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172 • Green Project Management

assumptions were applied. Still, these LCA tools are very popular, espe-
cially among grad students, and the companies are being kept very busy
with the demands for their products.

limitations to Conducting an lCa
• LCA can be very resource and time intensive. As more LCAs are
conducted, more data are becoming available, but gathering reliable
inventory data can still be difficult.
• Life cycle impact assessment models vary.
• Additional impact data are needed, especially for new frontiers, such
as nanotechnology.
• Converting impact results to a single score is a subjective process requir-
ing value judgments. It cannot be done based solely on natural science.
• An LCA study should be used as one component of a more com-
prehensive decision-making process for assessing the trade-offs with
cost and performance facets.
• All assumptions or decisions made throughout the study must be
reported. If not, the final results may be taken out of context or
misinterpreted.

maintaining transparency

It is very important to maintain transparency in reporting an LCA study.
This is necessary because it is not a single, prescriptive process. Rather, it
involves multiple decision points that can greatly influence the outcome of
the LCI and the LCIA. Although it would be best to achieve consensus on
the methodology, thereby reducing or eliminating variations in the prac-
tice, at this time, the best solution is to maintain transparency and to fully
document how the data were calculated. That way, even if others may not
agree with the approach, it is at least clear what was done.
Most project managers, by nature, are skeptics. It is not that we do not
trust; we do. It is that the accountability of a project lies with us, so we
check and check again. Table 9.4 illustrates some of the potential issues
that can arise with data, not just LCI data because, with minor alterations,
it can be used for the evaluation of any data.
note: See Chapter 14 for further reading on life cycle assessment. Also,
the authors would like to acknowledge and thank Mary Ann Curran,
Program Manager, Life Cycle Research, U.S. Environmental Protection