Life Cycle Assessment: Do more than measure your environmental impact

According to the KPMG Life Cycle Assessment Guide, a product's life cycle consists of five main stages, which are analyzed during an LCA to evaluate environmental impacts:

1. Raw Material Extraction: The process of sourcing natural resources required for production.
2. Manufacturing and Processing: Transforming raw materials into finished products, which involves significant energy use and emissions.
3. Transportation and Distribution: Moving products through the supply chain, which contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.
4. Usage and Retail: The period when the product is used by consumers, including maintenance and energy consumption.
5. Waste Disposal/Recycling: Managing the end-of-life phase, whether through landfill, recycling, or reuse.

For each of these stages, conducting a detailed inventory analysis is crucial to quantify the inputs (e.g., materials, energy) and outputs (e.g., emissions, waste). The reasons for performing such an analysis include identifying high-impact areas and developing strategies to reduce a product’s overall environmental footprint.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) evaluates the environmental impact of a product or system throughout its life cycle. According to science portal ResearchGate, steps include:

1. Goal and Scope Definition: Establishing the objectives and boundaries of the study to ensure a clear focus.
2. Inventory Analysis: Collecting and quantifying data on all inputs (e.g., raw materials, energy, water) and outputs (e.g., emissions, waste) throughout the product's lifecycle. This step provides the foundational data for the subsequent impact assessment.
3. Environmental Impact Assessment: Using the results of the inventory analysis to evaluate the potential environmental impacts across various categories, such as climate change or resource depletion.
4. Interpretation: Analyzing the findings to draw conclusions, identify improvement opportunities, and ensure alignment with the study goals.

The importance of inventory analysis cannot be overstated, as it underpins the accuracy and reliability of the entire LCA process. One of the main reasons for conducting LCA is to make informed decisions that reduce environmental impacts while supporting sustainable practices. By following these structured steps, businesses can effectively identify areas for improvement and minimize their environmental footprint.

ISO standards 14040 and 14044 provide internationally recognized guidelines for conducting Lifecycle Assessments (LCA), ensuring consistency, transparency, and reliability in evaluating the environmental impacts of products, processes, or services. These standards outline a structured methodology that generally consists of four key phases:

1. Defining Study Objectives and Scope: This phase involves establishing the purpose of the LCA, the system boundaries, and the functional unit (the basis for comparison). It sets the framework for the assessment, determining which aspects of the product lifecycle will be analyzed and the goals to be achieved.
2. Compiling a Life Cycle Inventory (LCI): This step entails collecting and quantifying data on all inputs (e.g., raw materials, energy, water) and outputs (e.g., emissions, waste) associated with the product lifecycle. The LCI phase is critical for building a comprehensive dataset that serves as the foundation for subsequent analysis.
3. Conducting a Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA): Using the inventory data, this phase evaluates the potential environmental impacts across various categories, such as global warming potential, resource depletion, and water usage. This step provides actionable insights into the most significant areas of environmental concern.
4. Performing an Interpretation of the Findings: The final phase involves analyzing the results in the context of the study objectives, identifying key areas for improvement, and making recommendations. It ensures that the conclusions drawn are consistent with the goals and boundaries defined earlier.

These ISO standards ensure that LCAs are performed in a standardized, systematic, and credible manner, allowing for comparability across studies and enabling organizations to confidently use the results to inform sustainability strategies, decision-making, and reporting. By adhering to these guidelines, companies can ensure their LCA studies meet rigorous international benchmarks, building trust with stakeholders and supporting compliance with environmental regulations.

A simplified version of a life cycle assessment application is available in the form of an interactive calculator within the Life Cycle Assessment page by Dassault Systèmes.

Lifecycle Assessment (LCA) is a comprehensive methodology developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to address climate change and global warming by systematically identifying and quantifying greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and other environmental impacts across a product's lifecycle. This includes raw material extraction, manufacturing, transportation, usage, and end-of-life disposal. By analyzing the entire lifecycle, LCA provides actionable insights to reduce carbon footprints and improve overall sustainability.

In addition to its environmental focus, LCA also incorporates social aspects, evaluating how production processes and supply chains affect communities and workers. This broader perspective ensures that solutions for mitigating climate change also promote ethical and responsible practices across industries.

The main reasons LCA is effective in combating climate change include:

1. Comprehensive Analysis: LCA evaluates every stage of a product's lifecycle, using a reference flow (a quantifiable measure of output) to ensure no stage of greenhouse gas emissions is overlooked.
2. Informed Decision-Making: LCA empowers businesses and decision-makers to select materials, processes, and designs that minimize emissions while considering social implications.
3. Supply Chain Optimization: It identifies inefficiencies and high-impact areas within the supply chain, such as energy-intensive production or long-distance transportation, enabling targeted improvements.
4. Support for Climate Goals: By identifying areas for emission reductions, LCA helps organizations align with global climate change initiatives, such as the Paris Agreement, net-zero goals, and ISO standards.

For example, in the construction industry, LCA can demonstrate that using low-carbon concrete reduces GHG emissions significantly. It can also highlight that sourcing materials locally minimizes transportation-related emissions while supporting local communities—a key social benefit. These insights, grounded in clear reasons and a structured approach, combined with adherence to ISO standards, make LCA an indispensable tool in addressing the interconnected challenges of climate change, global warming, and sustainable development.

An example of Lifecycle Assessment (LCA) in the construction industry involves evaluating the environmental impact of a building project from the extraction of raw materials to its end-of-life. The assessment begins with the sourcing and processing of construction materials such as concrete, steel, and timber. Decision-makers assess the environmental impacts associated with these materials, including embodied carbon, energy consumption, and emissions generated during their extraction and transportation through the supply chain.

During the manufacturing and prefabrication phases, LCA examines energy usage, water consumption, and waste generation at production facilities. In the construction phase, emissions from heavy machinery and on-site operations are considered, alongside material efficiency and waste management practices.

The assessment extends to the operational phase, where factors such as the building’s energy performance, water usage, and maintenance requirements are analyzed. Finally, the LCA evaluates the building’s end-of-life phase, focusing on demolition impacts, recycling potential, and waste disposal.

For example, an LCA might reveal that sourcing locally-produced steel reduces emissions from long-distance transportation, or that using prefabricated components decreases waste on construction sites. By addressing these findings, developers and construction stakeholders can optimize their projects to reduce the overall environmental footprint, align with sustainability goals, and meet regulatory requirements.