82
These are the five primary impact categories, but they are not the only things that
can be with respect to potential environmental impacts. Depending on the method
followed, the primary list can be expanded to include the potential to:
6. Increase risks to human health
7. Reduce the amount of usable land available to all species
8. Decrease the amount of usable water
9. Poison the environment with toxic chemicals
10. Deplete abiotic resources including fossil fuels from not renewable deposits
Abiotic depletion potential actually spans multiple impact categories since there are
many different materials included and varying time horizons of resource renewal.
Comparing the depletion impacts of many different materials, with a wide range of
practical implications when they become unavailable as a resource, makes aggregation of effects expressed in one metric difficult to establish (van Oers et al. 2002).
Done right, a life cycle assessment produces a technical and comprehensive document that accurately compiles and presents detailed, copious, and correct data on
what gets taken from—“inputs”—and given back—“outputs”—to the earth, along
with a projection of the potential harm or benefit it will have on the environment.
The LCA report is, ideally, a neutral document that clearly states all assumptions
and qualifies its conclusions.
5.2.1 Two Conjoined Standards: ISO 14040 and ISO 14044
ISO 14044:2006E Environmental management—Life cycle assessment—
Requirements and guidelines is a foundational guiding document for LCA practitioners that clearly and succinctly cover the elements of an LCA. Its primary reference
document is ISO 14040:2006E Environmental management—Life cycle assessment—Principles and framework. Taken together they describe the primary considerations needed to conduct and report on formal LCA studies. These two documents,
and subsequent standards that refer to them, provide answers to many individual
challenges raised by those committed to improving how we produce and consume.
The scientific techniques underpinning proper LCA activities create stronger defensible positions for any sustainable design claims. Understanding the information in
these documents is especially useful to designers looking for rational support for
individual sustainable design decisions. Any effective environmentally conscious
organized group of design professionals building a comprehensive guidance system
from scratch would likely agree on many of the principles, frameworks, requirements, and guidelines the scientific community settled as they searched for answers
to fundamental questions. Those questions center on how to more accurately quantify the damage caused by human activities with the ultimate goal of mitigating and
reversing it over time.
5 Life Cycle Assessment
These are the five primary impact categories, but they are not the only things that
can be with respect to potential environmental impacts. Depending on the method
followed, the primary list can be expanded to include the potential to:
6. Increase risks to human health
7. Reduce the amount of usable land available to all species
8. Decrease the amount of usable water
9. Poison the environment with toxic chemicals
10. Deplete abiotic resources including fossil fuels from not renewable deposits
Abiotic depletion potential actually spans multiple impact categories since there are
many different materials included and varying time horizons of resource renewal.
Comparing the depletion impacts of many different materials, with a wide range of
practical implications when they become unavailable as a resource, makes aggregation of effects expressed in one metric difficult to establish (van Oers et al. 2002).
Done right, a life cycle assessment produces a technical and comprehensive document that accurately compiles and presents detailed, copious, and correct data on
what gets taken from—“inputs”—and given back—“outputs”—to the earth, along
with a projection of the potential harm or benefit it will have on the environment.
The LCA report is, ideally, a neutral document that clearly states all assumptions
and qualifies its conclusions.
5.2.1 Two Conjoined Standards: ISO 14040 and ISO 14044
ISO 14044:2006E Environmental management—Life cycle assessment—
Requirements and guidelines is a foundational guiding document for LCA practitioners that clearly and succinctly cover the elements of an LCA. Its primary reference
document is ISO 14040:2006E Environmental management—Life cycle assessment—Principles and framework. Taken together they describe the primary considerations needed to conduct and report on formal LCA studies. These two documents,
and subsequent standards that refer to them, provide answers to many individual
challenges raised by those committed to improving how we produce and consume.
The scientific techniques underpinning proper LCA activities create stronger defensible positions for any sustainable design claims. Understanding the information in
these documents is especially useful to designers looking for rational support for
individual sustainable design decisions. Any effective environmentally conscious
organized group of design professionals building a comprehensive guidance system
from scratch would likely agree on many of the principles, frameworks, requirements, and guidelines the scientific community settled as they searched for answers
to fundamental questions. Those questions center on how to more accurately quantify the damage caused by human activities with the ultimate goal of mitigating and
reversing it over time.
5 Life Cycle Assessment