LCA - Quo vadis? discusses overarching topics, new developments and major problems of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), and compares LCA with site-specific environmental management. The text profits from two years of interdisciplinary, coordinated research activities of the Priority Programme Environment of the Swiss National Science Foundation.
How should system boundaries of a product life cycle be drawn? ·
How can environmental interventions be allocated to products? ·
How are background inventory data collected and used? ·
How can imprecision in the LCA method be ascertained and checked? ·
How can relevant environmental interventions be distinguished from irrelevant ones? ·
What requirements should a software tool for LCA meet? A concept of site-specific LCA is proposed in response to criticism of the current approach of LCA. Furthermore, managerial eco-controlling - the emerging method of site-specific environmental management - is discussed. The book concludes with an outlook of possible paths in the future development of LCA.
A Introduction.- 1 Two Paths.- B Overarching Topics of LCA.- 2 System Boundaries.- 3 Allocation of Environmental Interventions.- 4 Background Inventory Data.- 5 Imprecision and Uncertainty in LCA.- 6 Relevant Environmental Interventions.- 7 The Software Tool EMIS.- C Case Study.- 8 Case Study "FeldschlÖsschen".- D Environmental Management of Production Sites.- 9 Eco-Efficiency of LCA. The Necessity of a Site-Specific Approach.- 10 Managerial Eco-Controlling.- E Conclusions.- 11 Summary and Conclusions.- Appendices.- Appendix A: Publications of KOPÖ Research Groups.- Appendix B: Authors.- Abbreviations and Acronyms.
