Life Cycle Analysis
EXPERTISE
Enalos has an expertise and the appropriate software for implementing Life Cycle Analysis. The Life Cycle Analysis can be applied on innovative materials and process by evaluating and monitoring: (i) impacts such as the raw materials and energy use for the production of the material, the use phase and end of life scenarios, including recycling of materials and (ii) environmental impacts through life cycle assessment.
The following activities are proposed for the LCA, each broken down in different steps: ILCD (International Reference Life Cycle Data System) compliant Life Cycle Assessment of the new building components. The main purpose of the study is to assess the environmental impacts of the new material/process in the most consistent and transparent way and to compare them to existing alternatives. The standardized LCA methodology (ISO 14040:2006, 14044:2006 and ILCD Handbook) is usually employed.
The methodology followed for the LCA is based on:
(i) Goal & Scope definition:
Several aspects of LCA are taken into account in order to have comparable economic, environmental and social impacts and taking into account the Code of Practice suggested by SETAC (Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry), which includes: (a) Goal and scope – all the assessments will have comparable goal and scope with similar boundary limits. (b) Methodological aspects related to the selection of data sets and inventory data, and (c) Methodological aspects related to impact assessment and interpretation.
(ii) Inventory (LCI – Life Cycle Inventory):
Environmental inventory, involving data collection and calculation procedures to quantify relevant input and output data of the investigated system. Initially first estimations will be collected to make sure that the selected solution is environmentally beneficial.
(iii) Assessment and Interpretation:
In this phase, the LCI (Life Cycle Inventory) results are linked to the specific environmental, economic and social impact categories. The LCIA (Life Cycle Impact Assessment) aims at evaluating the potential environmental, economic and social impacts of products and processes.