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EcoReview helps clients achieve climate goals through sustainable and circular procurement.
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LCA
Methodology
EcoReview specializes in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The International Organization of Standardization (ISO) standardizes the LCA methodology in ISO 14040 and ISO 14044. The Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) is the guideline for European LCAs and the is a multi-criteria measure for the environmental performance of a good or service throughout its life cycle. For each product category, a PEFCR (Category Rules) is created in which specific calculation rules are defined. In the construction sector, the EN15804 is the leading standard. The EN15804 uses 2 calculation sets called EN15804:2012 and EN15804:2019+A2, each containing a large number of environmental impact calculation categories (7 and 16 respectively). This means that an LCA study is not limited to the CO2 footprint/CO2 emissions, but also to other defined environmental impact categories, such as eutrophication, acidification and land use. In the Netherlands there is an additional standard, the NMD Determination Method 1.0, which adds 4 environmental impact categories to the EN15804:2012. Consisting of these 11 environmental impact categories, one concluded environmental cost index (ECI score) is calculated. This is a final score that reflects the environmental costs of a declared functional or product unit.For organizations that want to sell their products in the Netherlands, it is mandatory in certain sectors to have an ECI score of their product and it is expected that this will be the case in the future as well as in others. countries as will be an obligation in more sectors. Once a third-party verifier confirms that the research meets the standards, the end result is an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), or a certificate with environmentally relevant product information, in which the non-confidential information from the LCA and environmental results are summarized in one document. This EPD is provided by one of Eco Platform's program operators in the Netherlands, the MRPI.
LCA
Environmental Profile (EPD)
The end result of an LCA study is processed in an environmental profile. This shows the environmental impact for each life stage, in the respective equivalent unit. Now the total environmental impact of a specific product, service or work is recorded in this environmental profile. The environmental profile is known in Europe as an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), it is drawn up in the same way internationally so that it can be communicated. The figure below shows the environmental profile of a certain type of Dutch asphalt as an example. In the top row you can see the heading "Environmental Cost Indicator" expressed in euros, we will come to this in the next module back. An environmental profile can also be presented graphically to gain a better understanding of the environmental impact per (sub) life stage. The figure below shows a pie chart of the distribution of the environmental impact for a specific type of concrete (concrete C30/37 It can be deduced from this pie chart that the environmental impact of this type of concrete largely comes from life phase A1 (raw materials extraction). In addition to gaining insight into the environmental impact, the environmental profile of the LCA is used to compare products, services and projects. As more and more LCAs are performed, a better picture is created of the average environmental impact of a product or process per sector. monitor sustainability and steer towards further sustainability.
LCA
Environmental impact
An LCA is therefore drawn up on the basis of the analysis of the life phases and the sub-life phases of a product or project. This is a lengthy and complicated process. What happens to the information from an LCA and how is it documented? What is an LCA ultimately used for? In an LCA, a large amount of information is collected in order to reflect the effect on the environment. As indicated in the introduction, this is more than CO2 emissions, and there are many more activities that have an impact on the environment. For example, each activity can also release emissions such as nitrogen, particulate matter and carbon dioxide. An activity can also consume a lot of energy or produce waste.
LCA
Environmental Impact Categories
Every activity therefore has an effect on the environment. These different effects and their emissions can be subdivided into 11 categories: the environmental effect categories. Each environmental effect category has an associated equivalent unit. The figure below shows the different environmental effect categories. The equivalent unit of the environmental effect category climate change is CO2. However, there are also other gases that affect the climate. These are converted into a quantity of CO2 using a weighting factor. For example, 1 kg of nitrous oxide (N2O) is equal to 310 kg CO2, because this substance is much more harmful in smaller quantities. An example of such a conversion is shown below.
LCA
Sub-Life Cycle Stages
Sub-Life Cycle Stages A life cycle assessment (LCA) is a method to calculate the environmental impact of a material, product, project or building over certain life phases. An LCA analyzes the life cycle and distinguishes between life phases. For each life stage, the environmental impact is calculated by analyzing activities from that life stage. The LCA quantifies sustainability by summing up the environmental impact of all life stages. The figure below provides an overview of the life stages that are analyzed in an LCA.
LCA