Chapter 8.2 – Life Cycle Analysis (LCA)

According to ISO 14044:²⁰⁰⁶⁴⁵, Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) is a three-part process from calculation to assessment to interpretation. The data from individual components are aggregated step by step to form an overall system.

1. Life Cycle Inventory (LCI)
2. Ecological impact assessment: Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA)
3. Interpretation of the results

8.2.1 Life Cycle Inventory (LCI)

Form the basis for the LCI of a product:

• all incoming inputs, such as energy and substances from the environment
• all outgoing outputs, such as products, co-products, waste and emissions into the environment from the material and energy flows of production plants
• LCI databases support the LCA specialists with production data from manufacturers to create a complete Life Cycle Inventory (LCI).

8.2.2 Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA)

Categorization and characterization (LCIA) make it possible to convert life cycle inventories into the values of the various indicators of an environmental product declaration (EPD). In this process, for example, the environmental impact of various greenhouse gases such as methane (_CH4) or nitrous oxide (_N2O) is converted to the equivalent of carbon dioxide (_CO2) and totaled to a single value, in this case the indicator is called global warming potential (GWP).

8.2.3 Interpretation of the results

When interpreting the results of LCIAs, care must be taken to ensure that analyses and comparative statements on different materials, components or buildings are only made on the basis of comparable functional units (functional equivalent) (e.g. a wall with comparable properties), but never in the declared unit such as piece, mass (kg), volume (^m3). The latter would in most cases lead to incorrect interpretations of the results. To ensure that the results in EPDs are perfectly reproducible and comparable, it is also important that the data used are calculated on the basis of the same LCI databases wherever possible.

⁴⁵ ISO 14044:2006 – Environmental management – Life cycle assessment – Requirements and guidelines

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