPACT ASSESSMENT 4

The ISO standards do not in themselves define end-points, instead

requiring that end-point definitions are clear. The definitions illustrated
below show that some impact categories can be duplicated (or
apportioned) between multiple end-points.

One of the best known single end-point definitions is the Eco-point. This
takes the environmental impact of the average western European citizen as
its baseline. The impact of this average citizen during 1 year is defined as
100 Eco-points (according to BRE) or as 1000 Eco-points (according to
other sources). All the separate impact categories are weighted in relation
to this single indicator using their standard units. In the UK, Eco-points
are defined from 13 environmental impact categories according to the
weightings given in Table 9, which are given in descending order.

Because the definition of an eco-point is linked to the impact of an

average citizen, then there will be a different set of weightings in each
country.

Weighting is not permitted in ISO-compliant LCA studies where product

system comparisons are to be made available to the public. Even more than
for normalisation, weighting can add subjectivity to the formerly objective
results of an LCA.

Figure 17: Illustrations of end-points

Damage to Damage to ecosystem Depletion of natural

human health (natural environment) resources
Plank

climate change climate change minerals depletion

ozone depletion ozone depletion fossil fuels depletion
ionising radiation ionising radiation Bark
water use
photochemical ozone photochemical ozone land use
human toxicity land use
repiratory inorganics ecotoxicity
noise acidification
eutrophication

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 4 STEP 3 - IMPACT ASSESSMENT

Table 9: Weightings of environmental impact categories to calculate UK Eco-points

Impact category Weighting Units of impact category

Climate change 35% kg CO2 eq (100yr)

Fossil fuel depletion and extraction 11% toe (tonnes of oil equivalent)

Ozone depletion 8% kg CFC-11 eq

Transport pollution and congestion: freight 7% tonne-km

Pollution to air (human toxicity) 6.5% kg toxin

Waste disposal 6% tonnes

Acid deposition 5% kg SO2 eq

Water extraction 5% litres

Pollution to water (human ecotoxicity) 4% m3 toxin

Pollution to water (eutrophication) 4% kg PO4 eq

Pollution to air (low level ozone creation) 3.5% kg ethene eq (POCP)

Minerals extraction 3% tonnes

Pollution to water (human toxicity) 2% kg toxin

Based on BRE Digest 446[10]

Edge Environment, an Australian consultancy, has included the following

Eco-point scores in its publication What are Eco-points?[11]. Australia also
seems to follow the BRE definition of an Eco-point as a hundredth of an
average citizen’s annual environmental impact.
• 1 return flight from Sydney to Perth (3300 km) 15 Eco-points
• 1 tin of white alkyd paint 0.03 Eco-points
• 1 Sunday newspaper 0.004 Eco-points
• 1 beefburger patty 0.002 Eco-points

Eco-points are also included as summary indicators in the BRE Green

Guide to Specification[12]. Some ranges of Eco-points for unit-based
construction elements quoted in the Green Guide are as follows:
• 1 m2 External wall construction
(U-value of 0.3 W/m2K) 0.25-2.1 Eco-points
• 1 m2 Internal wall construction 0.1-0.7 Eco-points

• 1 m2 Roof for Health or Retail building 0.2-1.8 Eco-points

• 1 m2 Double glazed fixed pane windows 0.4-1.0 Eco-points.

(U-value 1.8 W/m2K)

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 STEP 3 - IMPACT ASSESSMENT 4

Worked Example Part 12 – Step 3 Endpoint Impact Assessment

The environmental impacts shown in part 11of the worked example have also been calculated in terms of endpoints
using the ReCiPe methodology, and the results expressed in Eco-points. The combined result for the Ducted Floor
System is 425 Eco-points and the result for the Split System is 180 Eco-points.

440
420
400
380
360
340
320
300
280
260
Eco-points

240
220
200
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Sample heavyweight Sample split system
ducted floor system

Climate change Human Health Ozone depletion

Human toxicity Photochemical oxidant formation
Particulate matter formation Ionising radiation
Climate change Ecosystems Terrestrial acidification
Freshwater eutrophication Terrestrial ecotoxicity
Freshwater ecotoxicity Marine ecotoxicity
Agricultural land occupation Urban land occupation
Natural land transformation Metal depletion
Fossil depletion

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 4 STEP 3 - IMPACT ASSESSMENT

4.6 Data quality The final step in any impact assessment should be a review of the quality
analysis
of the data used in the assessment.

Data quality analysis is explained in ISO 14044[2], but is perhaps more

helpfully described in the ILCD Handbook[5]. Here, six different aspects
of data quality are explained and these are summarised below in Sections
4.6.1 to 4.6.6. A five-point scale is suggested for rating each aspect of
quality, and the ILCD Handbook[5] defines a method for calculating a Data
Quality Rating (DQR) which is used to characterise the overall quality of
the data. The scale and the DQR are described in Section 4.6.7.

4.6.1 Technological representativeness

Technological representativeness is a measure of how closely the inventory
data represents the actual technologies present in the product system,
including its foreground and background sub-systems. Ideally the
technologies in the inventory should exactly match the real-life situation.
Where this is not possible, it is more important that the foreground
processes are a closer match to reality than the background processes.

4.6.2 Geographical representativeness

Geographical representativeness compares the location of the processes
used in the inventory to their actual locations, as proportions of the total
impact. The ideal situation is where the inventory processes exactly match
the real-life processes. But if inventory data from existing datasets is used
in the assessment, then it is likely that some geographical approximation
will have happened. For example, electricity production may actually
all be based in country X, but if this data is not available in the database
and cannot be obtained as new primary data then the inventory may use
electricity produced in country Y, or averaged across the relevant continent.

4.6.3 Time-related representativeness

Time-related representativeness compares the date(s) when the actual
processes are occurring with the date(s) when the inventory datasets were
generated. Again, as close a match as possible is preferred. But, as most if
not all of the real-life processes will have taken place in the year of the
assessment then it is highly likely that many of the inventory processes will
pre-date this (sometimes by many years).

Illustrations of these three types of representativeness are shown in Figure

18.

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 STEP 3 - IMPACT ASSESSMENT 4

Figure 18: Representativeness assessments

Technological Geographical Time-related
100%

90%
2001
80%
H
GLO 2004
70% G
EU 2005
60% F
Impact

A 2006
50% E
US 2007
40% D
DE 2008
30% C
FR 2010
20% B
UK 2011
10% A
2013
0%
True Data True Data True Data
mix used mix used mix used

4.6.4 Completeness
This is explained in Sections 3.4 and 5.2.

4.6.5 Precision and uncertainty

Precision in the data is measured in terms of the variance of the datasets.
It is important to note that precision and accuracy are two different (but
related) concepts.

Precision reflects how close together the results are to each other, reflecting
a degree of reproducibility in the method. This means that different people
applying the same method will obtain similar results.

Accuracy reflects how close the results are to the true value, reflecting
a lack of bias or gross error in the method. The opposite of accuracy is
uncertainty.

Figure 19 illustrates the difference. The left hand image shows results that
are precise but not accurate, whereas the right hand image shows results
that are accurate but not precise.

Figure 19: Precision and accuracy

Precise Accurate

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 4 STEP 3 - IMPACT ASSESSMENT

4.6.6 Methodological appropriateness and consistency

This aspect of data quality refers to the correct and consistent use of
LCA methods. It is also affected by the appropriate choice of the decision
situation (A, B, C1, C2 – see Section 2.1).

4.6.7 Data quality scale and rating

It is suggested that the five-point scale in Table 10 is used to give
numerical values to the different aspects of data quality, as defined in
the ILCD Handbook[5]. Most of the above aspects of quality can only
be assessed qualitatively, but in the case of completeness and precision/
uncertainty these can be checked against quantitative values.

Table 10: Data quality scale points

Quality rating Quality level Completeness level Precision/uncertainty level
(standard deviation)
1 Very good ≥ 95% ≤ 7%

2 Good 85% to 95% 7% to 10%

3 Fair 75% to 85% 10% to 15%

4 Poor 50% to 75% 15% to 25%

5 Very poor < 50% > 25%

Once quality ratings have been assigned to each of the 6 indicators of data
quality, the Data Quality Rating can be calculated as follows:

TeR + GR + TiR + C + P + M + 4 × X w
DQR =
i+4

Where TeR is the technical representativeness

GR is the geographical representiveness
TiR is the time-related representiveness All using
the scale in
C is the completeness Table 10
P is the level of precision
M is the methodological appropriateness
Xw is the weakest (highest) score from the separate indicators
i is the number of indicators

Based on the figure obtained for the DQR the data is assigned an overall
quality level as follows:
DQR ≤ 1.6 Overall data is defined as “High quality”
1.6 < DQR ≤ 3 Overall data is defined as “Basic quality”
3 < DQR ≤ 4 Overall data is defined as “Data estimate”
DQR > 4 Data quality is not defined.

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 STEP 4 – INTERPRETATION AND REPORTING 5

5 STEP 4 - INTERPRETation AND REPORTing

Sub-steps within the interpretation and reporting step are shown in Figure
20.
Figure 20: Interpretation and reporting step

Identify the significant issues

Analyse the completeness

of the assessment

These three sub-steps

Analyse the sensitivity
comprise the evaluation
of the assessment
of the LCA findings

Analyse the consistency

of the assessment

Draw conclusions and

make recommendations

Prepare and issue report

Normalised and weighted

LCIA results

5.1 Significant As with many analytical techniques, it is often the case that a large
issues
proportion of the overall result, in this case environmental impact, is
derived from a relatively small number of data items. This is helpful to the
analyst, as it makes most sense to make sure that these major contributors
are as robust as they can be.

A gravity analysis or Pareto analysis is a statistical procedure for identifying

those data items that make the greatest contribution to each part of the
result. In the case of a full Life Cycle Assessment, this means finding out
which processes contribute most to each impact category.

However, if the study has been restricted just to developing the Life Cycle
Inventory, then the gravity or Pareto analysis will show which processes
contribute most to each output or emission.

Input data can also be assessed according to their contributions or use

of intermediate processes, such as transportation, or primary energy
production.

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 5 STEP 4 – INTERPRETATION AND REPORTING

5.2 Completeness The completeness is the first stage of the step 4 evaluation.

The difficulty, or even impossibility, of carrying out a life cycle assessment

that is absolutely 100% complete has already been discussed in Section
3.4. The degree of completeness that is acceptable will have been set out
in the Goal and Scope definitions when the cut-off criteria were set. The
purpose of this stage of the process is to check whether the intended level
of completeness has been achieved.

The degree of completeness achieved is compared in a number of different

ways against the cut-off criterion that is set for the environmental impact:
• In respect of product flows (coming from the Technosphere),
the totals of the mass and energy content and market value of all
processes can be compared with the relevant figures for the product
system.
• In respect of waste flows, the totals of the mass and energy content
and waste treatment costs of all processes can be compared with the
overall product system.
• In respect of elementary flows (coming from the Ecosphere), the
totals of the mass and energy content of individual key chemical
elements can be compared.

For example, in the split system indoor unit described in Figure 13, the
net mass of all the elementary flows is 29.7 kg of raw materials in and
5.8 kg of waste materials out, making a net mass of 23.9 kg. If the actual
mass of each finished product is 25.4 kg then this implies a completeness
of 94.1%. If the cut-off for the assessment was fixed at 90% in the Goal
and Scope, then this assessment would be classed as sufficiently complete,
but if the cut-off had been fixed at 95% then this assessment would not
be classed as complete. In this latter case, more work would be needed to
identify further materials/elementary flows by including some of the small
components that had originally been omitted from the inventory analysis.
Then the inventory analysis and the impact assessment would need to be
repeated, and the completeness reassessed.

The completeness check can also be used to confirm that the correct
negligible items have been left out of the inventory analysis. There is a rule
of thumb that is applied as follows:

Items can be classed as negligible and omitted from the inventory

analysis if together they account for less than 10% of the portion of
impact being cut-off. So, in the case of a 93% cut-off requirement, then
this is 10% of 7%, or 0.7% of the overall impact.

The reason for omitting negligible flows is to simplify the inventory

analysis and the impact assessment calculations, and the subsequent quality
checking. It is estimated that excluding negligible flows from a 95% cut-off
can reduce the number of items in the inventory by more than half.

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 STEP 4 – INTERPRETATION AND REPORTING 5

5.3 Sensitivity The sensitivity is the second stage of the step 4 evaluation, but is also
expected to be used during step 1 (Goal and Scope), step 2 (Processes and
Inventories) and step 3 (Impact Assessment).

During step 1 (Goal and Scope), sensitivity analysis is used to check that
the appropriate system, functional unit, modelling framework, system
boundary, impact categories, normalisation and weighting categories have
been selected. Because this step precedes the detailed inventory analysis
and impact assessment, the sensitivity to changes in any of the above
selections cannot be quantified. Instead, the sensitivity analysis has to be
done primarily through qualitative means, including the judgement of
experts and comparison with past experience.

During step 2 (Processes and Inventories), sensitivity analysis is applied

especially to the checking of inventory data. Three distinct aspects of
inventory data are checked:
1. The degree to which the chosen data represents the technical,
geographic and time-based requirements of the problem
2. The completeness of the inventory and the degree to which greater
or lesser completeness would significantly affect the outcome of the
Inventory Analysis
3. The precision of the values and parameters included in the Inventory

Sensitivity analysis here is either carried out using scenario analysis, where
differences in the inventory data are represented by parallel scenarios, or
using Monte Carlo analysis where the variability in the inventory data is
represented by probability distributions.

During step 3 (Impact Assessment), sensitivity analysis is used to check the

precision of the LCIA results in the different impact categories that have
been selected. In doing this, it should be borne in mind that some impact
categories are inherently less precise than others. For example, human
toxicity and ecotoxicity midpoints are always going to be less precise
than global warming potential or acidification, because of differences in
the current state of the art in modelling the impact pathways between
emissions and receptors.

Sensitivity analysis here is usually carried out using scenario analysis across
a series of permissible LCIA methodologies.

Quantitative sensitivity analysis can be carried out either deterministically

or statistically. Deterministic analysis involves choosing a range of possible
values for an item of data and then running the analysis for each data value.
The result is a relationship between the input and the output. In theory,
each item of data will have some variability and can be processed using
deterministic sensitivity analysis. But in practice, it should be restricted to
the input data that has the greatest impact on the results.

Statistical analysis can only be done using computer modelling. In this

technique, the probability distribution of each item of data is recorded.
The life cycle impact assessment is then carried out many times (hundreds

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 5 STEP 4 – INTERPRETATION AND REPORTING

or even thousands of times) with randomly chosen input data that

corresponds to the relevant probability distributions. The results of each
assessment are then analysed into their own distribution. This will usually
come out as some kind of normal distribution (bell curve), from which
a mean value and a standard deviation for each impact category can be
calculated.

5.4 Consistency The consistency is the third stage of the step 4 evaluation and looks at
three different aspects of the assessment.

Firstly, the consistency of the data quality is checked. This assesses whether
any differences in quality within the data are consistent with the Goal
and Scope of the study. For example, the Data Quality Rating combines
six different perspectives on data quality, but there may be one which
is significantly lower quality than the others. The consistency check
would assess whether this outlier was important in the context of the
overall assessment. This check is especially important when the LCA is a
comparative study.

Secondly, the consistency of the method choices is checked. This assesses

whether the principles for modelling the inventory, for allocating multi-
product flows, or for determining the system boundary are consistent with
the Goal and Scope of the study. This check is particularly important when
data from different sources is being combined into a single analysis.

Thirdly, the consistency of the impact assessment is checked. This assesses

whether the impact assessment steps have been applied in line with the
Goal and Scope.

5.5 Conclusions, The next stage of Step 4 is to turn the analysis and evaluation into
limitations and
recommendations
conclusions and recommendations. The conclusions compare the results
obtained from the study with the initial objective(s) stated in the Goal and
Scope.

For example, if the study has been set up to determine the environmental
impact differences between two different cooling systems, then the
conclusion will be based on a comparison of the two impact assessments.
Alternatively, if the study has been set up to report the environmental
impact of a particular manufactured component, then the conclusion will
summarise the impact assessment findings.

With most LCA studies there are still going to be limitations which have
not been eliminated through the analysis or the choice of methodology.
This may relate to the level of completeness that it was possible to achieve
or the level of uncertainty in the calculated results. The conclusions must
make these remaining limitations clear.

Recommendations need to follow logically from the conclusions, while

taking account of the remaining limitations.

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 STEP 4 – INTERPRETATION AND REPORTING 5

5.6 Reporting the 5.6.1 Key principles for LCA reports

results of the Three key principles of LCA reporting need to be met.
study

Firstly, the report should be transparent. Where the impact assessment is

stated in terms of end-points then the mid-point impact assessments must
also be published. The purpose is to enable the reader to trace the path of
argument through the various levels of analysis and assessment and to see
the logical links between the.

Secondly, the report should respect confidentiality, especially where

publication is required. This is sometimes necessary when confidential data
has been gathered, particularly concerning production processes and raw
materials/components. When this happens then a separate confidential
report should be compiled for limited circulation.

Thirdly, if it is the case that the goal or scope of the study have been
altered because of feedback from any of the different steps in the study,
then this must be reflected in the report.

5.6.2 Different types of report

There are three main types of report. Which one is used will depend on
the context of the study and the agreed Goal and Scope, and will have
been specified as part of the goal.
1. Internal reports
These are only for the use of the organisation commissioning the
study or carrying out the work. They could be for identifying
environmental hotspots in a manufacturing process as a pre-cursor to
production design improvements.
2. Third party reports
These are reports intended to be used by organisations other than
the commissioner of the study or the analyst carrying out the study.
These reports have more detailed requirements than internal reports,
some of which depend on whether the third parties are technical or
non-technical.
3. Comparative reports to be disclosed to the public
These are special cases of third party reports where the purpose of
the study is to compare the environmental impacts of two or more
different processes/product systems. The fact that these reports are
made publicly available also introduces some additional requirements.

The requirements of the three different types of report are summarised in

Table 11.

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 5 STEP 4 – INTERPRETATION AND REPORTING

Table 11: Requirements for different types of LCA reporting

Internal reports Third party reports Public comparative reports

Audience Study commissioner Study commissioner Study commissioner

Study analyst Study analyst Study analyst
Third party organisations or individuals Third party organisations
(technical or non-technical) Technical individuals
General public

Requirements Document the goals and Document the goals and scope of the Document the goals and scope of the study
scope of the study study Enclose or refer to LCI data sets used in the
Enclose or refer to LCI Enclose or refer to LCI data sets used in analysis
data sets used in the the analysis Include a Summary (Executive Summary for
analysis Include a Summary (Executive Summary non-technical audiences, Technical Summary
for non-technical audiences, Technical for technical audiences)
Summary for technical audiences) Document the life cycle inventory analysis
Document the life cycle inventory (data collection procedures, description of
analysis (data collection procedures, unit processes, outcome of data validation
description of unit processes, outcome check, outcome of sensitivity analysis,
of data validation check, outcome description of allocation/substitution for key
of sensitivity analysis, description multifunctional processes)
of allocation/substitution for key Document the life cycle impact assessment
multifunctional processes) (LCIA procedures and methodology
Document the life cycle impact including normalisation and weighting
assessment (LCIA procedures and standards, limitations of the assessment,
methodology including normalisation results of sensitivity or uncertainty analysis)
and weighting standards, limitations of Document the remaining evaluation,
the assessment, results of sensitivity or interpretation and results (report the data
uncertainty analysis) quality assessment, report the conclusions,
Document the remaining evaluation, list any recommendations)
interpretation and results (report the Document the critical review process (name
data quality assessment, report the the reviewers, the review findings and the
conclusions, list any recommendations) responses)
Document the critical review process Describe the equivalence of the systems
(name the reviewers, the review findings being compared
and the responses)
Analyse material and energy flows
Assess precision, completeness and
representativeness of the data used
Assess the completeness of the LCIA
Evaluate the significance of the differences
found

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 REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY

References

1. ISO 14040: 2006 Environmental management - Life cycle assessment - Principles and framework.

2. ISO 14044: 2006 Environmental management - Life cycle assessment - Requirements and guidelines.

3. ISO/TR 14047: 2012 Environmental management - Life cycle assessment - Illustrative examples on how to
apply ISO 14044 to impact assessment situations.

4. ISO/TR 14049: 2012 Environmental management - Life cycle assessment - Illustrative examples on how to
apply ISO 14044 to goal and scope definition and inventory analysis.

5. European Commission Joint Research Commission , 2010, ILCD handbook. General guide for Life
Cycle Assessment – Detailed guidance.
Can be downloaded for free from [Link]

6. BSRIA BG 5/2008 Whole-Life Costing Analysis.

7. Schweimer G, Levin M, 2000, Life Cycle Inventory for the Golf A4.
Downloaded from [Link]
publications/2007/01/Golf_A4__Life_Cycle_Inventory.[Link]/binarystorageitem/file/golfa4_
[Link] on 30th July 2013.

8. Effects of payload on the fuel consumption of trucks, research report by Imise Ltd for Department for
Transport, 2007.
Downloaded from [Link] on
30th July 2013.

9. PAS 2050: 2011 Specification for the assessment of the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of goods and services
Can be downloaded for free from [Link]

10. BRE Digest 446, 2000, Assessing environmental impacts of construction. Industry consensus, BREEAM
and UK Ecopoints

11. What are Eco-points? Edge Environment publication.

Downloaded from [Link] on 30th
July 2013

12. BRE, 2009, The Green Guide to Specification (Fourth Edition).

BIBLIOGRAPHY
This BSRIA guide has only introduced the subject of life cycle assessment. Much more detailed
guidance and information is available in many different publications. As well as the specific sources
referenced in this guide, some useful titles are listed below.

Life Cycle Assessment and the Environmental Impact of Buildings: A Review in Sustainability vol 1, (2009).
Khasreen M.M, Banfill P. F. G, Menzies G. F. pp674-701

BSRIA BG 10/2011 Embodied Carbon – The Inventory of Carbon and Energy (ICE)

Life Cycle assessment 55

© BSRIA BG 52/2013

Life Cycle Assessment_3.indd 55 23/10/2013 09:57:51

Life Cycle Assessment_1.indd 2 28/10/2013 09:25:23
BG 52-13 Life Cycle Assessment_D3-2010 Legislation [Link] 25/10/2013 14:40 Page 2

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