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The questions are not technical although the techniques used to systematically
answer them can be and require some explanation. These practices, taken together,
follow a higher standard of care to more accurately assess the environmental impacts
created in any system. Using LCA techniques can enhance the design process. They
sharpen thinking and provide firm grounding to make the case for one design decision over another based on the major features of the four iterative phases of any
proper life cycle assessment. The four phases are:
Goal and scope definition
Inventory analysis
Impact assessment
Interpretation
The following are questions asked and answered by these two foundational ISO
documents. The main difference between life cycle assessment and design activities
is the obvious focus on deeper analysis in LCA vs. synthesis in design. There are,
however, numerous general similarities as well, such as iteration as best practice in
both LCA and design. The following presents the two activities through a series of
questions and answers while identifying how LCA can directly inform the quantitative environmental profile of a design. Three kinds of design products of different
sizes, complexity, and durability illustrate how these LCA phases define key aspects
that affect environmental impact. Footwear and beverage containers represent relatively simply defined systems. Buildings are used to discuss the challenges with
more complex ones. Digitally delivered services are a different kind of system that
manifests virtually whose environmental impacts are at once easier to quantify since
electricity is the primary medium yet complicated by the many intermediary devices
and networks required for their dissemination and consumption.
5.3 Goal and Scope Definition
All key features of a study are initially established in this first LCA stage. It is a
rigorous proto-LCA in miniature purposely lacking many specific details on which
a proper full study depends. The supporting rationales and documentation, regarding what and whom the study is for and how it will be carried out, create a first
sketch of a proposed design’s relative net ecological burden or regenerative potential. It defines the requirements for the subsequent and more detailed, data inventory
and environmental impact stages. Early review, evaluation, and interpretation of
what is and is not appropriate or necessary to meet a study’s goal are initially carried
out before proceeding with detailed investigations in later stages. So all LCA phases
are represented in the goal and scope phase as recursive fractal seeds that will
be modified and developed into the more comprehensive LCA as the study
progresses.
5.3 Goal and Scope Definition
The questions are not technical although the techniques used to systematically
answer them can be and require some explanation. These practices, taken together,
follow a higher standard of care to more accurately assess the environmental impacts
created in any system. Using LCA techniques can enhance the design process. They
sharpen thinking and provide firm grounding to make the case for one design decision over another based on the major features of the four iterative phases of any
proper life cycle assessment. The four phases are:
Goal and scope definition
Inventory analysis
Impact assessment
Interpretation
The following are questions asked and answered by these two foundational ISO
documents. The main difference between life cycle assessment and design activities
is the obvious focus on deeper analysis in LCA vs. synthesis in design. There are,
however, numerous general similarities as well, such as iteration as best practice in
both LCA and design. The following presents the two activities through a series of
questions and answers while identifying how LCA can directly inform the quantitative environmental profile of a design. Three kinds of design products of different
sizes, complexity, and durability illustrate how these LCA phases define key aspects
that affect environmental impact. Footwear and beverage containers represent relatively simply defined systems. Buildings are used to discuss the challenges with
more complex ones. Digitally delivered services are a different kind of system that
manifests virtually whose environmental impacts are at once easier to quantify since
electricity is the primary medium yet complicated by the many intermediary devices
and networks required for their dissemination and consumption.
5.3 Goal and Scope Definition
All key features of a study are initially established in this first LCA stage. It is a
rigorous proto-LCA in miniature purposely lacking many specific details on which
a proper full study depends. The supporting rationales and documentation, regarding what and whom the study is for and how it will be carried out, create a first
sketch of a proposed design’s relative net ecological burden or regenerative potential. It defines the requirements for the subsequent and more detailed, data inventory
and environmental impact stages. Early review, evaluation, and interpretation of
what is and is not appropriate or necessary to meet a study’s goal are initially carried
out before proceeding with detailed investigations in later stages. So all LCA phases
are represented in the goal and scope phase as recursive fractal seeds that will
be modified and developed into the more comprehensive LCA as the study
progresses.
5.3 Goal and Scope Definition