Developing a LCA software in Hungary

In Hungary the first steps of LCA application can be observed. The objectives of the project are to establish a fundamental online database of LCA compatibility with international software. This database can help designing from the aspect of environment and can be used in education and research. We have classified the domestic power plants on the basis of applied technology and energy sources. But data collection presents some difficulty. Complex analysis of electric- and electronic equipment would be another important scope of the system. And we would like to popularize the LCA application for the small and medium sized enterprises

Transportation Life Cycle Assessment Synthesis: Life Cycle Assessment Learning Module Series

The Life Cycle Assessment Learning Module Series is a set of narrated, self-advancing slideshows on various topics related to environmental life cycle assessment (LCA). This research project produced the first 27 of such modules, which are freely available for download on the CESTiCC website http://cem.uaf.edu/cesticc/publications/lca.aspx. Each module is roughly 15- 20 minutes in length and is intended for various uses such as course components, as the main lecture material in a dedicated LCA course, or for independent learning in support of research projects. The series is organized into four overall topical areas, each of which contain a group of overview modules and a group of detailed modules. The A and α groups cover the international standards that define LCA. The B and β groups focus on environmental impact categories. The G and γ groups identify software tools for LCA and provide some tutorials for their use. The T and τ groups introduce topics of interest in the field of transportation LCA. This includes overviews of how LCA is frequently applied in that sector, literature reviews, specific considerations, and software tutorials. Future modules in this category will feature methodological developments and case studies specific to the transportation sector

Integrating life cycle assessment tools and information with product life cycle management : Product data management

Part of: Seliger, Günther (Ed.): Innovative solutions : proceedings / 11th Global Conference on Sustainable Manufacturing, Berlin, Germany, 23rd - 25th September, 2013. - Berlin: Universitätsverlag der TU Berlin, 2013. - ISBN 978-3-7983-2609-5 (online). - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:83-opus4-40276. - pp. 210–212.Integrating Product Data Management (PDM) solutions with Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) software offers the opportunity to obtain LCA results fast, based on high-quality, product-specific information and integrated into the design workflow, enabling thereby, inter alia, efficient Design for Environment (DfE). In a recent project, Dassault Systèmes and GreenDelta have investigated different options for combining LCA tools and information with the ENOVIA platform, a broadly used PDM and Product Life Cycle Management (PLM) platform by Dassault Systèmes. In the course of the project, solutions have been developed for main LCA software systems, including SimaPro, GaBi, EIME, and openLCA. A demonstration implementation has been performed for the openLCA software. A specific connector interface, called ‘eLCA’, was developed in the project; it provides an interface which makes it easy for LCA software to “dock” to eLCA that in turn links to the ENOVIA platform. The paper will describe the technical solution that has been developed and show its benefit and further potential

Comparative life cycle assessment of current and future electricity generation systems in the Czech Republic and Poland

Purpose The purpose of the study was to perform a comparative life cycle assessment of current and future electricity generation systems in the Czech Republic and Poland. The paper also outlines the main sources of environmental impact for the different impact categories for the electricity generation technologies analyzed. The analyses covered the years 2000-2050, and were conducted within the framework of the international programme Interreg V-A Czech Republic-Poland, Microprojects Fund 2014-2020 in the Euroregion Silesia. Methods Environmental assessment was done using the life cycle assessment (LCA) and ReCiPe Midpoint and Endpoint methods, which allowed the presentation of different categories of environmental impact and damage. The LCA was based on ISO 14040 and ISO 14044, using SimaPro 8.2.3 software with the Ecoinvent 3.2 database. The analyses cover both the current electricity production structures in the Czech Republic and Poland, and the projected energy production. Results and discussion The LCA analyses performed for the energy systems under consideration in the Czech Republic and Poland enabled a comparative analysis of current and forecast energy systems in these countries, as well as identification of the main sources of environmental impact. Comparative analysis of the LCA results showed that current and future electricity generation systems in Poland caused higher environmental impact there, than in the Czech Republic. Conclusions The assessment of the life cycle of electricity sources showed that the main determinant of the negative impact on the environment of energy systems in both Poland and the Czech Republic was the consumption of solid fuels, and in particular, the consumption of lignite. It is important to highlight that this is the first attempt of a comparative LCA of electricity production in the Czech Republic and Poland. This is also the first approach that contains analyses of the life cycle assessment of both present and future energy systems. The economic assessment and eco-efficiency of current and future electricity generation systems in European Union countries will be addressed in future research.Web of Science23112177216

A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment between a Metered Dose Inhaler and Electric Nebulizer

Life cycle assessment (LCA) evaluates the environmental impact of a product based on the materials and processes used to manufacture the item as well as the item’s use and disposal. The objective of this LCA was to evaluate and compare the environmental impact of a metered dose inhaler, specifically the Proventil® HFA inhaler (Merk & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA), and an electric nebulizer, specifically the DeVilbiss Pulmo-Aide® nebulizer (DeVilbiss, Port Washington, NY, USA). GaBi LCA software was used to model the global warming potential (GWP) of each product by using substantiated data and well-justified assumptions for the components, manufacturing, assembly, and use of both devices. The functional unit used to model each device was one dose of the active drug, albuterol sulfate. The inhaler’s GWP, 0.0972 kg CO2-eq, was greater than the nebulizer’s even when uncertain parameters were varied ±100x. During the use phase ofa the inhaler, which accounted for approximately 96% of the inhaler’s total GWP, HFA 134a is used as a propellant to deliver the drug. The total GWP for the electric nebulizer was 0.0294 kg CO2-eq assuming that the mouthpiece was cleaned in a dishwasher, while it was 0.0477 kg CO2-eq when the nebulizer mouthpiece was hand washed between uses. The GWP breakeven scenario between dishwashing and hand washing occurred when the mouthpiece accounted for 10% of the dishwasher load

The role of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and energy efficiency optimization during the early stage of building design

The environmental impact of buildings could not be minimized only by optimizing the operational energy since the reduction of operational energy frequently consumes more embodied energy due to the increase of materials and systems used for energy efficiency. Meanwhile, although LCA has been widely used to evaluate the environmental footprint, few studies explored its role in the early building design stage during which majority of the prominent decisions actually already have been made. This paper tries to offer a roadmap by incorporating LCA with energy optimization during the early design phase, to make LCA a more useful guidance tool for improving the design sustainability rather than a method only for the final verification. The workflow of integrating these two approaches is proposed. Several mainstream LCA software are compared and simplified LCA approaches are introduced for the implementation. In the same time, limitations related to this integrative work are also pointed out. For instance, the nature of design is a sequential processing work which fights against the demand of simulation software

Steering green and sustainability through life cycle assessment software's in construction industry

Oppression from construction industry to environment is unavoidable but construction industry has potential to more sustainable future for earth. Succeeding sustai nab ility terms in construction and building industry could not be limited to the quantity of building. Sustainabiliry could also achieve through considering design and select materi als without or with low environmental impact in building industry. There are various environmental impacts that are associated with the use of materials during the lifecycle of building materials from cradle to grav . such as: raw material extraction through materials processing , manufacture, distribution. use. re air and maintenance, and disposal or recycling. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is the forma l methodology and process that investigates the environmental impact of a building material product at every stage in its life. LCA has been widely used in many countries and its current app lication has been extended to include government policy, strategic planning and product design. LCAs can be costly and time consuming, thus software technology use to eliminate these obstacl es in material assessment. Many kinds of LCA software exist with different capability whoever the selecting among existing sample is different. This paper is providing critical review and comparison some LCA software and standards with convinced specification. Finally, the process for environmentally sustainable design is highlighted with some standards that exist for LCA

Effect of moisture on mechanical behavior of granular material in initial laboratory and mechanical tests

In this article authors present results of initial laboratory tests and further numerical analyses using finite element method (FEM) and back - calculation method. Laboratory tests are based on trial loadings of granular material in different moisture conditions. Numerical analyses were obtained in FEM software using Coulomb - Mohr model of tested material. Presented results are the part of wider research program in which the main aim is to evaluate the influence of variable moisture content of granular materials used in road pavement structures on their fatigue life and in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

Incorporating LCA Method into Asset and Facility Life Cycle Management

With the increasing awareness of sustainable development, incorporation of potential environmental impact into the consideration of asset and facility life cycle management is attracting increasing attention. On the one hand, businesses now widely recognize the needs to actively engage in the sustainability arena. On the other hand, companies are now also increasingly accountable for their impacts on the society, environment and economy. This paper presents an initial framework that takes account of sustainability consequences of the products into asset and facility life cycle management. It is shown that major physical assets and facilities in different areas/sectors may have quite different behaviour, thus requiring the uses of different high-level criteria/factors. The evaluation process to incorporate the environmental LCA concept into asset life cycle management is also developed and discussed

Towards the Assessment of an Ecological Index for Quantifying Sustainability of Day Life. A Case Study of the Environmental Consequences of Dietary and Transport in a Standard Workday

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