Introduction to Life Cycle Assessment

Overview

Sustainable consumption and production, the circular economy and carbon accounting … these topics are increasingly on the agenda for decision-makers. They all utilise a life cycle perspective to reconsider economic activities through a “cradle to grave” lens, meaning from the extraction of raw materials through manufacture, distribution, use and on to final end-of-life management. The quantitative analytical tool that supports this type of environmental management is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). LCA methodology also forms the basis of related approaches such as carbon and water footprinting.

By the end of this course, you will be able to confidently commission an LCA study designed to meet the needs of a specific decision situation and be able to interpret its results to support decision-making.

Who this course is for

This course is for environmental managers, product designers, engineers, policymakers and other professionals interested in learning more about the role of LCA in guiding decision-making but without any prior training in LCA.

Course content and structure

Session 1: Introduction to Life Cycle Thinking (LCT)

This session will cover:

• the role of LCT relative to other environmental management tools
• the principles underlying LCT and LCA
• an introduction to the functional unit and system boundaries.

Session 2: Life Cycle Assessment, a tool in the environmental management toolkit

This session will cover:

• aligning the LCA with the goal of the study
• the attributional and consequential modelling approaches
• LCA methodology: the four phases of LCA.

Session 3: Use of LCA to support decision-making

This session will cover:

• a critical review of LCA studies
• making the most of your LCA study, Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) and certification schemes.

Registrations

To register your interest, please email Fiona Bardell at F.M.Bardell@massey.ac.nz.

Contact information