85
5.3.2 Scope: What Is the Product or Service System and What
Is Its Function?
The scope of any LCA is determined by numerous elements. Answers to the first
questions regarding what the product or service system is and what is its function
can seem simple and direct in the abstract but can become complicated as complexity of the system increases or multiple secondary functions are considered. These
are questions that design professionals routinely ask but for different reasons and
from different perspectives. The holistic adage “form follows function” coined by
the architect, Louis Sullivan (1896), is still applied today from building design, to
biophilic product design, to software development. The value, applicability, and
truth of this phrase have been debated throughout the twentieth century but have
survived in common usage or misusage to conjoin two concepts. Many designers
consider it a tired cliché that struggles to keep pace in an age of digital interfaces or
black-box information age processes. The analytical purpose of two similar but
clearly separate questions used to scope LCAs may provide less loaded ways to
consider what something is intended to be (form) and do (function). In the scoping
phase, these practical components are initially established as propositions open to
later revision in an iterative process.
Take, for example, a pair of shoes. Their primary purpose is to protect feet from
injury while walking, and, for this, a pair of sandals or flip flops satisfy the requirement as shoes. Secondary or more specialized benefits that modify how they are
expected to perform can modify the system definition and function. Boots built for
wet or cold weather must do more than protect the soles of the feet from injury.
They must keep feet warm and dry and may provide traction on slick surfaces.
Athletic shoes address many different external conditions and are expected to support and even enhance athletic performance during an event. Shoes can also be
optimized to express social status with little difference in physical performance.
Secondary functions provide useful specificity regarding the subcategory of system under consideration. In this simple example, boots and flip flops are not comparable footwear systems (Jolliet et al. 2015). Depending on the purpose of the study,
especially when it will be used to compare two or more options, a secondary system
function must move into a primary position to describe fundamental traits material
to a proper “apples to apples” comparison. A concise description for a footwear
system, valid for making useful comparisons, would be “one pair of subzero weather
winter boots.”
In more complex systems, comparability between systems becomes significantly
more challenging. Buildings, for example, represent highly complex, systems of
interconnected systems. Individual components, from concrete or steel structural
frames to the interior finishes, work together to define a building. Whole building
LCA (WBLCA) presents numerous scoping challenges. Even within a single building type, there are many situational and site-based qualifiers that make direct comparisons difficult. Recent proposals to establish a formal WBLCA goal and scope
taxonomy move to address the well-documented challenges in establishing general
5.3 Goal and Scope Definition
5.3.2 Scope: What Is the Product or Service System and What
Is Its Function?
The scope of any LCA is determined by numerous elements. Answers to the first
questions regarding what the product or service system is and what is its function
can seem simple and direct in the abstract but can become complicated as complexity of the system increases or multiple secondary functions are considered. These
are questions that design professionals routinely ask but for different reasons and
from different perspectives. The holistic adage “form follows function” coined by
the architect, Louis Sullivan (1896), is still applied today from building design, to
biophilic product design, to software development. The value, applicability, and
truth of this phrase have been debated throughout the twentieth century but have
survived in common usage or misusage to conjoin two concepts. Many designers
consider it a tired cliché that struggles to keep pace in an age of digital interfaces or
black-box information age processes. The analytical purpose of two similar but
clearly separate questions used to scope LCAs may provide less loaded ways to
consider what something is intended to be (form) and do (function). In the scoping
phase, these practical components are initially established as propositions open to
later revision in an iterative process.
Take, for example, a pair of shoes. Their primary purpose is to protect feet from
injury while walking, and, for this, a pair of sandals or flip flops satisfy the requirement as shoes. Secondary or more specialized benefits that modify how they are
expected to perform can modify the system definition and function. Boots built for
wet or cold weather must do more than protect the soles of the feet from injury.
They must keep feet warm and dry and may provide traction on slick surfaces.
Athletic shoes address many different external conditions and are expected to support and even enhance athletic performance during an event. Shoes can also be
optimized to express social status with little difference in physical performance.
Secondary functions provide useful specificity regarding the subcategory of system under consideration. In this simple example, boots and flip flops are not comparable footwear systems (Jolliet et al. 2015). Depending on the purpose of the study,
especially when it will be used to compare two or more options, a secondary system
function must move into a primary position to describe fundamental traits material
to a proper “apples to apples” comparison. A concise description for a footwear
system, valid for making useful comparisons, would be “one pair of subzero weather
winter boots.”
In more complex systems, comparability between systems becomes significantly
more challenging. Buildings, for example, represent highly complex, systems of
interconnected systems. Individual components, from concrete or steel structural
frames to the interior finishes, work together to define a building. Whole building
LCA (WBLCA) presents numerous scoping challenges. Even within a single building type, there are many situational and site-based qualifiers that make direct comparisons difficult. Recent proposals to establish a formal WBLCA goal and scope
taxonomy move to address the well-documented challenges in establishing general
5.3 Goal and Scope Definition