Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a method for evaluating the environmental impacts of a product, service or building across its entire life. It measures environmental performance, improves design and reduces negative impacts on the environment.
Why LCA matters in environmental assessment
LCA is an essential tool for assessing and comparing the environmental impacts of products, services or buildings, because it accounts for every stage of their life cycle:
- Raw material extraction
- Manufacturing of materials and components
- Transport and distribution
- Installation and use
- Maintenance and repair
- End of life and waste management
By covering these stages, an LCA identifies where environmental impacts come from and points to ways of reducing them. The results can guide design choices, public policy or investment decisions.
LCA software to support calculation and analysis
Running an LCA requires data on the material and energy flows attached to each stage of the life cycle, along with the corresponding environmental impacts. Several LCA tools exist to make this easier:
- General-purpose software : it can handle any type of product, service or building, drawing on generic or specific databases.
- Software specialised in one sector (construction, for instance): it comes with data and features built for that sector.
These tools make it easier to collect and analyse data, calculate impact indicators and present results. Many also include decision support features, such as comparing scenarios or ranking the best options.
We can help you get to grips with the tool that fits your need. Have a look at our services for measuring the impact of one of your products.
Examples of LCA software
General-purpose tools:
Sector-specific tools:
- One Click LCA (construction) : used to assess the environmental impact of construction materials and building methods.
- EIME (electronics) : a tool built for the electronics and electrical engineering industries.
LCA in the construction sector
Construction accounts for a large share of environmental impacts, particularly in resource consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and waste production. LCA is therefore a key tool for improving the environmental performance of buildings, whether new builds or renovations.
Examples of LCA applications in construction
A few of the ways LCA is used in the building sector:
- Comparing materials, systems or techniques : LCA compares the environmental impacts of different solutions so the best performing one can be chosen.
- Design support tool: LCA can be used from the earliest design phases to steer choices towards low impact solutions.
- Assessing the environmental performance of an existing building: LCA measures a building's impacts and identifies where it can be improved.
- Setting up an eco-design approach: bringing LCA into the design process reduces a building's environmental impacts across its whole life cycle.
Frequently asked questions
L'ACV est une méthode normalisée (ISO 14040 et 14044) qui évalue les impacts environnementaux d'un produit ou service sur l'ensemble de son cycle de vie, de l'extraction des matières premières à la fin de vie. Elle couvre plusieurs indicateurs : climat, eau, ressources, acidification, et pas uniquement le carbone.
Une ACV suit quatre phases : la définition des objectifs et du champ de l'étude, l'inventaire du cycle de vie (collecte des flux entrants et sortants), l'évaluation des impacts, puis l'interprétation des résultats. Ce cadre garantit une analyse traçable, reproductible et défendable en audit.
Le bilan carbone mesure les émissions de gaz à effet de serre d'une organisation. L'ACV évalue un produit ou service sur de multiples impacts environnementaux, pas seulement le climat. L'ACV est donc multicritère et centrée produit, là où le bilan carbone est mono-indicateur et centré organisation.
L'ACV identifie les étapes du cycle de vie qui concentrent les impacts, ce qui permet de cibler les leviers d'amélioration d'un produit : matériaux, procédés, transport ou fin de vie. Elle transforme l'éco-conception en démarche chiffrée plutôt qu'intuitive, et fonde les déclarations environnementales comme les FDES.