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standards in this environmentally important sector (Rodriguez et al. 2019).
Standardizing basic project scope information dealing improves comparability
between studies. Consistent parameters regarding building scale and performance
include the building footprint size and gross square foot floor area. Additional geographic and site-specific characteristics such as soil class as well as climate and
seismic zone enable meaningful comparisons.
Physically materialized systems such as shoes or buildings are not the only
design objects of study requiring the same scope specificity. Virtualized services
and experiences depend on physical infrastructures and interfaces to distribute electricity and information. Different digital content requires greater or lesser material
and energy resources to create, distribute, and consume. The negative impacts
caused by waste byproducts are largely determined by grid energy mix. Broadbanddelivered virtualized cloud-based services reduce local hardware needed to play a
video game. Cloud servers, however, consume energy from a grid that may still be
partially or completely powered by coal-fired electrical plants creating the same
environmental impact dilemma as the coal/electric car. It considering alternatives in
a “dematerializing economy,” the real question may be what is the environmental
impact of a digital version of a good vs. its physical counterpart. The ecological
costs associated with digital dissemination of a book read or image viewed on a
smart device can be compared with print versions. This would prominently figure
into the scoping exercise.
5.3.3 How Specific Is Specific Enough?
What is and what is not included in a system is a critical part of the scoping phase.
Valid comparisons require a single consistent unit used in various scenarios. The
functional unit establishes a measurable and quantifiable reference to make comparisons of various alternative scenarios. The soft drink industry provides the classic example of a functional unit (FU) as a volume of 8 oz or 300 ml of soda delivered
to a single consumer in an open or closed container. This measurable unit can be
used to compare various container alternatives such as glass, aluminum, or plastic
with all the attendant process and distribution variables associated with each to
perform its intended end function—someone enjoys a single cold carbonated drink.
Immediately prior to imbibing, this drink can be poured into a paper cup at a fast
food restaurant, drop out of a vending machine in a bottle or can, removed from a
domestic kitchen refrigerator, or arrive in an insulated cooler far from any mechanical refrigeration.
Packaging is a fairly discreet and relatively easily defined system to design and
analyze alternatives. In a more complex system such as a building, the total volume
or mass of materials does not capture an assembly’s qualitative and performative
aspects needed to compare it to another that would provide the same service over
time. To serve as a functional unit, the declared unit expressed in simple unqualified
terms such as a 100 m
2
of a solid external building envelope material like wood or
5 Life Cycle Assessment
standards in this environmentally important sector (Rodriguez et al. 2019).
Standardizing basic project scope information dealing improves comparability
between studies. Consistent parameters regarding building scale and performance
include the building footprint size and gross square foot floor area. Additional geographic and site-specific characteristics such as soil class as well as climate and
seismic zone enable meaningful comparisons.
Physically materialized systems such as shoes or buildings are not the only
design objects of study requiring the same scope specificity. Virtualized services
and experiences depend on physical infrastructures and interfaces to distribute electricity and information. Different digital content requires greater or lesser material
and energy resources to create, distribute, and consume. The negative impacts
caused by waste byproducts are largely determined by grid energy mix. Broadbanddelivered virtualized cloud-based services reduce local hardware needed to play a
video game. Cloud servers, however, consume energy from a grid that may still be
partially or completely powered by coal-fired electrical plants creating the same
environmental impact dilemma as the coal/electric car. It considering alternatives in
a “dematerializing economy,” the real question may be what is the environmental
impact of a digital version of a good vs. its physical counterpart. The ecological
costs associated with digital dissemination of a book read or image viewed on a
smart device can be compared with print versions. This would prominently figure
into the scoping exercise.
5.3.3 How Specific Is Specific Enough?
What is and what is not included in a system is a critical part of the scoping phase.
Valid comparisons require a single consistent unit used in various scenarios. The
functional unit establishes a measurable and quantifiable reference to make comparisons of various alternative scenarios. The soft drink industry provides the classic example of a functional unit (FU) as a volume of 8 oz or 300 ml of soda delivered
to a single consumer in an open or closed container. This measurable unit can be
used to compare various container alternatives such as glass, aluminum, or plastic
with all the attendant process and distribution variables associated with each to
perform its intended end function—someone enjoys a single cold carbonated drink.
Immediately prior to imbibing, this drink can be poured into a paper cup at a fast
food restaurant, drop out of a vending machine in a bottle or can, removed from a
domestic kitchen refrigerator, or arrive in an insulated cooler far from any mechanical refrigeration.
Packaging is a fairly discreet and relatively easily defined system to design and
analyze alternatives. In a more complex system such as a building, the total volume
or mass of materials does not capture an assembly’s qualitative and performative
aspects needed to compare it to another that would provide the same service over
time. To serve as a functional unit, the declared unit expressed in simple unqualified
terms such as a 100 m
2
of a solid external building envelope material like wood or
5 Life Cycle Assessment