Course Description and Goals:

 

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a tool used across engineering fields to determine the life cycle, cradle-to-grave environmental impacts of a product or process. It incorporates the foreground impacts of a product (e.g. greenhouse gas emissions from its direct use) and the background impacts (i.e. greenhouse gas emissions from electricity production needed to produce the item). LCA can be used to design new products, improve the sustainability of an existing product, and compare between products. It is used in industry, government, and academic research, and it is becoming an increasingly valuable tool. LCA practice helps develop a systems-thinking perspective and a deeper understanding of sustainability. Students will become able to evaluate LCA methods and design appropriate LCA frameworks.

 

Course Objectives:

 

• To design a life cycle assessment according to international standards

 

• To define the goal and scope, functional unit, and system boundary for an LCA

 

• To be able to use LCA software and life cycle inventories

 

• To understand how to perform sensitivity analyses and uncertainty analyses of LCA results

 

• To understand the scientific basis for life cycle assessment impact categories

 

• To interpret LCA results and be able to critically review LCAs in the literature

 

• To understand challenges and emerging topics in life cycle assessment