Page 62 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

44 LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT HANDBOOK

not attempt to cover all the content of the standards but will discuss practical
considerations and approaches for issues commonly encountered in life cycle
inventory modeling. In some areas, the ISO standards allow for some flex-
ibility, allowing the practitioner to make methodological choices that are most
relevant and appropriate based on the characteristics of the specific systems
being analyzed.
This chapter focuses on the first two phases of LCA, the goal and scope defi-
nition and the life cycle inventory analysis phase.

3.2 Study Goal

Defining the goal of an LCA includes defining the application(s) to be studied,
the reasons for carrying out the study, the audience to whom the results are to
be communicated, and whether the results will be used as the basis for public
comparative assertions [1]. Because the scope of the study, including the study
boundaries and the level of detail, depends upon the goal of the study, the first
step in the LCI process is to clearly define the goal.
The goal of a study may be relatively simple and straightforward, for exam-
ple, to assess the energy and greenhouse gas impacts associated with produc-
tion of a single product, for internal use by the producer as a benchmark for
evaluating future process improvements or design changes. In other cases the
goal can lead to a very complex analysis, for example, a study with the goal of
make public comparative claims about environmental performance of several
competing products with variations in functional properties.
The definition of the goal and intended use will guide the practitioner in set-
ting the scope and boundaries for the analysis, including the need for critical
review and the type of critical review required.
LCAs can be conducted on a single system, but most are comparative. Study
results may be intended for internal use or for sharing with external parties.
Examples of types of LCAs and goals include the following:

• Single System - Internal Use of Results
• Analyze current product to identify opportunities for reducing
environmental impact
• Establish product baseline against which to measure future
improvements
• Single System - External Use of Results
• Environmental product declaration (e.g., to share with custom-
ers who request information about environmental metrics for
product)
• Comparative Analysis - Internal Use of Results
• Compare alternative design options for company's own prod-
uct or packaging
• Compare new concept design with alternatives already in the
marketplace to make a business development decision