Page 169 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

Life Cycle Assessment: Principles, Practice and Prospects
156

Figure 11.8 Screen shot of design guidelines from Greenfly Online generated in portable
document format (PDF).

Commercial furniture is not mass-produced in the same way as many other products, but
is more akin to a ‘batch’ system of production. This is due largely to the role of specifiers, who
can specify not just products but finishes and other key aspects of products – both key to the
appearance and interior design outcome and to environmental performance. Hence, a periodic
LCA or a product labelling system would not meet the new requirements of specifiers to be
able to establish quickly the relative environmental burdens of different types of chair cover-
ings, desk finishes or partition materials. A Greenfly Online commercial furniture module
should therefore be designed for use by specifiers as well as designers and manufacturers, and
as a policy and research tool.

11.6 Conclusions
The requirement for businesses to report the environmental profile of their operations and to
justify in environmental terms the materials they select and products they produce will become
standard practice in the next decade, particularly with regard to greenhouse gas performance.
Growing interest in LCM is a prelude to the mainstream incorporation of life cycle thinking
into business processes. This will drive the need for more widespread use of LCA information.
Increasing numbers of stakeholders will be involved, and more widespread LCA knowledge
will develop. At the same time, the demand for speedier and easier access to information will
grow rapidly. Quick LCA tools have an important role, provided they can be configured appro-
priately and embedded into emerging business sustainability practices. A key consideration is
the balance between rigour/transparency and ease-of-use, as well as business and policy drivers
and the needs of users.

100804•Life Cycle Assessment 5pp.indd 156 17/02/09 12:46:25 PM