

If you want to get the free PDF, click here (no signup required).īefore we dive into how a Life Cycle Assessment works, let’s break down who needs it in the first place. Heads up: We dive into detail in this article – but we’ve also got a 1-page quick guide to LCA. LCA Standards and the legal situation – a quick overview.The 4 Phases of a Life Cycle Assessment.What are the different phases in a product’s lifecycle? Who is it relevant for? Who can benefit from it? Who needs an LCA? And why? Why we should conduct an LCA in the first place.

In this guide, we go through the concept of a Life Cycle Assessment step-by-step. For example, to make a product more sustainable. That’s why it is always designed with a specific goal in mind.

The goal of an LCA is to not only create data but also to facilitate decisions. This is why the Life Cycle Assessment provides a framework for measuring the environmental impact of, for example, a product. With all these factors – it gets confusing quickly. How did the goods get transported? Via truck, rail, or airplane?Ī clear framework for measuring environmental impact.How do my goods get produced? What about heating, water, and ventilation?.Which raw materials were involved in the production process, and where do they come from? What about soil, seeds, and fertilizer?.An LCA measures the environmental impact of a product through every phase of its life – from production to waste (or recycling, etc.).īut LCA isn’t simple – there are countless factors involved: This, in a nutshell, is the question that a Life Cycle Assessment tries to answer. “How environmentally friendly were the products I just bought? Should I have bought the tomatoes from The Netherlands or from Spain?“ You probably asked yourself that question many times (sometimes without even knowing it). What environmental impact does one object have on the world? LCA software tools What is a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)?
