May 28, 2008 by Brian Butler | Filed under: Life-Cycle-Analysis (LCA) [1], [4],Overview

At the conclusion of this workshop, there was a general feeling that environmental managers must be aware of several key issues with regard to Life Cycle Analysis; these were: exactly what LCA tools are available, how these tools can be applied, how to guide others with regard to the application of these tools, and how to communicate the results of the LCA.

Additionally, environmental managers should have input on the development of LCA models and their input could be of particular value in multiple ways such as in deciding how to bound the analysis, in determining what type of data can be made available and how the data will be integrated into the model.

This workshop revealed that there seemed to be broad consensus that LCA tools can generate information that help inform the sorts of decisions faced by environmental managers; however, the tools are so dependent upon the assumptions invoked by the analyst that extrapolation and dissemination of LCA results is very risky and should be avoided. It is interesting that the recommendation is to not extrapolate or disseminate. Dissemination would open the finding up to review and generally the same kind of rigorous re-examination typical to scientific method. If the results are so dependent on the assumptions of the analyst, how will the assumptions be tested?

Also the question was asked if there are any LCA models or modules that can be added to existing LCA models that would incorporate social responsibility or elements of sustainability. No one was aware that any such models or modules existed.

You can view the symposium powerpoint HERE.

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January 15, 2008 by John Morelli and Brian Butler | Filed under: Life-Cycle-Analysis (LCA) [1], [4],Overview

Welcome to the discussion!  Researchers working on this important subtopic include:  Brian Thorn, Anju Mathew, Neil Miller, and Gregory Hilton.  Below are the various postings from the research team. Some will be abstracts of and links to relevant literature. Others will be original work posted here for comments, criticisms, suggestions, questions, etc. from professional environmental managers who visit this site. If you are interested in participating on this professional research team, or learning more about it, please contact us by clicking here.

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April 2, 2009 by Brian Butler | Filed under: Life-Cycle-Analysis (LCA) [1], [4]

There are several programs for conducting life cycle assessments. This discussion will examine their use and usefulness. Another aspect for consideration is that current LCA programs may not have any way of incorporating social and economic elements in order to use LCA as a evaluative sustainability tool.

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April 3, 2008 by NEIL MILLER | Filed under: Life-Cycle-Analysis (LCA) [1], [4]

Hello, my name is Neil Miller and I would like to contribute to this EM discussion topic and will be attending the Environmental Management Workshop. I am new to the subject of Life-Cycle Analysis (LCA) but I really like the idea of “cradle-to-the-grave” and individuals/companies being responsible for evaluating, and hopefully minimizing, their environmental consequences.

 Here is just a quick summary of the three LCA steps, defined by the EPA:

1. inventory analysis — identification and quantification of energy and resource use and environmental releases to air, water, and land

2. Impact analysis — technical qualitative and quantitative characterization and assessment of the consequences on the environment

3. Improvement analysis — evaluation and implementation of opportunities to reduce environmental burden

 Also, here is a link for supplemental information on the relation of LCA to support an Industrial Ecologist (pg. 12-26), this could lead to some very good discussions in the future.

http://www.umich.edu/~nppcpub/resources/compendia/INDEpdfs/INDEintro.pdf

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March 28, 2008 by GREGORY HILTON , NEIL MILLER and amathew | Filed under: Life-Cycle-Analysis (LCA) [1], [4]

Hello to all participating in this EM discussion topic.  For those of you who have not already reviewed my profile, My name is Greg Hilton and I am a RIT student participant in the Environmental Management Workshop.

I don’t know about you, but I am finding many of the EM discussion topics to be very intriguing. In researching the Life Cycle Analysis topic I was especially interested in the concept of the carbon footprint.  For those of you that may not be familiar with this concept. A carbon footprint is the measure of impact human activities on the environment in terms of the amount of green house gases produced (source; www.carbonfootprint.com).  The purpose of developing and knowing the carbon footprint for a person or organization is to be able to relate their contribution and impact on global warming. There are several different models for calculating ones carbon footprint. By using the carbon footprint calculator found at   http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx, I found my personal carbon footprint to be 19.653 tonnes. I was alarmed to find that, according to this information, my carbon footprint was almost 5 times that of the worldwide average of 4 tonnes.  I can say that learning this information has made me think about some of my transportation and purchasing decisions. 

I am interested in knowing others perspectives on the carbon footprint concept, what your carbon footprint is, and how you feel carbon foot-printing relates as a tool for sustainability? What are your thoughts?

 Links to more information

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_cycle_assessment

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_footprint

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