Core77

Life Cycle Analysis Calculator

By squirrelbait - February 13, 2008

in Object Culture

From birth to imminent death, IDC's free online LCA (Life Cycle Analysis) Calculator estimates a product's carbon footprint.

The web service was devised following the results of a survey of designers and engineers working in new product development by Industrial Design Consultancy (IDC), a multi-award winning product design agency based in Berkshire.

The survey revealed some 50% of companies interviewed admitted that the environmental impact of a product was not currently a major design consideration for them. Yet, 82% believed it would be in the future. 61% were also aware of life cycle analysis (LCA) as a process to calculate a product's carbon footprint, but only 29% believed their company had ever carried out an LCA during design stages. The interviewees were united in a resounding positive response to the possibility of a free LCA online service; all said they would use it and be willing to employ the simple changes that could make a great difference to a new product's environmental impact.

o

Favorite This
Q
2

Comment

Comments

Sarah

16 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

Anyone know of a "real LCA tool" (or one that takes into account more than energy emissions) that is available for free / DIY?
I want to go holistic but I can only find companies who charge for their analysis.

Thanks.
!Report as spam
Jennifer van der Meer

16 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

Just a tip for those interested in LCA - this tool is not a real LCA tool. It's only looking at energy emissions. The best thing about LCA is that it takes into account a wider scope of environmental impacts - things that affect human health, ecosystem health, in addition to global warming.

By restricting the lifecycle view to energy, we're only looking at one impact (but not all impacts) that affect global warming.

And issues that are important to human beings right now, like the effect of PVC in childrens toys for example, is not addressed.

Go holistic - do the full LCA!
!Report as spam