Jonas Bengtsson

An updated ‘Best Practice Guide for Life Cycle Impact Assessment in Australia’ has been released for consultation by the ALCAS Impact Assessment Committee, and can be downloaded from the Resources Library of the ALCAS website.

The new Guide is a significant update on the original from 2008. It provides up-to-date information about mid-point impact assessment (LCIA) methods, and guidance on the selection of mid-point methods for LCA studies centred on Australian products and processes. It… Show more

An updated ‘Best Practice Guide for Life Cycle Impact Assessment in Australia’ has been released for consultation by the ALCAS Impact Assessment Committee, and can be downloaded from the Resources Library of the ALCAS website.

The new Guide is a significant update on the original from 2008. It provides up-to-date information about mid-point impact assessment (LCIA) methods, and guidance on the selection of mid-point methods for LCA studies centred on Australian products and processes. It has been prepared by ALCAS members with experience in the application of impact assessment methods and an understanding of their applicability in the Australian context. Show less

This method has been developed to support ARENA applicants in undertaking LCA studies of the proposed technologies.

Questions remain over the environmental performance of pooled pallets compared to one-way pallet alternatives. The environmental impacts of softwood, hardwood, plastic and cardboard pallets, for use in one-way and pooled pallet systems with manufacturing in either China or Australia, were compared with the use of life cycle assessment. The use of wood and regular maintenance leads to lesser environmental impact, as well as reduced servicing costs, in many typical applications through allowing a… Show more

Questions remain over the environmental performance of pooled pallets compared to one-way pallet alternatives. The environmental impacts of softwood, hardwood, plastic and cardboard pallets, for use in one-way and pooled pallet systems with manufacturing in either China or Australia, were compared with the use of life cycle assessment. The use of wood and regular maintenance leads to lesser environmental impact, as well as reduced servicing costs, in many typical applications through allowing a greater number of pallet uses between servicing and over the whole lifecycle. The environmental benefits of one-way pallets emerge for specific scenarios involving longer transport distances outside pooling catchments. Show less

Decisions made in organizations can have both positive and negative
consequences for the environment. With this in mind, several methodologies,
tools and techniques have been developed for organizations to assess the
environmental performance of their goods and services, as a step toward improvement.
However, for assessment at the organizational level, the most widespread approaches
have only recently considered the full value chain, and these mostly concentrate on a
single… Show more

Decisions made in organizations can have both positive and negative
consequences for the environment. With this in mind, several methodologies,
tools and techniques have been developed for organizations to assess the
environmental performance of their goods and services, as a step toward improvement.
However, for assessment at the organizational level, the most widespread approaches
have only recently considered the full value chain, and these mostly concentrate on a
single aspect, like GHG emissions or water use.

Life cycle assessment (LCA) has been promoted as a robust quantitative tool, and
a keystone in environmental decision making. While LCA was originally developed
for products, the benefits of the life cycle approach may be extended to the more
complex prospect of organizational assessment. Within this context, the UNEP/
SETAC Life Cycle Initiative launched the flagship project “LCA of organizations” to
further explore the capabilities and applicability of organizational life cycle assessment
(O-LCA). This Guidance document is the main milestone of the project. It builds on
key existing works and initiatives, like the Greenhouse Gas Protocol initiative, and
especially strives to align with ISO/TS 14072, and with ISO 14040 and ISO 14044.
They are referenced throughout the Guidance as a basis for the explanations and
discussions. Show less

Energy-efficient homes reduce their operating energy costs and carbon emissions, and new design principles and technologies are making them ever more efficient. Yet some of the materials used to build them are themselves energy- and emissions-intensive to make. Does that matter? Many believe that the gains from lower operating energy far outweigh the embodied energy in even the most energy-intensive materials.

To date, analysis on the question has been relatively rare. The market is… Show more

Energy-efficient homes reduce their operating energy costs and carbon emissions, and new design principles and technologies are making them ever more efficient. Yet some of the materials used to build them are themselves energy- and emissions-intensive to make. Does that matter? Many believe that the gains from lower operating energy far outweigh the embodied energy in even the most energy-intensive materials.

To date, analysis on the question has been relatively rare. The market is uncertain as to how much attention should be given to the resource- and emissions-intensity of quality materials used in sustainable design.
Edge Environment has used life cycle assessment (LCA) to review the energy and emissions performance of a typical Australian freestanding home.

This analysis considered the location and use of homes, their construction and their end-of-life decommissioning. We have drawn on both the existing LCA literature and our own work on the energy-efficient CSR House, built in 2013. By analysing and benchmarking different building and appliance options for CSR House, we were also able to answer questions left open by previous research. The conclusions from this research were consistent and clear. Show less

The food and beverage sector in Chile is important for the country and is strongly focused on exports, where requirements for sustainable practices and value chain transparency are increasing, but there is a lack of technical capacity within companies to analyze and interpret sustainability assessment. The EcoBase Food project is an environmental information management system for life cycle analysis, through a technological platform, to improve the sustainability and competitiveness of the food… Show more

The food and beverage sector in Chile is important for the country and is strongly focused on exports, where requirements for sustainable practices and value chain transparency are increasing, but there is a lack of technical capacity within companies to analyze and interpret sustainability assessment. The EcoBase Food project is an environmental information management system for life cycle analysis, through a technological platform, to improve the sustainability and competitiveness of the food and viticulture exports industry. This report presents a summary of the data collection methodology to create the life cycle inventories for the project, which corresponds to an adaptation from international best practices and is aligned to international initiatives. Show less

The objective of the Chilean Food & Agriculture LCI Database is to implement an LCA based information system to facilitate the measurement and reporting of product level sustainability performance to support decision-making of companies in the food value chain.

The CSR House demonstrates delivery of an affordable, low environmental impact and energy efficient home. Although the CSR House includes a higher embodied component compared with the HIA house, the overall payback in thermal performance clearly compensates over the life of the building.

A focus on the high thermal star rating coupled with quality of construction leads to even further operational savings and an incredibly comfortable and pleasant internal environment within the house… Show more

The CSR House demonstrates delivery of an affordable, low environmental impact and energy efficient home. Although the CSR House includes a higher embodied component compared with the HIA house, the overall payback in thermal performance clearly compensates over the life of the building.

A focus on the high thermal star rating coupled with quality of construction leads to even further operational savings and an incredibly comfortable and pleasant internal environment within the house. Meaning a highly sustainable & energy efficient house does not need to impose restrictions on the lifestyle of the occupants. Show less

This paper presents the Australian Kingspan business and its staff’s learning and experiences from developing EPDs. It also describes the new challenges for Kingspan – for example how EPDs are effectively communicated by Kingspan, and how they are interpreted and used in the marketplace by green product leaders.