137
Whatever LCIA method is used must be clearly documented. A small selection of
the available LCIA methods are described below.
8.3.1 TRACI
The Tool for the Reduction and Assessment of Chemical and Other Environmental
Impacts (TRACI), developed by the US EPA, is the most common LCIA method
used in North America. It was first developed in 2002 to bring a greater level of
sophistication, comprehensiveness, and applicability to LCA studies in the United
States (Bare 2012). Since then it has been updated, most recently to Version 2.1 in
2012. The TRACI methodology comes embedded in many LCA and LCIA tools,
including those discussed in these chapters, or can be used standalone by downloading the excel sheet from the EPA’s website. TRACI is either the default or one of the
LCIA options in every tool discussed in this chapter.
Currently, it features classifications and CFs for acidification, eutrophication,
global climate change, ozone depletion, human health particulate, human health
cancer, non-cancer, and ecotoxicity, photochemical smog formation, and fossil fuel
resource depletion, with the intention to include land and water use in future updates
(Bare 2012). These impact categories were chosen based on their international recognition and relevance to US conditions. However, even just the selection of impact
categories to include introduces bias to an LCA study. Each impact category has its
own CFs. Some of them, such as global climate change and ozone depletion, are
based on and sourced from internationally agreed upon practices, while others,
including photochemical smog formation, were developed specifically for the
United States (Bare 2012). Different impact categories carry with them various
inherent levels of uncertainty.
8.3.2 ReCiPe
While TRACI is the most widely used impact assessment method in North America,
it is not the only recognized one available. For studies outside of North America,
other LCIA methodologies are more applicable. PRé Sustainability, the Dutch company behind the SimaPro LCA software, in addition to RIVM, CML, Radboud
Universiteit Nijmegen, and CE Delft, developed the ReCiPe impact assessment
framework (Curran 2012). ReCiPe was initially launched in 2008 but updated in
2016 to provide globally applicable CFs, instead of just CFs relevant to Europe, as
well as improve the existing characterization models (Dekker et al. 2019). The
ReCiPe framework provides a large range of impact categories, including 18 midpoint indicators and 3 endpoint indicators (Huijbregts et al. 2016). It draws on the
work of previous methods, including Eco-indicator 99 and CML 2001. Furthermore,
there are choices in CFs for global and local conditions, as well as CFs that vary
8.3 Impact Assessment Methods
Whatever LCIA method is used must be clearly documented. A small selection of
the available LCIA methods are described below.
8.3.1 TRACI
The Tool for the Reduction and Assessment of Chemical and Other Environmental
Impacts (TRACI), developed by the US EPA, is the most common LCIA method
used in North America. It was first developed in 2002 to bring a greater level of
sophistication, comprehensiveness, and applicability to LCA studies in the United
States (Bare 2012). Since then it has been updated, most recently to Version 2.1 in
2012. The TRACI methodology comes embedded in many LCA and LCIA tools,
including those discussed in these chapters, or can be used standalone by downloading the excel sheet from the EPA’s website. TRACI is either the default or one of the
LCIA options in every tool discussed in this chapter.
Currently, it features classifications and CFs for acidification, eutrophication,
global climate change, ozone depletion, human health particulate, human health
cancer, non-cancer, and ecotoxicity, photochemical smog formation, and fossil fuel
resource depletion, with the intention to include land and water use in future updates
(Bare 2012). These impact categories were chosen based on their international recognition and relevance to US conditions. However, even just the selection of impact
categories to include introduces bias to an LCA study. Each impact category has its
own CFs. Some of them, such as global climate change and ozone depletion, are
based on and sourced from internationally agreed upon practices, while others,
including photochemical smog formation, were developed specifically for the
United States (Bare 2012). Different impact categories carry with them various
inherent levels of uncertainty.
8.3.2 ReCiPe
While TRACI is the most widely used impact assessment method in North America,
it is not the only recognized one available. For studies outside of North America,
other LCIA methodologies are more applicable. PRé Sustainability, the Dutch company behind the SimaPro LCA software, in addition to RIVM, CML, Radboud
Universiteit Nijmegen, and CE Delft, developed the ReCiPe impact assessment
framework (Curran 2012). ReCiPe was initially launched in 2008 but updated in
2016 to provide globally applicable CFs, instead of just CFs relevant to Europe, as
well as improve the existing characterization models (Dekker et al. 2019). The
ReCiPe framework provides a large range of impact categories, including 18 midpoint indicators and 3 endpoint indicators (Huijbregts et al. 2016). It draws on the
work of previous methods, including Eco-indicator 99 and CML 2001. Furthermore,
there are choices in CFs for global and local conditions, as well as CFs that vary
8.3 Impact Assessment Methods