The stages of a product's life cycle include extraction of raw materials, material processing and manufacturing, packing and distribution, product use, and end of life recycling or disposal. Life cycle analysis aims to analyze inputs and outputs during a product's life cycle, quantify them, assess environmental implications, and use the information to improve processes and inform public policy and sustainability efforts. There are three main types of LCA - conceptual, simplified, and detailed - used depending on the context and balancing thoroughness versus resources required.

1. LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT

2. The stages of life cycle of any product include:
1. Extraction : Acquiring the raw material from the Nature.
2. Material Processing: Product design and Manufacturing of the product using
the raw material.
3. Packing and Distribution: Transportation of the product to various sites.
4. Product Use: Consumption and maintenance of the product.
5. End of Life: Recycling process and Final Disposal of product.

5. Goals and Purpose of Life Cycle Analysis
• Analysing the quality of input and output of materials during the life cycle of a product.
• Quantifying the inputs and outputs.
• Assessing the various environmental implications.
• Using the information collected to improve the various processes involved in life cycle of a
product.
• Making Public polies.
• Achieving sustainability.

6. The life cycle inventory (LCI) analysis is a technical process that quantifies all inputs
to and outputs from the processes within the system boundaries.

7. Impact Assessment is a means of measuring the effectiveness of organizational activities
and judging the significance of changes brought about by those activities.
This phase is required for the evaluation of how significant the potential environmental
implication is. The impact is a set of consequences on the human health and welfare of flora
and fauna and future availability of resources which attributes to the input and output of the
system.
Interpretation : It is the method to identify, quantify, check and evaluate the information
collected from the LCI (Life Cycle Inventory) and LCIA (Life cycle impact assessment).
Interpretation is required to check the accuracy of the results and communicate them
accurately.

10. Types of LCA:
There are three different types of LCA
1. Conceptual LCA
2. Simplified LCA
3. Detailed LCA
Used in different ways and each have its strengths and weaknesses
Application of each one depends on the context.

11. • Simplest form of LCA
• Basic level of assessment of environmental aspects, based upon a limited and
usually qualitative inventory.
• The results usually indicate which components or materials have the largest
environmental impacts and why
• Only help decision makers identify which products have a competitive
advantage in terms of reduced environmental impacts
• It is also referred to as Life Cycle Thinking.
1. Conceptual LCA

12. • Simplified LCA applies the LCA method for a screening assessment covering
the whole life cycle.
• Uses generic data and standard modules for energy production.
• A simplified assessment that focuses on the most important environmental
aspects and/ or stages of the life cycle.
• Thorough assessment of the reliability of the results is done.
2. Simplified LCA

13. Stages Description
Screening
Identifying those parts of the system life cycle
or elementary flows that are either important or
have data gaps.
Simplifying
Using the findings of the screening to focus
further work on the important parts of the
system or the elementary flows
Reliability
Checking that simplifying does not significantly
reduce the reliability of the overall result.

14. The U.S. Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) Database serves as a central repository for
information about the total energy and resource impacts of developing and using various
commercial building materials, components, and assemblies.
The LCA tool analyses the impact of the energy used, release of toxic substances, natural
resource use, etc. involved in all life cycle stages of a product (from the extraction of raw
materials needed to produced it until it is no longer used and thrown away or recycled).

15. The environmental LCA methodology is an integrated approach that considers the
environmental impacts along the life cycle of products (Ortiz et al., 2009). The
evaluation of these impacts of each construction material should be made from a life
cycle point of view, and a LCA can be used for that purpose.
Methodological choices of LCA