Life Cycle Thinking - Tools & Aproaches Timothy Allan This is the last in a special series of three articles on product design that covers life cycle thinking, life cycle management and life cycle assessment tools. These articles introduce these subjects from a New Zealand design perspective and provide some insight into how they can be applied practically and strategically by designers. For more information, see http://lifecyclethinking.locusresearch.com

1. Focus on sustainability
01
This is the final in a series of three the earliest documented example the true impact of each life cycle.
Life cycle articles on Life Cycle Thinking for
sustainable design. The first two
attributed to Coca Cola looking at the
comparison between the impacts of a
The ‘inventory analysis’ or Life
Cycle Inventory (LCI) phase involves
tools for articles introduced the concept of
its business application. This article
glass bottle and a can.
A critical point that is often
the collection and documentation
of data related to the products and
sustainable discusses the tools which are used to
affect and support decisions made
misunderstood is that LCA is a
method, not a tool. You can undertake
services being assessed. In the LCI
phase the flow of the life cycle is
change during the development process.
To develop more sustainable products
a complete LCA without even leaving
Excel. LCA is technically defined
modelled to create a system image
of the life cycle. The LCI phase is
and services it is essential that a whole as an investigation and valuation central to Life Cycle Thinking because
life cycle approach is taken; without of the environmental impacts of a the data collected and crafted can
this, critical development areas can be product or service that are caused be used for a range of purposes
Words Timothy Allan missing and may not be considered. or necessitated by its existence. The including eco-labelling, compliance or
For many, the hope is that picking LCA method or process can be broken carbon foot printing.
up a tool will make decision-making down into four major phases. There are a range of international
easier or simpler. The best tools and LCA is driven by the ‘goal databases which contain material,
approaches advocate consideration and scope’ of the environmental manufacturing process and other
of the whole product system (the assessment. In the previous article, data, such as Swiss commissioned
life cycle) and have an underlying Formway used LCA to investigate the database Ecoinvent. These databases
expectation that there is reasonable impact of the Life Chair to provide are often specific to an industry (such
disclosure of information. These tools information to enhance the design as electronics) so having a good look
are totally reliant on the quality of process, better understand its around to find a suitable one is the
information you as a designer provide, existing products, and reduce impacts best idea. Databases can be used in
they are not a substitution for it. from their production. Life Cycle Engineering applications
A critical aspect of the goal and but contain predominantly European/
scope is defining the ‘functional unit’ International data. Currently there
Life Cycle Assessment (FU). This is similar to the core function is a real push to collect data in
01 The Life Cycle Assessment Many people have heard the term described in the first article, but New Zealand and Australia. The
framework’s four major phases. ‘LCA’ but understand little about becomes more analytical. For example, Australians have just initiated the
it and its origins; it is, in relative when comparing a glass and a plastic AUSLCI project which aims to collect
02 This system image of the life
cycle of a timber exterior cladding
terms, a black box. LCA refers to milk bottle the functional unit would be a wide range of essential data from
product was modelled during the Life Cycle Assessment, a process ‘the delivery of 1000 litres of milk’. This industry throughout Australia.
product’s inventory analysis. that germinated in the 1960s with FU is sufficient to objectively capture The data collected can have the
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2. 02
‘so-what’ factor, i.e. you have all of analytical tools and have a price tag to LCA information with eco-design
this information, but so what? The match (expect to pay the equivalent strategies and guides.
next phase of LCA, the Life Cycle of Solidworks for a full version). Keep Everdee and Tespi are two
Impact Assessment (LCIA) addresses in mind that these are advanced tools more tools developed through the
this. In this phase, the material and that allow you to model a whole life EcoSME’s programme in the EU and
energy flows are characterised as cycle with a range of scenarios and I have recently seen a PhD student
impacts. For example, volatile organic report on them. in New Zealand using Everdee due
compounds (VOC) emitted (from There are cut down ‘lite’ tools such to its effective electronics database
solvent flash off) would be attributed as EcoScan (TU Deflt) and Ecoit (Pre). (another bonus is its free!).
to Photo-Oxidant Creation Potential These generally use pre-calculated It is important to have a sound
POCP, or CO2 attributed to Global impact assessment methods such as grasp of Life Cycle Thinking as this
Warming Potential (GWP). They move EcoIndicators99. They can be useful will provide a platform for developing
from being materials to becoming for screening assessments but are more sustainable products and
environmental impacts. limited in the degree to which they services. Advanced tools such
The LCI and LCIA steps are can be customised. as GABI and SimaPro require a
considered sciences in their own right. An interesting attempt to solid understanding of Life Cycle
The Swiss have separately delineated harmonise LCA with engineering Assessment methodology but provide
the sciences of inventory analysis product design was undertaken a much greater degree of control
and impact assessment as the field by Sebastian Liebrecht’s tool Eco- over how you analyse and assess
continues to develop. The fourth step logicad. Name aside, it is the best the system and how the impact
is interpretation. This step involves attempt I have seen at making the LCA assessment is undertaken.
www.pre.nl (Pre Consultants for
SimaPro, EcoIt, Eco-indicators). analysing the information and process easier for design engineers. The lighter tools all have
www.gabi-software.com (PE determining whether the aims of the Currently it only integrates with ProE limitations, be aware of these, and
International, GABI, GABI SFX). study have been met (simplified). but there is an API which allows for ensure that you are up front about
www.greenflyonline.org (Greenfly integration with other applications. it when you use them. Managing
Sustainable Design Tool).
There are newer tools that expectations is a critical part of using
www.leibrecht.org (Ecologicad).
www.ecosmes.net (Everdee, Tespi). LCA Tools have been created for simplified software tools in environmental
www.idemat.nl (Material database Finally, the software tools (LCA use such as Greenfly, developed in assessment and none of them offer a
with environmental focus). tools) do exist. The two primary Australia with John Gertsakis and silver bullet or replacement for good
www.setac.org (Society of tools are SimaPro, produced by Pre a range of other contributors. This decision-making. At best they are
Toxicology and Chemistry, centre
Consultants in Holland, and GABI is not an LCA tool, but presents an effective tools to assist objective
for LCA method development).
www.auslci.com (Australian Life produced by PE International in interesting approach to designing decision-making if based on good
Cycle Inventory Initiative). Germany. These are both full scale greener products that incorporates data and assumptions.
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