Life Cycle Assessment and Environmental Impact Management

Overview

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a methodology used to calculate the environmental impacts of a product over its full life cycle (“cradle to grave”). Greenhouse gas, ozone depletion, smog formation, human and ecological toxicity, resource depletion and other impact categories can be measured. LCA procedures are now well-established, with international standards spelling out accepted practices.

LCAs can support a number of sustainability initiatives, including:

• Comparing similar products or product systems delivering the same service.
• Identifying and communicate your product’s sustainability attributes to customers.
• Building transparency for your product or company’s operations.
• Measuring your supply chain’s environmental performance.
• Establishing a baseline to track annual performance.
• Identifying environmental risks and make informed decisions.
• Quantifying a company’s impact for carbon offsetting (carbon credit or renewable energy credit).
• Supporting an Environmental Product Declaration for LEED certification.
• Collecting data for qualified, substantiated green product labeling such as Green Seal.