LCA

Question 1

Sustainable Development

Answer 1

development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

Question 2

Key Design Metrics

Answer 2

Each problem has appropriate metrics to compare solutions:

Energy generation or storage per unit area/mass/volume….

Embodied vs use energy in mechanical, electrical, thermal design….

Supply forecasts for critical materials…

Question 3

Stakeholders

Answer 3

Who are they?
Government, public, local community, owner, manufacturer, supplier, trade union, customer, lobbyist

What are their concerns?

What power do they have?

Question 4

Fact-finding

Answer 4

Material supply
Energy: embodied and use
Environmental: emissions, pollution
Society: what does society expect
Economics: how how much is it going to cost
Legislation

Question 5

Summary

Answer 5

Define objectives, scaes and design metrics

stakeholder analysis

fact finding

Synthesis
reflection

Question 6

Life Cycle Assessment

Answer 6

Fizzy drink cans: the walls are made of different alloys to the lids so recycled aluminium can only be used for the walls. To increase recycled content, the lid is smaller.

Resource consumption

Emissio inventory

Impact assessment

A full LCA is time-consuming, expensive and subjective due to the relative weighting of impacts (carbon emissions vs CO vs NO). The detail is only available in retrospect and when the data is reliable (large data set)

Need a simple approach- choose a single measure of impact: C02 or energy

Question 7

Strategy for Material Selection and Design

Answer 7

Eco-audit
Design focus

Material, manufacture, transport, use and disposal