Page 13 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

XI

Preface

This book is the updated translation of a textbook and monograph written in
1)
German language by the same authors. The first version emerged from lectures
at the University of Mainz.
The topic of the book, life cycle assessment (LCA), developed from modest seeds
in the 1970s and 1980s to become the only internationally standardised method
of ecological product assessment. The development entered its decisive phase
when the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) began to
harmonise diverse older methods (‘proto-LCAs’). This process culminated in 1993
in the publication of the Guidelines for Life Cycle Assessment: A Code of Practice,a
result of the SETAC Workshop in Sesimbra, Portugal. In the same year started
the standardisation by the International Standard Organization (ISO) involving 40
nations, resulting in the famous series of ISO LCA standards 14040ff (1997–2006).
The authors of this book followed this development as members of the German
mirror group ‘Deutsches Institut f¨ ur Normung-Normenausschuss Grundlagen
des Umweltschutzes (DIN NAGUS)’, discussing and commenting on the drafts
developed by ISO/TC 207/SC 5 (TC, Technical Committee; SC, Sub Committee).
In addition, German translations of the standards were checked and improved.
The topic ‘valuation’ caused heated discussions and turned out to be not
consensual – surviving today as an optional element ‘weighting’ within the phase
Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA), and not as originally planned as an LCA
phase of its own. Moreover, ‘weighting’ is strictly prohibited for comparative LCA
studies intended to be made available to the public.
The revision of the LCA standards 2006 even enforced this, so that now the
intention to use a comparative LCA publicly is sufficient for banning the ‘weighting’
of results and requiring strict regulations regarding publishing, documentation
and critical review (panel method).
The authors have performed several critical reviews together and necessarily
studied the standards in greater detail than possibly necessary for academic
lectures alone. Most standards use cumbersome wording to some extent, which is
why they are not ideally suited as teaching and learning material – a good reason
to write this book that is expected to help beginners entering the field of LCA and

1) Kl¨ opffer and Grahl (2009).