Question

Please describe in your own words how a "Life Cycle Assessment" works. Please conduct research beyond the textbook to identify an online article about the use of Life Cycle Assessment or Life Cycle Analysis in a company or business entity, give a brief (2 sentence) introduction to the article and provide a link to that story.

Answer 1

A Life Cycle Analysis comprises of 4 phases:

Phase 1- Goal & scope aims to outline how large a part of PLC will be taken in analysis & to what end will analysis be serving. The standards serving to system comparison & definite timings are explained in this step.

Phase 2- In this phase, inventory assessment provides an account of energy & material flows within the product system & specially its interaction with the environment, utilized raw materials, & discharges to the environment. All essential processes & supplementary   material / energy flows are described later.

Phase 3- Details from inventory assessment serve for impact analysis. The indicator outcomes of all impact categories are described in this phase; the significance of each impact category is analysed thru normalization & finally also by weighting.

Phase 4- Interpretation of a life cycle incorporates critical appraisal , establishment of data sensitivity,& outcome presentation.

Life Cycle Cost Analysis studies the savings/ costs during the life cycle of a material used in construction. For instance, energy efficient appliance can be more costly when initially bought but will save energy during the life of the project. Thus, it makes sense to invest in a more effectual appliance which costs greater up front but saves funds & energy over time