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labour, material, social and environmental costs). This amounts to ambivalence by policy
makers and governments. Given this situation, it is perhaps unsurprising that research suggests
consumers are not convinced of the importance of their contribution, and mainly expect leg-
islation to be set by public authorities first (Zaccaï 2008). This may imply an aversion to being
in the minority of ‘payers’ (environmental product purchasers) while the majority remain as
free riders who get cheap goods, and meanwhile everyone pays the consequences through
climate change and other impacts.
Short term economic and political perspectives also give businesses a false indication that
long-term environmental risk assessment, LCA, product stewardship and corporate social
responsibility are not important. The net result is that a lack of good regulation to guide pur-
chasers and businesses in responding to environmental concerns is a significant factor in pre-
venting demand for environmental purchasing, and also presents a barrier to the uptake of
quick LCA in informing both design and purchasing to this end.

11.4 Design requirements for quick LCA tools
From the preceding analysis of stakeholder needs regarding drivers for eco-design, provision
of environmental information and uptake of environmental product purchasing, there is a
potential role for quick LCA tools, provided they meet one or more of the following condi-
tions; that they:
s assist designers and manufacturers to make early design and manufacturing decisions
based on LCA information
s assist environmental managers to control the environmental impacts of organisations
by providing quick LCA information to help them meet environmental objectives and
targets
s provide information in clear, simple, accessible ways for use by consumers, purchasers
or specifiers
s engender or contribute to a system of trust and independence in the supply of
information about environmental performance
s provide businesses with the means to comply with regulations and codes of environmental
performance
s provide policy makers with clear LCA information to inform policy and regulatory
development.
In meeting such requirements, however, any quick LCA tool must address competing needs
for: (a) sophistication in consideration and evaluation of environmental issues, and (b) sim-
plicity, ease and speed-of-use by different actors in design, production and/or consumption.
Compromise is inevitable with any quick LCA tool. Careful validation is required to provide
confidence that LCA results can be replicated with automated quick LCA kits to acceptable
levels of accuracy before they will be widely adopted as trusted tools. These competing needs
partly explain the wide range of approaches, from simple principles-based ‘checklists’ to
spreadsheet or online algorithm-based calculation software programs that provide automated
reports. The latter hold out the possibility of more accuracy and ready application, yet may not
be transparent enough and are often only applicable to a particular sector or relatively narrow
range of design situations.
The development and use of quick LCA tools would fast-track the integration of environ-
mental design aspects into the product development process (Byggeth and Hochschorner
2005). The successful implementation and use of these tools will be guaranteed if they meet a
range of requirements (Lofthouse 2006), that:

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