This book offers a detailed presentation of the principles and practice of life cycle impact assessment. As a volume of the LCA compendium, the book is structured according to the LCIA framework developed by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO)passing through the phases of definition or selection of impact categories, category indicators and characterisation models (Classification): calculation of category indicator results (Characterisation); calculating the magnitude of category indicator results relative to reference information (Normalisation); and converting indicator results of different impact categories by using numerical factors based on value-choices (Weighting). Chapter one offers a historical overview of the development of life cycle impact assessment and presents the boundary conditions and the general principles and constraints of characterisation modelling in LCA. The second chapter outlines the considerations underlying the selection of impact categories and the classification or assignment of inventory flows into these categories. Chapters three through thirteen exploreall the impact categories that are commonly included in LCIA, discussing the characteristics of each followed by a review of midpoint and endpoint characterisation methods, metrics, uncertainties and new developments, and a discussion of research needs. Chapter-length treatment is accorded to Climate Change; Stratospheric Ozone Depletion; Human Toxicity; Particulate Matter Formation; Photochemical Ozone Formation; Ecotoxicity; Acidification; Eutrophication; Land Use; Water Use; and Abiotic Resource Use. The final two chapters map out the optional LCIA steps of Normalisation and Weighting.

This major two volume work presents a new decision making tool which enables manufacturers and scientists to undertake life cycle assessment (LCA) of new products from the design and development stages. The methodology allows the environmental consequences of a product to enter into decision making in the same way as traditional commercial parameters such as price, quality etc. Significantly, it is in accordance with international consensus, as defined by SETAC (Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry) and ISO (International Organization for Standardization). Moreover, the individual steps have been made operational through the creation of a collection of tools for assessment. The books are derived from the Environmental Design of Industrial Products (EDIP) programme organized by the Technical University of Denmark and five leading Danish companies. The project was sponsored by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Confederation of Danish Industries.

The aim of this book is to support industry in their effort to design environ mentally friendly products. The book comprises a method and a manual for life cycle assessment of products and it includes examples of how industrial companies have used the method succesfully in the design of more environ mentally friendly products. The method has been developed over a period of four years under the Danish EDIP programme (Environmental Design of Industrial Products) by a team representing the Technical University of Denmark, five Danish industrial companies, the Confederation of Danish Industries and the Dan ish Environmental Protection Agency. The method is coheherent and opera tional and it is well documented by a large variety of examples including five different complex electromechanical products. It guides the user through the inventory and assessment of environmental impacts of products and shows how various products and design solutions during product development can be compared. The method is supported by a base of data for the assessments of environmental impacts and is thus designed as a tool which will make it possible for the user to start on life cycle assessment at once. The book also guides the user through the identification of environmental improvement potentials in the product and the setting of environmental specifications with in the general concept of overall commercial optimization. The partnership between industry, authorities and university has been highly fruitful."

The aim of this book is to support industry in their effort to design environ mentally friendly products. The book comprises a method and a manual for life cycle assessment of products and it includes examples of how industrial companies have used the method succesfully in the design of more environ mentally friendly products. The method has been developed over a period of four years under the Danish EDIP programme (Environmental Design of Industrial Products) by a team representing the Technical University of Denmark, five Danish industrial companies, the Confederation of Danish Industries and the Dan ish Environmental Protection Agency. The method is coheherent and opera tional and it is well documented by a large variety of examples including five different complex electromechanical products. It guides the user through the inventory and assessment of environmental impacts of products and shows how various products and design solutions during product development can be compared. The method is supported by a base of data for the assessments of environmental impacts and is thus designed as a tool which will make it possible for the user to start on life cycle assessment at once. The book also guides the user through the identification of environmental improvement potentials in the product and the setting of environmental specifications with in the general concept of overall commercial optimization. The partnership between industry, authorities and university has been highly fruitful."