streamlined lca © colin fitzpatrick. streamlining the lca process full lca is only practical with...
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Streamlining the LCA Process
Full LCA is only practical with no limitations to time, expense, data availability etc…
In practice consists of many compromises Although very extensive LCA’s have been
conducted a complete quantitative LCA has never been accomplished nor is it ever likely to be
Design stage is best time to do LCA but very little data available at this point
The LCA Continuum
Fully Comprehensive LCA
Ecoscreening
Currently Accessible Region
Extensive LCA
Streamlined LCA
LCA Scoping
Streamlining the LCA Process
Screen the product with an inviolates list Limit or eliminate life-cycle stages Include only selected environmental impacts Include only selected inventory parameters Limit consideration to major constituents Limit or eliminate impact analysis Use surrogate data Use qualitative rather than quantitative data Eliminate interpretations or recommendations
The SLCA Matrix
Number of approaches developed adopting a matrix approach in which several life stages are evaluated for their potential impacts on a number of environmentally related concerns
Any SLCA process should allow for– Direct comparisons between rated products– Useable and consistent across different assessment teams– Encompass all stages of product life cycle– Address all relevant environmental concerns– Simple enough to permit relatively quick and inexpensive
assessments
The SLCA Matrix
Environmental Concern
Life Stage Materials Choice Energy Use Solid Residues Liquid Residues Gaseous Residues
Resource Extraction 1,1 1,2 1,3 1,4 1,5
Product Manufacture 2,1 2,2 2,3 2,4 2,5
Product Delivery 3,1 3,2 3,3 3,4 3,5
Product Use 4,1 4,2 4,3 4,4 4,5
Refurb/ Recycle/ Disposal 5,1 5,2 5,3 5,4 5,5
Developed in 1993 at AT&T
The SLCA Matrix
Values may be – Binary
1 = problem 0 = no problem
– Ordinal 1-10 severity ranking 1-4 severity ranking
Assessor is providing a figure of merit to represent the estimated result from a more formal LCA
Should be guided by experience, design & manufacturing survey, appropriate checklists & other available info
The SLCA Matrix
Once an evaluation has been made for each matrix element the overall Environmentally Responsible Product Rating (RERP) is computed as the sum of the matrix element values
Process is qualitative but does provide a numerical end point against which to measure improvement
i j jiERP MR ,
The SLCA Matrix
Assignment of integer ratings may seem subjective, experiments at AT&T have been performed in which comparative assessments of products are made by several different industrial and environmental engineers. Overall product ratings differ by no more that 15%
SLCA Assets
More efficient & less costly (days vrs months) Useable at the early stage of design when
opportunities for change are greater Evaluate design attributes which are inherently
qualitative such as ease of disassembly
SLCA Liabilities
Little or no ability to track overall material flows Little ability to compare completely dissimilar
approaches to fulfilling a need Little ability to track improvements over time
Commercial LCA Tool for Electronics
EIME (www.codde.fr) Two distinct interfaces
which allow different users tailored access