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H a n d b o o k o n L ife C y c le s s e ss m e n tO pera t ional G uide to the ISO StandardsEditor : deroen B. Guin~e 1 , f ina l ed i to r, Cen t re o f En v ironm enta l Sc ience , Le idenUniversity, The Nether lands

C o a u t h o r s : G o r ~ e M., Hei jungs R . , Hupp es G . , K le i jn R . , Koning A . de , Oers L . van , Wege ner S leesw i jk A . , Suh S . ,U d o d e H a e s H.A.,Bru i jn H . de , Duin R . van , Hui jb reg ts M .A .J .

Pub l i sh e r : K luwer AcademicPubl ishers , Dordrech t , Ma y 2002 (B ookSeries: Eco-Efficiency in Indus t ry and Sc ien ce : Vol . 7 ) Hard boun d ,I S B N 1 - 4 0 2 0 - 0 2 2 8 -9 ; 7 0 4 p p . ; E U R 2 7 5 . 0 0 / U S D 2 5 3 . 0 0 / G B P 1 7 3 . 0 0 P a p e r b a c k , IS B N 1 - 4 0 2 0 - 0 5 5 7 - 1 ; 7 0 4 p p . ;

E U R 1 0 0 . 0 0 / U S D 1 0 0 . 0 0 / G B P 6 6 . 0 0

Ten yea r s ago , i n t he Ne the r l ands , t he f i r st LCA-gu ide app ea red inDutch , t he nex t yea r t r ans l a t ed i n to Eng l i sh [1] . Th i s gu ide had ane n o r m o u s i m p a c t o n t h e w a y h o w L C A s a r e p e r fo r m e d , e s p e ci a ll ywi th r ega rd t o L i fe Cyc le Impac t Assessment . I t p receded the ( le ssde t a il ed ) SETA C gu ide line s 'A Cod e o f Pract i ce ' [2 ] a f ew m onth sand the f i rst ISO stand ard [3] f ive years. In order to rea l ize thep r o g r e s s m a d e , w e o n l y h a v e t o r e m e m b e r t h a t t h e m u c h u s e dgu ide and da t a source be fo re , t he Swiss BUWAL Repor t [4 ] d idno t l i st CO 2 a s a po l lu t an t and g loba l wa rm ing (c l ima te change ) a s

an impac t . Las t yea r i n au tumn, t he second Dutch LCA-gu ide ,now pub l i shed a s book , was made ava i l ab l e t o t he pub l i c on l ineand anno unced in an ed i to ri a l in t h is j ourna l b y Je roen Guin6e [5 ].S ince mean whi l e t he w hole ISO 14040 ff ser i es ha s been comple t ed[6 ,7 ] an d s ince t he s t anda rds do o f t en no t g ive p rec i se adv i se abou tthe p erfo rm anc e of l i fe cycle assessm ent ( this is especia l ly t rue fort h e c o m p o n e n t I m p a c t A s s e ss m e n t) , th e p r e s e n t b o o k h a s b e e nconce ived a s a gu ide t o t he se s t anda rds . As wi l l be shown, t h i sdoes no t m ean th a t a ll p re sc r ip t i ons o f t he s t anda rds have beenfo l lowed s l av i sh ly. Th i s book i s t ime ly s ince t he r e su l t s o f t hes e c o n d S E TA C - E u r o p e w o r k i n g g r o u p o n i m p a c t a s s e s s m e n t(WIA-2) ha s appea red [8 ] and the j o in t UNEP/SETAC L i fe Cyc leIni t ia t ive wa s star ted Apri l 28, 200 2 [9].

T h e b o o k c o n s i s t s o f t h r e e p a r t s ( + 3 a p p e n d i c e s ) :

Par t 1 : L C A i n p e r s p e c t i v e (9p pP a r t 2 A : G u i d e ( 9 5 p p ) ; P a r t 2 B : O p e r a t i o n a l a n n e x ( 2 7 2p pPa r t 3: Scient if ic b a c k g r o u n d ( 2 6 3p p

a r t 1 g ives a shor t i n t roduc t ion in to l i f e cyc l e a sse ssment andi t s l i m i t a t i o n s , t h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t i n t e r n a t i o n a l d e v e l o p m e n t s( S E TA C , I S O , U N E P ) a n d t h e g u i d i n g p r i n c i p l e s e s t a b l i s h e df o r t h e g u i d e a n d h o w t o r e a d i t .

Pa r t 2A i s t he ac tua l gu ide . I t s t a r ts wi th p roced ure s h ow to m an-age LCA pro j ec t s . The fo l l owing four chap te r s dea l wi th t he 4c o m p o n e n t s o f L C A a c c o r d in g t o I S O 1 4 0 4 0 - 4 3 . I n th e s e c h a p -t e r s , a l l i t ems dea l t wi th i n t he ISO s t anda rds a re exp la ined anda d v i se i s g i v e n h o w t o d e a l w i t h t h e m . T h e a b s t r a c t l a n g u a g e o fthe norm s i s t r ans l a t ed t o eve ryday t echn ica l l anguage and even

hypo the t i ca l examples a re g iven , how to fo rmula t e , fo r i ns t ance ,a g o a l s t a t e m e n t w h i c h c o n t a i n s a l l p o i n t s r e q u i r ed b y I S O . C o m -p le t eness and use fu l in fo rm a t ion fo r t he p rac t i t i one r a re t he ma ina ims o f t h i s pa r t o f t he gu ide . In p rac t ice , LCA s a re conduc ted ond i ffe ren t l eve l s and fo r d i ff e ren t purposes , t o be de f ined in t hef i rs t c o m p o n e n t ( c h a p t er 2 ). T h e g r e a t i m p o r t a n c e o f G o a l a n dScope i s s t r e ssed and the p rocess a spec t s (who does wha t ) a re

1 Publ ications by Jeroen Guin6e in Int J LCA :Int J LCA 7 (3) 158-1 66 (2002): Environmental Life Cycle Assessment o f LinoleumInt J LC A 6 (5) 25 5 (2001): Handbook on LifeCycle Assessmen t - OperationalGuide to the ISO StandardsInt J LC A 1 (3) 133-13 8 (1996): U SE S - U niform System for the Evaluation ofSubstances

spec i f i ed . In t he fo l l owing , sepa ra t e r ecommenda t ions a re g ifo r s impl i f i ed , de t a i led and ex t ended LCAs. The s t an da rd fo r sp l i f i ed LCAs i s qu i t e h igh , howeve r, and ' s impl i f i ed ' shou ld be t r ans l a t ed a s s loppy o r ' qu i ck and d i r t y ' . I t i s i n t e re s t i ngno te t ha t t he func t iona l un i t i n a de ta i l ed LCA sh ou ld b e g ive' ac tua l amo unt s ' , i f poss ib l e , and o n ly i n t he simpl i f i ed LCA u s u a l ' a r b i t r a r y a m o u n t s ' a r e r e c o m m e n d e d . T h i s w o u l d f a ct a t e t he norma l i za t i o n s t ep , which i s a lways be t t e r don e wac tua l amount s . The c r i t i c a l r ev i ew p l ays a ro l e a l r eady in

ea r ly phase o f a LCA-pro j ec t , i nd i ca t i ng tha t t he r ev i ew proci s u n d e r s t o o d a s a n a c c o m p a n y i n g o n e r a t h e r t h a n a n ' a p o s to r i ' r ev i ew ( th i s po in t i s l e f t ope n in ISO 14040) .

T h e g u i d e t o t h e i n v e n t o r y a n a l y s i s ( c h a p t e r 3 ) f o l l o w s I1 4 0 4 1 w i t h s o m e a d d i t io n s . I t c le a r l y g o e s b e y o n d t h e n o r ms p e c i fy i n g t h e c o - p r o d u c t a l l o c a t i o n . T h e d a t a q u a l i t y a n a l yi s s h i f te d t o t h e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n c o m p o n e n t , w h e r e i t b e t t e r l o n g s . T h r e e t y p e s o f s y s t e m b o u n d a r i e s a r e e x p la i n e d : e c o n o( t e c h n o s p h e r e ) - e n v i r o n m e n t ; r e l e v a n t - i r r e l e v a n t f l o w s ( co f f ); p r o d u c t s y s t e m - o t h e r p r o d u c t s y s t e m s ( al l o c a ti o n ) . Wr e g a r d t o t h e e c o n o m y - e n v i r o n m e n t s y s t em b o u n d a r y i t i s s t ao n p . 4 5 t h a t Human control over processes i s the main cr i te -r ion for regarding a process as a u ni t process and hen ce inc ludingin the economic sys tem .T h i s i s , w i t h t h e e x c e p t i o n o f a s o m e -wh a t d i ff e ren t t e rmino logy, exac t ly t he 'func t io na l ' de f in i t i onthe env i ronment by Fr i sche e t a l . [10] . As a consequence o f de f in i t i on , con t ro l l ed l andf i l l s be long to t he economic p roce( t echnosphe re ) , whe reas uncon t ro l l ed ones be long to t he enronment sys t em. S imi l a r d i s t i nc t i ons ho ld fo r t he borde r l i nethe ca se o f ag r i cu l tu ra l l and : ag r i cu l tu re a nd fo re s t ry be longthe t echnosphe re , t he so i l , howeve r, t o t he env i ronment . The t a k e o f C O 2 b y p l a n t s i s p r o p o s e d t o b e n o t e d a s a ' n e g a temiss ion ' ; t h i s seems to be unusua l , bu t m ay be use fu l in t he o f a sse ss ing long- l i ved p rod uc t s ( e .g . f rom w ood ) wh ich sequt e r C O 2 f r o m t h e a t m o s p h e r e f o r a l o n g t i m e .

Wi t h r e g a r d t o d a t a, t h e S P O L D f o r m a t is r e c o m m e n d e d f o r e g r o u n d p r o c e s s es . F o r s i m p l i f i e d L C A s , u s i n g p r e - a ll o c ag e n e r i c d a t a ( b a c k g r o u n d p r o c e s s e s ) , th e f o r m a t o f th e o r i g i

m a y b e p r e s e r v e d . I n t e re s t in g l y, t h e u s e o f a g g r e g a t e d g e n ed a t a i s d i s c o u r a g e d f o r u s e i n d e t a il e d o r e x t e n d e d L C A s ( Tuse of da ta f rom pre-a l located data bases i s to be rest r ic ted tos impl i f i ed LC A ) .T h i s i s a v e r y h a r d r e q u i r e m e n t t o b e f o ll o w e d i n p ra c ti c e ( n o A P M E o r E T H - d a t a i n a d et a il e d La n y m o r e ? ) a n d a h u r d l e f o r a n y d e t a i l e d L C A .

I n s e ct i o n 3 . 3 .9 ( M u l t i f u n c t i o n a l i t y a n d a l l o c a t i o n ) , t h e en o m i c a l l o c at i o n i s r e c o m m e n d e d i f a l l o c a ti o n c a n n o t b e a v ob y a c l o s e r l o o k a t t h e u n i t p r o c e s s , w h i c h i n t h i s c a s e i s r e a l ly m u l t i f u n c t i o n a l . T h e b o l d e s t , b u t i n m y v i e w r e a s o n ad e v i a ti o n f r o m I S O 1 4 0 4 1 c o n s is t s i n t h e re c o m m e n d a t i o n ts y s t e m e x p a n s i o n s h o u l d o n l y b e a p p l i e d ( i f a t a ll ) as o p t i o

In t J LC A 7 (5 ) 311 - 3 13 (2002)9 e c o m e d p u b l i s h e r s , D - 8 6 8 9 9 L a n d s b e rg , G e r m a n y a n d F t . Wo r th /T X , U S A 9 To ky o , J a p a n * M u m b a i , I n d i a 9 S e o u l , K o r e a

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e x t e n s i o n . T h i s d e c i s io n i s e x p l a i n e d l a t e r ( P a r t3, c h a p t e r 3 . 9a n d A p p e n d i x C ) b y t h e o b v i o u s c r e a ti o n o f v e ry l ar g e a n do f t e n i n t r a c t a b l e s y s t e m s , n e c e ss i t a ti n g m o r e d a t a , a s s u m p t i o n se t c . M a s s , v o l u m e a n d e n e rg y, f r e q u e n t l y u s e d a s a b a s i s f o ra l l o c a t i o n , a r e o n l y s e e n a s r o u g h i n d i c a t o r s o f e c o n o m i c v a l u e .F o r c a l c u l a t i n g t h e i n v e n t o r y, a s o f t w a r e b a s e d o n m a t r i x i n -v e r s i o n i s r e c o m m e n d e d , s i n ce th i s m e t h o d c a n d e a l w i t h l o o p s .

I n c h a p t e r 4 ( I m p a c t a s s e s s m e n t ) , a d e f a u l t l i s t o f 1 6 i m p a c t

c a t e g o r i e s i s p r o p o s e d , d i v i d e d i n t ob a s e l i n e ( m o s t u s u a l , b a s e l i n e c h a r a c t e r i z a t i o n a v a i l a b l e i np a r t 2 b )

- s t u d y - s p e c i fi c ( d e p e n d i n g o n g o a l a n d s c o p e , b a s e l i n e o r a l-t e r n a t i v e m e t h o d a v a i l a b l e i n p a r t 2 b )o t h e r c a t e g o r i e s ( n o b a s e li n e m e t h o d , s o m e a lt e r n a t i v e m e t h -o d s , r e q u i r e s f u r t h e r r e s e a r c h o r e l a b o r a t i o n b e f o r e u s e f u l i nL C A ) .

S o m e i m p a c t c a t e g o ri e s b e l o n g t o m o r e t h a n o n e g r o u p , s in c eo n e s u b c a t e g o r y m a y b e l o n g , f o r i n s t a n c e , t o b a s e l i n e a n da n o t h e r o n e t o s t u d y - s p e c i f i c o r o t h e r . I n t o t a l , t h e r e a re 1 0s u b c a t e g o r i e s , m o s t b e in g a s s o c i a t e d w i t h e c o t o x i c i t y ( 5 ) a n di m p a c t s o f l a n d u s e ( 3 ). S o m e ca t e g o r i e s t h a t h a v e o n l y b e

m e n t i o n e d i n th e o l d e r l i t e ra t u r e e .g . l o s s o f b i o d i v e r s it y ( h e r e

a s s u b c a t e g o r y o f l a n d u se ) , d e s i c c a t i o n ( b e l o n g i n g t o o t h e rc a t e g o r i e s ) a r e i n c l u d e d i n t h e d e f a u l t l is t. T h e c o n c r e t e p r o -p o s i n g o f i m p a c t c a t e g o r i e s a n d i n d i c a t o r s i s i n th e t r a d i t i o n o ft h e f i rs t g u i d e [ 1] a n d g o e s f a r b e y o n d I S O 1 4 0 4 2 . O f c o u r s e , iti s e x a c t l y t h i s g u i d a n c e w h i c h i s m o s t n e e d e d b y t h e p r a c t i t i o n -e r s w h i c h a r e l e f t a l o n e i n t h i s c r u c i al p o i n t b y t h e s t a n d a r d .

In add i t i on t o t he t rue imp ac t cat egor i es , the t o t a l ene rgy o f fossi lene rgy ca r r i e r s used pe r func t iona l un i t i n MJ i s r ecommended ,a l t houg h n o t s t rong ly, if r e l evan t t o t he s tudy (a sma l l t ab l e o fhea t ing va lues i s g iven in pa r t 2b) . Res t r i c t i ng t he summat ion o fp r i m a r y e n e rg y t o f o ss il e n e rg y a v o i d s t h e p r o b l e m s i n v o l v e d i nsys t em bound a ry de f in i t ion fo r a cumu la t ive ene rgy deman d (CED)inc lud ing renewab le ene rgy sources [11-13] . Som e measure o f g rossene rgy i s used by m any p rac t i t i one r s and i t i s g ra t i fy ing to see t h i s

p rac t i ce a l l owed by th is gu ide , a l thoug h i t i s (unfor tuna t e ly ) no tfo re seen in t he ISO se r i es o f LCA s t anda rds .

T h e g e n e r a l g u i d a n c e h o w t o u s e t h e c a t e g o r i e s a n d i n d i c a t o r s( p . 7 0 ) i s t h e s a m e f o r s i m p l i f ie d a n d d e t a i le d L C A a n d e s s en -t i a ll y r e c o m m e n d s t o u s e t h e b a s e li n e c h a r a c t e r i z a t i o n m e t h -o d s o f t h e g u id e . T h i s s h o w s a g a i n t h a t e v e n a s i m p l i f i e d L C I Ai s q u i t e d e m a n d i n g . N e w a n d a d d i t i o n a l c a t e g o r i e s a n d in d i c a -t o r s , w h i c h m a y a l w a y s b e u s e d a c co r d i n g t o I S O 1 4 0 4 2 , a r er e c o m m e n d e d f o r o p t i o n a l e x t e n s i o n s .

I t w o u l d n o w b e t e m p t i n g t o d i s c us s t h e c at e g o r ie s a n d t o s h o ww h i c h c h a r a c t e r i z a t io n m e t h o d s a r e s u g g e s t e d i n t h is g u i d e . T h i s,h o w e v e r , w o u l d e x c e e d t h e f r a m e o f a r e v ie w. I o n l y w o u l d l ik et o p o i n t o u t t h e r o l e o f m o d e l i n g i n t h e re c o m m e n d e d t o x i c it ya n d e c o t o x i c i t y ( f r e s h w a t e r a q u a t i c , m a r i n e a q u a t i c , t e r r e s t ri a l ,

f r e s h w a t e r s e d i m e n t a n d m a r i n e s e d i m e n t ) s u b c a t e g o r i e s . T h em o d e l U S ES 2 .0 , d e v e l o p e d b y RW M a n d a d a p t e d t o L C A isr e c o m m e n d e d f o r co n d u c t i n g t h e e x p o s u r e a n a l y se s . C h a r a c -t e r i z a t i o n f a c t o r s a r e g i v e n f o r m a n y s u b s t a n c e s ( i n c l u d i n gm e t a l s ) i n c o m p r e h e n s i v e t a b l e s i n p a r t 2 b . U S E S i s o n e m e m -b e r o f a f a m i l y o f D u t c h m u l t i m e d i a e x p o s u r e m o d e l s , a sS i m p l e B o x 2 . 0 , E U S E S 1 . 0 e tc . T h e s e m o d e l s a r e e a s y t o u s e( P C ) a n d n o t b a s i c a l l y d i f f e r e n t f r o m o t h e r m o d e l s u s e d o u t -s i d e t h e N e t h e r l a n d s a n d t h e E U . T h e d i f f e r e n c e s m a y b e s u f f i-c i e n t , h o w e v e r , t o p r o d u c e d i f f e r e n t r e s u l t s i n d i f f e r e n t c o u n -t r ie s , if t h e D u t c h g u i d e i s u s e d i n t e r n a t i o n a l l y b u t f o r s o m er e a s o n o t h e r m o d e l s a r e u s e d . Tw o o t h e r d i f f i c u l t i e s a r e c o m -m o n i n th e u s e o f s u c h m o d e l s : t h e r e s u l ts s t r o n g l y d e p e n d o n

t h e u s e p a t t e r n a s s u m e d a n d , e v e n w o r s e , t h e b a s i c p h y s ia n d c h e m i c a l d a t a u s e d a s i n p u t a r e o f t e n o f v e r y p o o r q u a lA h o r r i f y i n g e x a m p l e h a s r e c e n t l y b e e n g i v e n f o r t h e w a t e r s ob i l it y a n d K ow o f D D T a n d D D E [ 1 4 ]. T h i s s h o u l d n o t d ea n y o n e t o u s e t h e m o d e l p r o p o s e d , b u t g r e a t c a r e w il l b e n e ei n t h e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n p h a s e n o t t o o v e r e s t i m a t e d i f f e r e n c e s t a i n e d i n t h e c a t e g o r i e s n e e d i n g e x p o s u r e m o d e l i n g .

T h e o t h e r m a i n p o i n t s o f th e n o r m a r e tr e a te d a n d e x p l a i n e

t h is g u i d e , a l t h o u g h n o t n e c e s s ar i l y i n t h e s a m e s e q u e n c e . Mp o i n t i n d i c a t o r s a r e f a v o r e d o v e r e n d p o i n t i n d i c a t o r s a n d p r o b l e m - 0 r i e n t e d a p p r o a c h o v e r o t h er , h i g h e r a g g r e g a t in g m eo d s . T h i s , a g a in , i s n o t u n e x p e c t e d i n t h e t r a d i t io n o f [ 1 ] ap e r f e c tl y fi t s i n t o t h e f r a m e w o r k o f IS O 1 4 0 4 2 .

P a r t 2 B e s s e n t ia l l y c o n s i s t s o f ta b l e s c o n t a i n i n g t h e d a t a ao t h e r i n f o r m a t i o n n e e d e d f o r p e r f o r m i n g t h e L C A w o r k i nc o m p o n e n t s . A s m e n t i o n e d a b o v e , a l a rg e se c t i o n (1 0 0 p a gi s d e v o t e d t o t h e c h a r a c t e r i z a t i o n f a c t o r s f o r t h e e c o t o x i cc a t e g o r i e s . 3 8 p a g e s a r e d e v o t e d t o H u m a n To x i c i t y P o t e n t i(5 c o m p a r t m e n t s , t w o t i m e h o r i zo n s ) . T h e u n i t f o r b oe c o t o x i c t y a n d h u m a n t o x i c i t y i s k g 1 , 4 - D i c h l o r o b e n z ee q u i v a l e n t s p e r k g . T h e r e a r e m a n y m o r e t a b l e s u s e d f o r c hac t e r i za t i on o f t he de fau l t l i s t o f c a t egor i e s . In a f ew case s

c h a r a c t e r i z a t i o n f a c t o r i s t a k e n t o b e 1 , i .e . th e i n v e n t o r y r ei s t aken a s such . The use fu lness o r any de f i c i enc i e s o f t h i s pw i l l o n l y b e c o m e c l e a r a f t e r w o r k i n g w i t h i t is re a l w o r l d L CA t t h e t i m e b e i n g i t c a n o n l y b e s a id t h a t i t s e e m s t o b e t h e mc o m p r e h e n s i v e c o ll e c t io n o f p e r f o r m a n c e - r e l a t e d d a t a a n d o ti n f o r m a t i o n u s e f u l f o r c o n d u c t i n g L C A s p r e s en t l y a v a i l ab l

Pa r t 3 , f i na ll y, r ev i ews the p re sen t s t a t e o f LCA f ro m the t heorc a l f o u n d a t i o n s t o t h e c o m p o n e n t s a c c o r d i n g t o I S O 1 4 0 4 0 -Since t he t heory unde rp inn ing the p rac t i ca l cho ice s i n me thwas co l l ec t ed i n t h i s l a s t pa r t , t he ac tua l gu ide (P a r t 2A) cou ldkep t conc i se and readab le fo r t he p rac t i t i one r no t i n t e re s t edthe de t a i ls o f t heory. Th i s pa r t i s ve ry re l evan t fo r t hose wi sht o i m p r o v e a n d t o d e v e l o p f u r th e r t h e m e t h o d o l o g y o f L C Asimply unde rs t and the bas i s on w hich the p re sen t gu ide i s founI t c a n a l s o b e c o n s i d e r ed a s a ( q u i te a d v a n c e d ) t e x t b o o k o n L

At t he beg inn ing , t he purpose o f LCA i t i s de sc r ibed a s fo l l oThe purpose of LC A is to co mpile and evaluate the enviro

men tal consequences o f different option s for fulfill ing a certafunct ion .In eva lua t ing th i s de f in i t i on , t he bas i c i dea o f LCfo l lows , i. e. t o i nc lude the wh ole l i fe cyc l e o f t he p rod uc t ( s ) uncons ide ra t i on , o r t hel ife cycle of the functiona s t h e a u t h o r spre fe r t o say. Desc r ip t i ve ( r e t rospec t ive , s t a tus quo) LCAs d i s t i ngu i shed f rom chang e -or i en t ed (p rospec t ive ) LCA s, e t c

Wi t h r e g a r d to L C I A , th e i m p o r t a n t n o t i o n o f p o t e n t i a l p a c t , w h i ch w a s c r it ic i se d i n t h e N o r t h A m e r i c a n L C I A r e p[15] , i s c l a r i f i ed (pe rha ps i n r e spon se t o t h i s c r i t i c i sm) :Assess-men t in t e rms o f po ten ti a l impac t s is somet imes un ders tood imp ly a worst-ca se analysis. T his is certainly no t an accuradescription of the main idea behind 'generic condi t ions ' . H owever, in a certain sense it poin ts to the right direc tion, as i t is thcapacity for causing h arm ful effects that forms the basis of tassessment, and n ot so mu ch the exten d to which th is capacbecomes effective.I t h i n k t h a t c l a r i f i c a t i o n s o f t h i s s o r t a rv a l u a b l e i n i t se l f a n d s e r v e to b e t t e r u n d e r s t a n d t h e s p i r iw h i c h t h e g u i d e h a s b e e n c o n c e i v e d .

The sec t ion 3 .9 (Mul t i func t iona l i t y and a l l oca t ion) and thel a t ed Appen d ix C (wr i t t en by L inde i j e r and Hu ppe s) i s o f spin t e re s t , s i nce i n t h i s po in t t he gu ide c l ea r ly dev ia t e s f romp r e s c r i p t i o n s i n I S O 1 4 0 4 1 , w h i c h a i m a t a v o i d a n c e o f a l l ot i on even a t a h igh p r i ce . In t h i s luc id ana lys i s i t i s sho wn tha ttwo in t ima te ly connec t ed p rob lems a re no t a l i t t l e b l emish in

3 2 I n t J L C A 7 5 ) 2 0 0 2

8/14/2019 Life Cicle Guinee

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o t h e r w i s e p u r e l y t e c h n i c a l L C I , b u t l a y a t t h e c o r e o f s y s t e mm o d e l i n g a n d a t t r i b u t i n g e n v i r o n m e n t a l i n t e r v e n t i o n s t o p r o d -uc t sys t ems . The re i s no un ique way to dea l wi th a l l oca t ion andno ob jec t ive one wi th t he excep t ion o f avo id ing . In t h i s gu ide ,avo idan ce is r ecom me nde d on ly by s t ep l a ( ISO 14041 ), i .e . t ak -ing a closer look at empirical relat ionships .S y s t e m e x p a n s i o n(s t ep l b ) i s no t r ecommended fo r s impl i f i ed and de t a i l ed LCAsbut cons t i t u t e s an op t io n fo r ex t ended L CAs. 'Phys i ca l r e l a t i on-

s h i p s ', a ls o r e c o m m e n d e d b y I S O 1 4 0 4 1 , m a y c o n t r i b u t e t o a l l o -ca t ion in some ca se s ( e .g . i n was t e management ) bu t a l so en t e ri n t o i m p r o v e d i n v e n t o r y m o d e l i n g . T h e r e c o m m e n d e d a l l o c a ti o nme thod i s e conomic a l l oca t ion a t t he un i t p rocess l eve l .

F ina l ly, a f ew words t o t he book a s a phys i ca l and ae s the t i c ob-j ec t : t he ha rd bound ed i t i on I have a t hand i s a n i ce ly l ook ing ,we l l p r in t ed boo k . The t ex t seems to be i den t i ca l wi th t he r epo r tma de av a i l ab l e la s t yea r in t he i n t e rne t [5 ], i nc lud ing a f ew typ o-graph ica l e r ro r s . I t i s i r r it a t ing , ho weve r, t ha t a t ma ny o ccas ions(e spec i a l l y i n Pa r t 2B, see p . 129 fo r an ex t reme example ) somesec t ions cons i s t o f t he head ing an d the t h ree w ords 'To be i n -se r t ed ' . Th i s can be seen , as i nd i ca ted i n t he r ead in g gu idan ce , a sa s ig n f o r t h e w i sh o f th e a u t h o r s t o c o m p l e m e n t t h e g u i d e i n th efu tu re and a second , r ev i sed ed i t i on may con ta in t h i s i n fo rma-

t i on . Thus , hope fu l ly, i t may no t be a s ign fo r t he t endency to -wa rd ' z e ro ed it i ng ' which recen t ly has been obse rv ed even in r epu-t ab l e pub l i sh ing houses . Th i s be ing sa id , I shou ld add th a t Kluw erd e s e rv e s t h a n k s f o r i ts c o m m i t m e n t t o L C A - r e l a t e d p u b l i ca t io n s .

R e f e r e n c e s

[1] HeijungsR, Guin~eJB, HuppesG, LamkreijerRM, Udo de Haes HA, WegenerSleeswijk A, Ansem s AMM, E ggels PG, van DuinR d e G o e d e H P(1992):EnvironmentalLife Cycle Assessmentof Products. Guide (Part 1) and Back-grounds (Part 2), prepared by CML, TNO and B&G. Leiden October 1992.English Version 1993

[2] Society of EnvironmentaIToxicology nd Chemistry (SETAC) 1993): Guide-lines for Life-Cycle Assessment: A 'Code of Practice'. From the SETA CWork-shop h eld at Sesimbra, Portugal, 31 March-3 April 1993. Edition 1,Brussels and Pensacola (Florida)

[3] International Standard Organization (ISO) (1997): Environmental manage-ment - Life cycle assessment - Principles and framework. ISO 14040,June 1997

[4] Habersatter K, Widmer F (1991): Oekobilanzen von Packstoffen. Stand1990. In: Bundesamt for Umwe lt, Wald und Landsc haft (BUWAL), Bern(Hrsg): Schriftenreihe Umw elt Nr 132

[5] Guin6e J (2001): Handbook on Life Ccyle Ass ess men t- Operational Guideto the ISO Standards. Editorial in Int J LCA 6 (5) 255

[6] MarsmannM (2000): The ISO 14040 Family. Editorial in Int J LCA 5 (6)317-318

[7] Kl~ppel H-J (2002): The ISO Standardization Process: Quo Vadis? Edito-rial in IntJ LCA 7 (1) 1

[8] Udo de Haes HA, Jolliet O, Finnveden G, Goedkoop M, Hauschild M,Hertwich EG, H ofstetter P, KI6pffer W, Krewitt W, Lindeijer EW, Mue llerWenk R, Olson S I, Pennington DW, Potting J, Steen B (eds) (2002): LifeCycle Impact Ass essment: Striving Towards Best Practice. SBN 1-880611-54-6. SETAC Press, Pensacola (Florida, US A)

[9] T6pfer K (2002): The Launch of the UNEP-SETAC Life Cycle InitiativeEditorial in Int J LCA 7 (4) 191 and following papers in this issue

[10] Frische R, KI6pffer W, Esser G, Sch6 nborn W (1982): Criteria for Assess-ing the Environmental Behavior of Chem icals: Selection and PreliminaryQuantification. Ecotox E nviron Safety 6 283-293

[11] KI6pfferW (1997): In Defense of the Cumulative Energy Demand. Editorialin No 2, Int J LCA 2 61

[12] Frischknecht R (1997): The Seductive Effect of Identical Physical Units. Int

J LCA 2,125-126[13] Frischknecht R, Heijungs R, Hofstetter P (1998): Einstein's Lessons forEnergy Accounting in LCA. Int J LCA 3 266-272

[14] Eganhouse RP, Pontolillo J (2002): Assessing the Reliability of Physico-Chemical Property Data (Kow, Sw) for Hydrophobic Organic Compounds:DDT and DDE as a Case Study. SETAC Globe 3 (4) 34-35

[15] Barnthouse L, Fava J, Humphreys K, Hunt R, Laibson L, Noesen S, NorrisG, O wens J, Todd J, Vigon B, Weitz K, Young J (eds) (1998): Life-CycleImpact Assessment: The State-of-the-Art. Report of the SETAC Life-CycleAssessment (LCA) Impact Assessm ent Workgroup. 2nd edition. Society ofEnvironmental Toxicology and Chemistry. Pensacola, Florida, USA

Wa l t e r K I 6 p f f e rE d i t o r - i n - C h i e f I n t J L C A

P r a t iq u e r l ] c o - C o n c e p t io n . L ig n e s D ir e c t ric e s

A u t h o r s : Laurent Grisel and Georges DuranthonP u b l i s h e r : Collection AFN OR pratique, dition 2001. ISBN 2-12-463019-9

Association Frangaise de Norm alisation (AFNOR), Paris 2001. 130 pages , price: EUR 36,97

T h i s b o o k i s a g u i d e to t h e F re n c h d o c u m e n t F D X 3 0 - 3 1 0 a n di ts i n t e r n a t i o n a l p e n d a n t I S O T R 1 4 0 6 2 . I t is a b o o k a b o u tecodes ign , no t a s t anda rd , and g ives adv ice i n gene ra l t e rms . I ti s e a s y to u n d e r s t a n d ( f o r t h o s e w h o c a n r e a d a F r e n c h t e x t ) b yu s i n g p ic t u r e s a n d m e t a p h o r s . O f c o u r s e , t h e b o o k c a n n o t a d -v i s e d e s i g n e rs h o w t o d e a l w i t h s p e c i f i c p r o d u c t s . T h e c e n t r a l

i d e a b e h i n d t h e a p p r o a c h i s L C A ( i n F r e n c h : A n a l y s e d e c y c l ede v i e - ACV ) , bu t i t i s no t L CA acco rd ing to t he s t r i c t ru l e s o fISO 1404 0 f t . L i fe -cyc l e t h ink ing , how eve r, is s t rong ly recom -m e n d e d . I t i s f u r t h e r m o r e s u g g e s t ed t h a t m o r e t h a n o n e m e t h o do f e v al u a t io n ( r ou g h l y c o r re s p o n d i n g t o t h e c o m p o n e n t ' I m -p a c t a s s e s s m e n t ' o f L C A ) i s u se d .

Th e re a re f i ve p r inc ip l e s wh ich a re f i r s t addre ssed in sec t ion2 . 2 , a n d t r e a t e d i n m o r e d e t a i l in t h e c h a p t e r s 3 t o 7 :

1 . Ta k i n g i n t o a c c o u n t t h e g l o b a l e n v i r o n m e n t ;2 . I n t e g r a t i o n o f t h e e n v i r o n m e n t i n t o t h e m e t h o d s o f d e s ig n ;3 . U s i n g e v a l u a t i o n m e t h o d s a n d t o o l s;

4 . C o m b i n i n g s t r a t e g i e s o f r e d u c t i o n o f p o t e n t i a l i m p a c t s ;5 . D i a l o g u e a n d p a r t n e r s h i p .

F r o m t h e w h o l e t e x t i t i s e v i d e n t t h a t a m a x i m u m o f f l e x i b if o r t h e u s e r s i s a t t e m p t e d . I t t h e r e f o r e f i t s w e l l i n t o b r o a dc o n c e p t s s u c h a s L i f e C y c l e M a n a g e m e n t ( L C M ) , S u s t a i n aD e v e l o p m e n t a n d I n d u s t r i al E c o l o g y. S in c e m o s t d e c is i o n s a b

ma te r i a l use , r ecyc l ab il i t y, e t c. have t o be t aken d ur ing the ( shd e s ig n p h a s e , a n y e n c o u r a g e m e n t t o u s e m o d e r n , l if e -c y c le b aa s s e s s m e n t m e t h o d s i n d e si g n i s h i g h l y w e l c o m e .

T h e r e a r e 4 a n n e x e s , i n c l u d i n g t h e t e x t o f X 3 0 - 3 1 0 , a n dg l o s s a r y ( w h i c h d o e s n o t e x p l a i n t h e a c r o n y m e s s o p o p u l a rF r a n c e ; w h a t s i g n if i es A C T, A C C V , s e e p . 4 3 ? ) .

L a u r e n t G r i s e l w a s a m e m b e r o f t h e b o a r d o f e d it o r s o f ' TI n t e r n a t i o n a l J o u r n a l o f L i f e C y c l e A s s e s s m e n t ' f o r m a n y y ein add i t i on t o l e ad ing pos i t i ons i n t~cob i l an , Pa r i s .

Wa l t e r K I 6 p f f e rE d i t o r - i n - C h i e f I n t J L C A

In t J LCA 7 (5 ) 2002 31 3