Synopses & Reviews
In 1992 the Centre of Environmental Science (CML) at Leiden University, The Netherlands, published a Guide on Environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. Many copies of this guide have been sold all over the world, setting the standard for a long time. Since then LCA methodology has progressed enormously and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published a series of Standards on LCA. These developments have now been incorporated into a new Handbook on LCA authored by CML in cooperation with a number of other important institutes in the area of LCA. The general aim of this Handbook on LCA is to provide a stepwise `cookbook' with operational guidelines for conducting an LCA study step-by-step, justified by a scientific background document, based on the ISO Standards for LCA. The different ISO elements and requirements are made operational to the `best available practice' for each step. This book will appeal to persons from a wide range of scientific disciplines working in industry, in government, as consultants, or at university, who are interested in learning more about LCA and in performing LCA studies. It will be of especial interest to students and researchers in the field of LCA, industrial ecology, and those interested in environmental sciences in general. CML is strongly involved in the development of a standard methodology to determine environmental impacts of products, i.e., LCA. This is done within international fora such as the Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP).
Review
From the reviews: "The Handbook on Life-Cycle Assessment is a guidance document and handbook, one that covers everything from the best choice of methods for all phases of an LCA study to detailed scientific discussion on methodological issues. ... The information given ... is very detailed. ... It provides 225 pages of tables of conversion factors, characterization factors, normalization factors, and so on. ... readers are entitled to high expectations given the impressive team of authors behind this book, and the assumed intended audience will not be disappointed." (Lars-Gunnar Lindfors, Journal of Industrial Ecology, Vol. 7 (2), 2003)
Review
From the reviews:
"The Handbook on Life-Cycle Assessment is a guidance document and handbook, one that covers everything from the best choice of methods for all phases of an LCA study to detailed scientific discussion on methodological issues. ... The information given ... is very detailed. ... It provides 225 pages of tables of conversion factors, characterization factors, normalization factors, and so on. ... readers are entitled to high expectations given the impressive team of authors behind this book, and the assumed intended audience will not be disappointed." (Lars-Gunnar Lindfors, Journal of Industrial Ecology, Vol. 7 (2), 2003)
Synopsis
The general aim of this
Handbook on LCA is to provide a stepwise `cookbook' with operational guidelines for conducting an LCA study step-by-step, justified by a scientific background document, based on the ISO Standards for LCA. The different ISO elements and requirements are made operational to the `best available practice' for each step.
This book will appeal to persons from a wide range of scientific disciplines working in industry, in government, as consultants, or at university, who are interested in learning more about LCA and in performing LCA studies. It will be of especial interest to students and researchers in the field of LCA, industrial ecology, and those interested in environmental sciences in general.
CML is strongly involved in the development of a standard methodology to determine environmental impacts of products, i.e., LCA. This is done within international fora such as the Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP).
Table of Contents
Preface. Foreword.
Part 1: LCA in Perspective. 1. Why a new Guide to LCA?
2. Main characteristics of LCA.
3. International developments.
4. Guiding principles for the present Guide.
5. Reading guide.
Part 2a: Guide. Reading guidance.
1. Management of LCA projects: procedures.
2. Goal and scope definition.
3. Inventory analysis.
4. Impact assessment.
5. Interpretation. Appendix A: Terms, definitions and abbreviations.
Part 2b: Operational annex. List of tables. Reading guidance.
1. Management of LCA projects: procedures.
2. Goal and scope definition.
3. Inventory analysis.
4. Impact assessment.
5. Interpretation.
6. References.
Part 3: Scientific background. Reading guidance.
1. General introduction.
2. Goal and scope definition.
3. Inventory analysis.
4. Impact assessment.
5. Interpretation.
6. References.
Annex A: Contributors.
Appendix B: Areas of application of LCA.
Appendix C: Partitioning economic inputs and outputs to product systems.