Life Cycle Assessment
A product-oriented method
for sustainability analysis
UNEP LCA Training Kit
Module c – Goal and scope definition
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ISO 14040 framework
Life cycle assessment framework
Goal
and scope
definition
Direct applications:
- Product development
and improvement
- Strategic planning
Inventory
analysis Interpretation - Public policy making
- Marketing
- Other
Impact
assessment
Source: ISO 14040
Life cycle goal and scope definition
• Goal and Scope definition is the LCA phase in which the
aim of the study, and in relation to that, the breadth and depth
of the study is established.
– International Standard ISO 14044
– Technical Report ISO/TR 14049
• It is the first phase of an LCA.
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Contents • Purpose of LCA
• Goal of the study
• Scope of the study
– function, functional unit
and reference flow
– initial choices (system
boundaries, data categories,
inputs and outputs, data
quality, critical review)
– critical review and other
procedural aspects
Purpose of LCA
• The purpose of LCA is to compile and evaluate the
environmental consequences of options for fulfilling
a certain function.
– descriptive mode of LCA
– change-oriented mode of LCA
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Purpose of LCA
• Questions asked in descriptive LCA:
– Which environmental problems can be attributed to a
certain product?
– What is the share of a certain product in the world’s
environmental problems?
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Purpose of LCA
• Questions asked in change-oriented LCA:
– What changes in environmental problems occur if
option B is replaced by option A?
– What are the environmental problems of choosing
option A rather than option B for fulfilling a certain
function?
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Purpose of LCA
• Variety of change-oriented questions:
– Occasional choices
• Take train or plane for business meeting next week?
– Structural choices
• Take train or plane for weekly business meetings?
– Strategic choices
• Invest in rail infrastructure or airports?
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Purpose of LCA
• The LCA method and even its scientific basis will depend
on the purpose of the LCA.
– Descriptive LCA
• based on “logic”: axioms, definition, theorems
– Change-oriented LCA
• based on “science”: empirically established models,
inductive
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Types of LCA study
• Descriptive mode → attribution problem
• Change-oriented mode
– occasional choices → LP/OR-models
– structural choices → mainstream LCA
– strategic choices → scenario analyses
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Goal definition
• Intended application
– product development and improvement
– strategic planning
– public decision making
– marketing
– other
• An LCA’s final application may differ from intended
application.
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Goal definition
• Goal, application, decision to be supported
• Parties involved:
– researcher(s)
– commissioner(s)
– target audience(s)
– steering/supervising committee
– expert reviewer(s)
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Goal definition
• ISO’s “comparative assertion disclosed to the public”
ISO 14044 defines as an “environmental claim regarding the
superiority or equivalence of one product versus a competing
product which performs the same function.”
ISO 14044 specifies nine evaluation steps required for
“comparative assertions” that are made to the public.
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Goal definition
• Is LCA the most appropriate tool to solve the problem?
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Scope definition
• Change-oriented, structural decision(s)
• Detailed LCA
• Temporal coverage
• Geographical coverage
• Technology coverage
• Coverage of processes
• Coverage of interventions and impacts
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Scope definition
System qualities to identify:
• Identification of system function
• Identification of functional unit
• Selection of alternatives
• Determination of reference flow for each alternative
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Scope definition
• Example:
– Function: lighting a room
– Functional unit: 1000 hours of 1250 lumen light
– Alternatives: incandescent, fluorescent and compact fluorescent
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Scope definition
• Example (continued)
– Reference flows
• 1000 hours fluorescent tube 1250 lumen light
• 1000 hours compact fluorescent 1250 lumen light
• 1000 hours incandescent 1250 lumen light
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Scope definition
• Functional unit: exercises
– electricity (coal, oil, wind)
– beverage containers (one-way, reusable)
– potatoes (traditional, organic)
– paint (alkyd, acryl)
– TV (normal, plasma)
– communication (paper, telephone, e-mail)
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Are there segments you wish to • Purpose of LCA
review from this module?
• Goal of the study
• Scope of the study
– function, functional unit
and reference flow
– initial choices (system
boundaries, data categories,
inputs and outputs, data
quality, critical review)
– critical review and other
procedural aspects
Module contents
This is an overview of d Inventory analysis
the remaining e Impact assessment
modules in the toolkit. f LCA interpretation
g Allocation in LCA
h LCA mathematics
i LCIA mathematics
j Life cycle costing
k Uncertainty in LCA
l Carbon footprint
