Publications

Deliverable D20- Blue Paper on Life Cycle Sustainability Analysis. Revision 1 after the Open Consultation

Final version of Deliverable D20 of Worckpackage 7, revised with the comments received during the Open Consultation

Comments received on the Blue Paper during the Open Consultation 

Final Deliverables of each Workpackages of CALCAS Project

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Deliverable D10: Swot Analysis of concepts, methods and models potentially supporting Life Cycle Analysis

Final version of Deliverable D10 of Workpackage 3

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Deliverable D17: Options for deepening and broadening LCA

Final version of Deliverable D17 of Workpackage 3

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Open consultation on the Blue Paper on Life Cycle Sustainability Analysis

View the consultation document:

• Blue Paper on Life Cycle Sustainability Analysis
• List of questions for public consultation
• Invitation to the open consultation

Period of consultation: 10 July to 21 August 2009

Objective of the consultation: The aim is to receive specific technical-scientific comments on the LCSA framework developed and on the research needs identified. Suggestions for specific research projects to be developed are also warmly solicited.

Target of the consultation: Due to the transdisciplinary nature of the subject, the consultation is NOT limited to the LCA community only but is addressed to scientists, experts, practitioners and any other stakeholder interested to the Sustainability Assessment.

General background and objectives of the Blue Paper:

The Blue Paper is one key deliverable of the CALCAS project (www.calcasproject.net) that addresses the question of defining research lines for the sustainability analysis based on a life cycle approach.

Life Cycle Assessment, as standardised by ISO, is well recognised as the most suitable method for the environmental analysis of products. But the question of sustainability and in particular of complex systems with extended and durable effects on the whole of society, requires a broadened scope of analysis and a deepening of modelling.

The Blue Paper, in the first part, contains a synthesis of the main scientific elaboration of the CALCAS.

After a comprehensive analysis, from the demand side, of the users needs of sustainability assessment and, from the supply side, of the status and trends in assessment methods, CALCAS is proposing a new framework for Life Cycle Sustainability Analysis (LCSA). A single unitary framework is very helpful on one hand to reduce complexity and on the other to clarify the simplification choices which have to be made in the integrative analysis. The framework must be used in such a way that its structure is able to incorporate knowledge from all domains relevant to sustainable development. A single unitary structure is also useful to identify a coherent way to link micro analysis (where it is possible to implement a very detailed model, as ISO LCA does) to the macro level where, indeed, most questions of sustainability reside. The new framework, compared to the ISO one, includes few but significant differences, in particular with the merging of inventory and impact assessment steps in just one modelling step.

The framework has been further elaborated in a road map that includes the three major applications area (product level, meso level and economy wide technosystems) identified after the user needs analysis, with some grey zones going from one level to the next. More information on LCSA are provided by a conceptual example of application of LCSA, in particular focussing on the first steps of “Framing the question” and identification and selection of models for the analysis, complemented with three case examples.

The second part of the Blue Paper lists an inventory of knowledge gaps and research needs, derived by the deep analyses performed in CALCAS. This inventory is propaedeutic to the definition of research lines and exemplary research programs that will be the subject of a later document, which will also build on the comments as received in this consultation round. This document is D22 “Definition of research  lines and exemplary research programmes for New LCA, incorporation in EU, national research programmes nand academic curricula”, and is still being written.

How to submit your contribution:

Please send any the comments (and any enquire) to: lca@enea.it

or by fax to: +39 051 6098 675

The Blue Paper, in the first part, contains a synthesis of the main scientific elaboration of the CALCAS.

After a comprehensive analysis, from the demand side, of the users needs of sustainability assessment and, from the supply side, of the status and trends in assessment methods, CALCAS is proposing a new framework for Life Cycle Sustainability Analysis (LCSA). A single unitary framework is very helpful on one hand to reduce complexity and on the other to clarify the simplification choices which have to be made in the integrative analysis. The framework must be used in such a way that its structure is able to incorporate knowledge from all domains relevant to sustainable development. A single unitary structure is also useful to identify a coherent way to link micro analysis (where it is possible to implement a very detailed model, as ISO LCA does) to the macro level where, indeed, most questions of sustainability reside. The new framework, compared to the ISO one, includes few but significant differences, in particular with the merging of inventory and impact assessment steps in just one modelling step.

The framework has been further elaborated in a road map that includes the three major applications area (product level, meso level and economy wide technosystems) identified after the user needs analysis, with some grey zones going from one level to the next. More information on LCSA are provided by a conceptual example of application of LCSA, in particular focussing on the first steps of “Framing the question” and identification and selection of models for the analysis, complemented with three case examples.

The second part of the Blue Paper lists an inventory of knowledge gaps and research needs, derived by the deep analyses performed in CALCAS. This inventory is propaedeutic to the definition of research lines and exemplary research programs that will be the subject of a later document, which will also build on the comments as received in this consultation round. This document is D22 “Definition of research  lines and exemplary research programmes for New LCA, incorporation in EU, national research programmes nand academic curricula”, and is still being written.

How to submit your contribution:

Please send any the comments (and any enquire) to: lca@enea.it

or by fax to: +39 051 6098 675

Deliverable D15: A Scientific Framework for LCA

Final version of Deliverable D15 of Workpackage 2

CALCAS-ESF Workshop in Brussels, 17-20 February 2009 - Presentations available

Master Thesis by Kristina Neumann.
The Thesis has been produced as part of IOEW’s contribution to CALCAS Project. For more information and comments, please contact Frieder Rubik (IOEW)